Top 5 Comic Book Animals of the Year

It's that time of the year again when people start compiling a list of things that stood out this year. And while most of them will list the top 5 heroes, villains, covers, moments, titles or whatever, we here at Behold the Geek! pride ourselves in making the lists that count.

So without further to do, here are the Top 5 Comic Book Animals of 2008! Which cuddly, fluffy, feathery characters made headlines? Which of them made us squee with cute glee or raise a fist-pump of a 'Hell yeah!'? I ranked them now so you won't have to!

5. Howard the Duck

He's been downtrodden and ignored to the point of being considered a non-person, but Howard found himself the center of attention this 2008 during the big, bad mega-crossover event called Secret Invasion. While the Skrulls were jobbing themselves out to most of the superhero and supervillain community, Marvel gave fans a treat by inserting Howard ala 'Where's Waldo?' in a panel or two starting with Secret Invasion #6. Fans got a hoot out of checking where Howard would pop up next! And while our pint-sized star didn't get to do much in this event, seeing Howard the freaking Duck standing snug between Stature's breasts made SI a bit more enjoyable than usual.

4. Rocket Raccoon

An '80s kooky character given a new lease in life this year, Rocket Raccoon quickly became a fan favorite during the Annihilation: Conquest event where, together with Star-Lord, Mantis and Groot, he pulled off a daring midnight raid on the Phalanx's Babel Spire and almost crippled the Phalanx's plans for domination. His quirky, exasperated outlook on life as a raccoon in space quickly endeared him to fans of cosmic Marvel, and he's only gotten more popular since. Nowadays he's kicking ass and taking names as member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, double-wielding space pistols on the scum that reside in the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

3. Cosmo

Dogs are cute. Soviet space dogs are awesome. Soviet space dogs who can read your thoughts and mess you up with their minds get listed on the top 5 list of most awesome comic book animals of the year! Our top 3 animal is exactly that, an awesome character find that made comic fans squee like nothing else before it. Cosmo debuted in Nova #8, as the chief security officer of Knowhere, which happens to be a city set up in the severed head of a Celestial. (So now he's a Soviet, telepathic, telekinetic space dog that lives in a decapitated god's head! Now he's just showing off...) Like most retriever breeds, Cosmo is friendly, protective and downright cute...but it was probably his matter-of-fact attitude and predisposition to think with a thick Russian accent ("Pleased to be meetink you!") that made fans take notice...and did they ever!

2. Krypto

You might think that these days, Superman don't need no animal mascots to mess up his style but DC begged to differ, and fans were glad they did. I'm talking about Supes' perennial pet Krypto, who claimed the top 2 spot by virtue of taking part in one of the most awesome comic book fights this side of the super kennel. In Superman #680, after laying waste to Superman himself and taunting Metropolis ala Brad Pitt from Troy, super-strong superbaddie Atlas faced down a very, very pissed-off and loyal Krypto, who mauled him to the point of almost handing his own ass to him in a doggie bag. There was a lot of freaking out in the internets after that...but not as much as our top dog...i mean, cat...

1. "Rage Cat"

It's like DC read our collective minds! In Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns, they introduced us to the Red Lanterns, whose rings were fueled by hate and anger. And while they could have populated their ranks with the meanest, scariest, most demonic motherfuckers this side of the Milky Way, the Red Lanterns decided to get one very special member: a cat named Dex-Star whom fans affectionately called Rage Cat. While only appearing in a few panels melting faces with his acidic blood-spew, his astounding LOLcat-ability gave rise to dozens of pics expounding his ability to be in ur sectorz meltin facez, which spread through the 'net like wildfire! Trust the internet to crown the one animal worthy of being called Animal of the Year!


These are the top 5 animals that made reading comic books a hell of a lot more fun this year. What can I say? Comic book animals are awesome, and I hope it gets even better next year!

So, agree? Disagree? Got something to say but don't know how? Leave a comment and let's discuss! I'm sure Rage Cat wouldn't mind...I think. Thanks for reading!