My crazy plan to defeat The Ultimate Evil!

Hey all! Today’s our last day camping on Xtar 9. We’ve made a boatload of spaceos (that’s intergalactic space money) from selling hot dogs, and now we’re going to blast off and cruise around the galaxy for a while.

We’ve been saving up to go on an adventure and now we have to pick: Learn to surf on Waalio, which has amazing waves, or go rock climbing on Ooglan 2, which is a lot like Earth’s Grand Canyon. Decisions, decisions…

Now for our latest reading marathon chapter: Entering the Ultimate Evil… and I’m not kidding. My crazy plan is to destroy the monster from the inside! Can we keep that goober Krax from blasting us to bits, and if so, will my plan work? What are you waiting for — go find out!

And now it’s time to check out…

Since we’re all into The Ultimate Evil right now (like, actually INTO the creature), I thought these sketches would be cool to show you:

Two versions of the monster's face...

The final product. Yikes!

I think the GHD illustrators really nailed the scariness of the monster. I mean, it’s not like I had time to take any pictures of the thing while we were fighting for our lives, so the artists were just working off of me and the crew’s descriptions. Pretty awesome, huh?

Oh, one more thing: I can’t believe it, but our book one reading marathon is almost over — and soon we’ll be starting BOOK TWO! Chapter 1 of my next book debuts online on Monday 4/6. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks into what’s coming. Book two is beyond way cool!

Later gators,

Cosmoe

Battling to the digital death!

Hey everyone! Guess who’s winning the first official Neon Wiener Videogame Tournament? That’s right, yours truly!

Yesterday I demolished Humphree and the Princess at Super Moon Ninja Death Jab. It’s wasn’t even close. But I’m holding off on my victory dance (which I have to say, is pretty freaking awesome) because today we’re playing a new game that F.R.E.D. downloaded for us: Space Race Cars II. I can’t wait!

Today’s reading marathon chapter is all about that time I was gaming at Videogame Apocalypse. I had to win because the trophy had the last slice of the map-o-sphere. And my gamer honor was totally at stake! Right away, a dude named HW-86 blasted me and things didn’t look good. How was I going to survive, let alone win?! Find out in Chapter 17: Black Hole Joystick Battle Heroes!

And now get psyched for…

Today we’re gonna get evil, folks. Here is some never-seen artwork of Evil Queen Dagger!

These are sketches of her that Rachel, my book’s illustrator, did when she was trying to figure out exactly how to draw the queen of mean:

And this is how she turned out:

Yuck. Queen Dagger is the ultimate space jerk. She’s got pure evil pumping through those alien veins. Man, she gives me the creeps. Wherever she goes, we stay far away.

Okay, I’m off to master Space Race Cars II. See you tomorrow — I’ve got a fun Princess Dagger quiz for you!

Stay awesome,

Cosmoe

Videogame awesomeness!

Hey everyone! Today Humphree, Princess Dagger, and I are starting our first official Neon Wiener Videogame Tournament! We’re going play every single game we have on the ship, and then we’re going to have F.R.E.D. download a bunch more. We’re keeping score all week long and I predict that I will CRUSH Humps and Dags! Mwahahahaaa!

I thought it would be fun to have a tournament this week in honor of our reading marathon. We’re getting into the awesome chapters about my completely rad Videogame Apocalypse experience!

I was nervous going into it. I mean, I had to win it to get the last slice of the map-o-sphere. And then I saw I had to be… controller-fied to play?! Whaat?! Find out what happens in Chapter 16: Videogame Apocalypse!

Now it’s time for…

Today I’ve got something pretty cool for you: an original thumb and sketch from the very first pages of the book! Rachel, the GHD book illustrator, told me that the process of creating a chapter’s art starts with a script, then thumbs, then sketches, then ink. So here’s a thumb from Chapter 1:

And here’s a sketch of the first page:

Compare those to the final Chapter 1. Some of the text changed, and so did our faces. Which is good, because my mouth is kind of big in the sketch. I definitely have a big mouth, but not that big. Though the Princess would not agree. Ha.

Okay, off to crush Humphree at Super Alien Brothers. And then the Princess. Victory WILL be mine!

Smell ya later,

Cosmoe

Map-o-sphere slices, video games, and…evil?

Hey you guys! How’s it going? This weekend we’re joining in a spaceship food truck bonanza on Oftar 12’s third moon. It should be pretty cool. When we’re not selling dogs, Princess Dagger is psyched to try different foods from around the galaxy, and Humphree’s going to hunt down some new hot sauce ingredients. Me? I’m hoping to find some adventure, as usual!

Let’s dig into our reading marathon — today we’ve got an action-packed chapter to read! When we left off, Dags froze Krax and we escaped the MWWF arena. Phew!

In Chapter 15: Evil Ways, I try to piece the map-o-sphere together, we find out where the final slice is (it’s completely rad), and the Princess has an unwelcome encounter. Yikes! Find out what happens, and then check out…

Today I’ve got some original artwork that’s never been seen before! These are early sketches an illustrator did of Humphree, Dags, and me. You can see she was trying to figure out exactly how we should look in the book.

I think it’s so cool to see how artwork for a book gets created!

Okay, I gotta run. We’re almost to Oftar 12’s moon and we have a lot of setup to do. I want get it done so we have some time to explore the moon — you never know what you’ll find…

Have a rockin’ weekend,

Cosmoe

What would I do without my best buds?

Hey all. As I’ve been flying around intergalactic space this week with Humphree and Princess Dagger, I’ve been thinking about my cruddy buddies and how awesome they are.

Like that one time I had to fight the Boss Worm, Humps and Dags really were clutch in a tight spot. And then, when Dags pulled a fast one on Krax… well, read about it for yourself in Chapter 14: Cosmoe is Crowned! That’s the next installment in our reading marathon, and it’s pretty excellent.

And now it’s time for…

Today I’m going to school you on illustrations and color. Well, really, Rachel is. She’s the illustrator of my book! Check out the next image. Rachel did it when she was figuring out what we should wear.

Rachel did those less-detailed drawings to play with the colors more easily when she was getting Goober's coloring and Dags' dress right. Get this: The clothes we wear in the book show off our unique personalities. How cool is that?

I wear a red shirt in the book because I’m all into adventure and excitement. And jeans because I’m an Earth kid from the USA — what’s more American than jeans, right?

Humphree’s like the voice of reason of our crew. So he’s wearing mellow colors that show he’s usually a calm sort of dude. Usually.

And Princess Dagger? Well, she’s smart, digs adventure, is kind of girly, and can be a teeny bit bossy. (Don’t tell her I said that.) So turquoise is a perfect color for her. 

Pretty cool, huh? I didn’t know how important color is in illustrations! I’m going to be interviewing Rachel soon, so if you’re into drawing and art, you’re going to love what she has to say.

See you here tomorrow for part two of my Max interview!

Stay awesome,

Cosmoe

F.R.E.D. to the rescue!

Helloooooo from outer space, everyone! After a long stay on planet Grenzo, the Galactic Hot Dogs crew is back to flying around the galaxy. It’s pretty rad to be back in space, seeing planets and moons from far above. And it’s definitely way cool to go to sleep with a view like this:

photo credit: Cosmic Conifer via photopin (license)

That view last night was courtesy of F.R.E.D. He can always direct us to the best star-gazing views to zonk out to! Speaking of F.R.E.D., in today’s GHD reading marathon chapter, my little robot friend seriously saves my butt. When we left off, I was in a really tight spot. The Boss Worm was squeezing the whats out of me! The situation was grim, people. Find out how I get out of a jam in Chapter 13: Ding!

And now it’s time for…

Let’s talk robots today. Specifically, my favorite flying robot: F.R.E.D.! 

You know that F.R.E.D. is super helpful. But did you know these fun facts about the little guy? He can:

• Be a flashlight
• Give directions, like a GPS
• Become a video game system
• Hack into computers
• Toast hot dog buns
• Speak to other robots in 10,010 languages
• Be a TV or radio
• Do pretty much anything!

I don’t know what I’d do without F.R.E.D. I just wish he were a little better at cleaning. If I never had to clean the ship again, I’d be one happy Cosmoe!

Have a great day you guys,

Cosmoe

When Mutant Worm Wrestling goes very, very wrong

Wow, you guys. It’s been quite a day here on Grenzo. Get this: A vacationing alien who was chowing down on hot dogs insisted that Humphree’s hot sauce wasn’t hot enough. He kept adding more and more helio jalapeños to his hot dog.

Humps tried to warn the dude to ease up, but he wouldn’t. One thing led to another, and, well, let’s just say the alien found out the hard way that too many jalapeños can have some, um, internally explosive side effects. Good thing the dude has five stomachs. Yikes.

So, our next chapter in our GHD reading marathon is all about that one time I went to a Mutant Worm Wrestling match as a spectator — and then I ended up being a participant! That doofus Krax electrozapped me and threw me in the ring with the Boss Worm, whose tagline is, “After he beats you, he eats you.” Whaaaat? How am I NOT going to get devoured by a mutant worm? Read Chapter 12: The Boss Worm to see what happens!

And now it’s time for…

Since we had a pretty wacked-out alien encounter today, I thought I’d tell you a little about the aliens that appear in the book. Check this out:

Some of them look familiar, right? You can find a bunch of these guys in the book. The illustrators did a lot of careful work to get them right.

Out here in space, most aliens don’t have two eyes, two arms, and two legs like us. Their planets have totally different atmospheres and environments from Earth, which means aliens evolved differently.

On our planet, walking around on two legs makes sense. But where Nitrams come from (Alien “A” above), having multiple legs makes sense. Our little human feet would just stick to the ground on a Nitram’s planet, but Nitrams can easily scurry along. Seems weird to us, but Earth would seem weird to them!

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll be here on Grenzo for a little while longer, warning other goofy aliens not to lose a stomach from too many helio jalapenos!

Stay awesome,

Cosmoe

Why General Krax von Grumble is the WORST

Hi everyone! Have you ever been to a sports event that you were so pumped about, you thought you might explode from the excitement? That’s me when I go to a Mutant Worm Wrestling match! The action is totally intense and out of this world. Princess Dagger is a pretty big fan, too, as you can see!

In our next chapter of our reading marathon, you’ll see why Mutant Worm Wrestling rocks — and you’ll also meet the ridic General Krax von Grumble. He’s a toenail-chewing, electro-zapping, big villain type. And wait until you see what he does to me! Yikes! Check out Chapter 11: M.W.W.F. to find out what happens!

And now it's time for...

I’ve got some pretty cool Krax illustrations for you. The guy might be a nugget-brain, but I also think he’d be pretty tough to draw with his weird beard, weapons, and all that stuff. The illustrators really captured the essence of his doofy villainous self, you know?

Early illustrations of Krax

Here the artist was trying to figure out exactly how to draw Krax's weapon

Final design of Krax

He’s mean looking and yet completely lame at the same time. Man, I can’t stand that guy.

Okay, I gotta run. Hot dogs are calling my name. Or maybe that’s Humphree.

See you later,

Cosmoe

How am I going to escape the Space Zombie Death Grip?!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Have any cool plans for the weekend? Me, Humphree, and Princess Dagger aren't totally sure what to do. We should probably go sell dogs on Space Port Funketoun, but we're all kind of dragging.

I think we need a little va-cay, you know? Maybe some downtime on a tropical planet. Man, that sounds good. But we have to avoid the Tropical Moon of Mowee this weekend. We heard the Princess' evil mom, Queen Dagger, is hanging out there. No way, no how are we getting anywhere near her and her pain in the butt Jacks!

So, what did you think about the zombie space pirates in the last chapter of our reading marathon? Creeptastic, huh? When we left off, the undead zombie pirate captain was about to sink his nasty rotting fangs into me. Time to find out how the fuzz I'm going to get out of that mess -- and how I get us into our next mess! And why the heck is Humphree so fixated on the zombies' snack stash? Read Chapter 9: The First Slice to find out…

Speaking of zombies, check out these sketches that one of the book's illustrators did of the zombie captain. She put a ton of time into creating his super-high level of grossness. Look at his hands. They look like the flesh could just fall off at any second. Totally nasty -- nasty awesome!

Time for me to log off the old Intergalactic Internet and figure out what crazy fun stuff we're going to do this weekend. I know it's Valentine's Day on Earth tomorrow -- did you see the non-mushy valentines I made for Humphree and the Princess? I think they turned out pretty cool. You know, for a 13-year-old Earth kid who's not exactly artistic!

Have a great weekend!
Cosmoe

What will we find in the Lost Triangle?

Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was filled with video gaming, hot dog selling, and even some reading on a beach. We had a wicked successful day selling dogs on Saturday, so we all chilled out on the second moon of Zantar yesterday. Princess Dagger got a sunburn, though. I hope she doesn’t drag us back to the mall for more SPF 1000 sunscreen! Bones. That would stink.

Okay, back to the reading marathon! Today we’re going to read Chapter 7: The Lost Triangle. We found Humphree’s old pirate band and now we’re off in search of treasure! But the pirate band was beeping out a distress signal. Why? What will we find there? Will there be anyone — or anything — waiting for us? Time to find out…

Oh, and I have something funny for you: I dug up this old illustration of me, Humps, Dags, Goober, and F.R.E.D. This is before the book's artists knew what we really looked like. Check it out:

Me with brown hair. Totally weird. And Humps has a tail! HA! He was NOT impressed by that, let me tell you. “What kind of alien did that artist think I was?” Humphree grumbled. “A green-tailed Tronkle? That’s completely different from a Bronkle!” Humps definitely likes how we turned out in the book a lot better!

Have a galactically great day you guys,

Cosmoe

Chore charts? You’ve GOT to be kidding.

Hello from the MWWF Arena! That’s the Mutant Worm Wrestling Federation, in case you didn’t know. This place is awesome. But I was a little nervous about coming back here, to be totally honest. I have some not-so-fun memories of this place. But as soon as we got here, I got over it. I mean, mutant worms. That wrestle. How cool is that?! Right now we’re selling hot dogs nearby, but after that? It’s wrestlemania time!

Okay, let’s get back to our way-cool reading marathon. It’s time for Chapter 6: The Pirate Band. Things don’t start out so great when the Princess decides that Humps and I live like slobs and comes up with … a chore chart?! What the fuzz?! But then we make a pretty nifty discovery. So I guess cleaning up might be a good idea sometimes. Sometimes. Not often. Don’t want the Princess to get any ideas and go on some crazy organizing binge or something. Gah!

And what’s today’s never-seen-before art? Well, since me and the gang are hanging at the MWWF Arena, today we’re all about creepy creatures! Take a look at some of these freaky oddballs that an illustrator designed for the book:

Blobs. Blech.

Other-worldly hyenas with scary big teeth.

The monster known as King Kong. Yikes.

A bunch of random creepy monsters that scare the whats out of me.

I would NOT want to come face-to-face with any of those. Yeeks!

Gotta run and sling some dogs so we can get over to the last MWWF match of the day. It’s King Worm vs. Predator Worm. That’s a whole lot of big, slimy worm in one arena. Gross.

Gross … but awesome!

Have a great weekend,

Cosmoe

PS: If you’re a educator or parent type, you might want to take a look at this Galactic Hot Dogs reading log. Kids can check off the chapters as they read GHD, and list other books they’re reading, too. Cool!

When the duo becomes a trio…

Hey everyone! How’s it going? Today I’m writing to you while wearing my new “I survived the Twin Suns Shopping Center” t-shirt. The shirt’s not kidding, man.

When I thought Princess Dagger was lost in a shoe store, she was actually fending off these wacko aliens with her fire and ice flash pistols. She was doing pretty darn awesome when Humps and I got there. Then Humps went into Humphree Hurt Hug mode while Goober and I helped the Princess, and that was that. We were outta there as fast as possible. I hope we never run into those bad dudes again. Yikes.

Let’s pick up where we left off in our reading marathon! At the end of chapter four, we had bounty hunters, bad guys, and all sorts of creepy creatures on our tail. How the heck are we going to get out of this mess? And why does Princess Dagger choose this moment to talk about our future together?! Read Chapter 5: Wiener Parade to see what happens…

And now for today’s behind-the-scenes stuff. In honor of Princess Dagger’s awesomeness in chapter five, let’s check out how an illustrator came up with how she’d look in the book:

Pretty cool huh? I laughed when I saw her ears in drawing “F” — Dags was NOT happy with that one, let me tell you.

Okay, you guys, I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy Chapter 5: Wiener Parade! And if you missed my Cosmoe quiz yesterday, go check that out too. It’s pretty rad, if I say so myself.

Smell ya later, 

Cosmoe

Yikes! How will we escape the Royal Armada?

Hey, you guys! How was your weekend? We had a pretty successful couple of days selling hot dogs on Space Port Funketoun. We even got to see a movie at a drive-through theater built especially for space ships. The screen was ginormous! Totally wicked.

So, let’s continue our reading marathon! In the last chapter, the Princess showed Humps and me that she can kick some Jack butt, which was pretty insane. Didn’t see that coming, right? The three of us ka-blammoed the Jacks who invaded the Neon Wiener — but then were confronted by the entire Royal Armada!

What happens next? Check out Chapter 4: Life is an Interstellar Highway to find out! Will my crazy plan work? Will the Princess annoy the smudge out of me? And what’s the Queen going to do to us?

Today for your behind-the-scenes peek at Galactic Hot Dogs, I’m going to show you some early sketches from the book. Check these out:

It’s the Neon Wiener!

BAM! The Princess blasts some Jacks.

Group shot: Off to fight some space jerks and save the galaxy!

It takes a long time to get the illustrations for a book perfect, you know? And it definitely takes time to get my awesomely funky hair right.

Okay, back to work for me. I’ll see you guys here tomorrow. And I hope all you Poptropicans are digging Galactic Hot Dogs Island. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go here to play!

See ya tomorrow,

Cosmoe

Oh, smudge. The Jacks are coming for us!

Hi, you guys. Today I’m typing while trying not to zonk out on the keyboard. Humps, Dagger, and I were up late checking out a meteor shower. It was unbelievable! Have you ever seen one? The one we saw last night kind of looked like this:

NASA photo copyright ©2007 by Fred Bruenjes, all rights reserved.

Which means you can't use photos without giving credit. So don't.

There’s nothing like seeing a meteor shower from Mowee’s tropical moon!

So today we’re back to our reading marathon and we’re checking out Chapter 3: Jacked Up. Evil Queen Dagger sent Jacks, her bad robot dudes, to collect the Princess. Will she go willingly, or will she rope us into a royal rumble? And what is the possibility of successfully navigating a Royal Armada, anyway? Read Chapter 3 to find out!

Those Jacks are really a giant pain in my butt, you know? It’s no fun running into them because they’ve got those pulse-cannons for hands. But Jacks are so dumb, it’s not too hard for Humphree to knock their metal skulls together. Here’s a little background stuff about them:

And here’s how the book’s illustrator designed the Jacks:

Look at that big head with no brains. They may be really not-smart, but those Jacks have got a whole lot of lethal power. So we avoid them as much as possible!

All right, you guys. I have to go. After a snooze in the sun here, we’re off to Space Port Funketoun to make some cash. If we want to go on an adventure in the Wild and Crazy West soon, we need to make a bunch of spaceos — you know, space spending money!

Have a great weekend!

Cosmoe

What the heck do you do when you've got Princess Problems?

Hey everyone! How are things going? Today I'm zooming down the Interstellar Highway and stealthily avoiding bad guys. They're everywhere out here. It's a wretched hive of scum and villainy, you know? Sometimes I wish I had the Force to see me through like Luke in Star Wars. At least I've got F.R.E.D to help me out.

So let's get back to our Galactic Hot Dogs reading marathon! At the end of chapter one, Humphree, the Princess, and I were all about to be blown to bits by rockets. Check out Chapter 2: Princess Problems to find out what happens next. Will the Neon Wiener be destroyed? Why did the Princess steal away on our ship? And - GULP - what is the Evil Queen going to do to us?

Since today's chapter is all about Princess Dagger, I thought you might like to see what she looked like in early designs for the book. Check it out:

And of course, here's how she ended up looking:

Pretty different, huh? It took a while to get her hair exactly right because Dags wanted to be sure her 'do was, in her words, "flippin’ awesome!" She's giving me the hairy eyeball as I write this because she wants to be sure that I remind you that Chapter 2: Princess Problems is all about her and you should definitely read it because it's super way-cool.

Okay, gotta go. Traffic jam ahead. And a traffic jam in space gets pretty tricky - don't want to accidentally cut off a big, angry, HUNGRY alien, know what I mean?

Keep being awesome,

Cosmoe

Aw, man! Who stole my Mega-Dog?

Happy Monday, everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was MESSY. We had a little incident at the old hot dog truck. This jerky alien from Zelnerf got really mad when we ran out of moon rock relish. And to show us how POed he was, he barfed slime all over the outside of the truck! What the fuzz? It took hours to clean up. Argh.

Anyway, it’s time to kick off our super-cool Galactic Hot Dogs Reading Marathon! First up is Chapter 1: Mega Dog! Me and Humphree cook up a Mega-Dog for the Intergalactic Food Truck Cook-Off but someone steals it from us! One thing leads to another and we end up with the Royal Armada coming after us. And who the heck stole away on our ship? You gotta read the chapter to find out!

And now for some behind-the-scenes awesomeness. Check this out:

That’s me, believe it or not. Well, early drawings of me, before the illustrator of my book got my face juuuuuust right. Cool, huh? My favorite is my Han Solo suit because STAR WARS!

All right, you guys, I have to jet. Literally. So come back tomorrow for an inside scoop on the crew of Galactic Hot Dogs. And on Wednesday I’ll give you a look at some more never-seen-before stuff!

Stay awesome,

Cosmoe