Cosmic Dash
is a science fiction web comic written and illustrated by David Davis. It follows the adventures and missions of the Lucky Strike's crew. Headed by Captain Mara, Engineer Dash, and several other crew mates, they fly from planet to planet taking on strange missions and making new friends—and enemies—along the way. Updates on Fridays.
Tropes appearing in Cosmic Dash:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: All colors of the rainbow. Justified since the characters are alien life forms.
- Amusement Park of Doom: While not purposefully made as one, the "Shmoofyland Robot Rampage" story is about the park's robot employees revolting against the park owner and taking over the park.
- Badass Bookworm: Dash has some knowledge of defensive martial arts, and has a degree in applied energy technology.
- Beast Man: As a sci-fi show this is usually to be expected.
- Bittersweet Ending: A double-issue story arc involving a galaxy-wide search for tech stolen from GalactiCorp and ends with the crew successfully protecting their cargo from space pirates and a mysterious mercenary, but losing their ship in the process, which causes them to disband.
- Bumbling Henchmen Duo: The Wootari brothers, the Dragon's henchmen, show they're not all that bright when they hi-five after interrogating a captive, forgetting they're still wearing joybuzzer-like Electric Torture devices.
- Butt-Monkey: Kracker and Dash tend to be on the receiving end of less than pleasant things.
- Call a Human a "Meatbag": Well, not that they’re necessarily human, but even so.
- Cephalothorax: Tentachildren possibly, but it's hard to say. They're basically cyclops octopi.
- Compliment Backfire: Mara doesn't like being called "tenacious".
- Cult Defector: Orthos Kabalos is a former member of the Cult of Y'tun Sargon who left after the cult killed his wife. Now he leads the task force investigating them.
- Cyclops: Cyclopasians, Tentachildren, Wots have one eye. In fact, Wots are mostly eye.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much Dash and Kracker, though the others have had their moments.
- Disappeared Dad: Dash's father Razaar was apparently a controversial figure who left his son with Dash's grandfather, only to return when he was older, eviscerate a kidnapper, and vanish again after harsh words. He is later seen with some sort of strange alien race, planning an expedition and mentioning his son.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: One of the storylines is titled "Shmoofyland Robot Rampage".
- Four-Fingered Hands: Humans have the good ol' five, but Terrekin have four, and Greys have three.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Dash is pretty handy with machinery.
- Gaslighting: Someone's working on Dash's paranoia.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Mara bashing an opponent in the head.
- Guest Strip: Has several of them, typically posted between chapters.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Walter Kimney, CEO of Kimney Robotics and high-ranked executive in its parent company GalactiCorp. He quickly strikes a friendship with the protagonists, and after they lost their ship recovering stolen GalactiCorp property, he's quick to point out the company owes them. In the end, he hires them all in a new GC subsidiary, and provides them with a new ship.
- MegaCorp: GalactiCorp and DraCo are the main actors on the market.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Mara and most other non-mammal females in the comic.
- Number Two: Ms. Mayden, Drakkar Vadis's assistant and bodyguard.
- The Medic: Dorian's job description. Capable of stitching a cut tightly even when drunk.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: One of the guest strips has the movie "Ninjas, Robots and Engineering in SPAAAAACE!"
- Oculothorax: Wots are roughly two heads tall, and most of their head/torso is a single big eye (they don't even have a mouth, as according to supplemental material, they feed through their extremities).
- Orwellian Retcon: Short-term continuity errors (such as Dash getting a cut on his left arm but getting his right arm stitched a few pages later) are quickly fixed this way.
- Overt Operative: The assassin trying to kill Kimney had a highly conspicuous tattoo on the back of his neck, and announced himself to Kimney as he attacked him. Subverted in that he was actually a wannabe and assassin fanboy, who somehow learned of the hit and decided to do it himself to impress the Assassin's Guild. All this accomplishes is get an actual assassin to murder him in his cell for usurping their symbol and staining it with his incompetence.
- Pintsize Powerhouse: The weapon smuggler, Mr Packwell Danten: Standard-sized astro-mole, and a knife-wielder packing enough violence to down spear-wielding repton thugs with a folding knife.
- Plant Aliens:
- Wots, if Guugel's eating habits are any indication.
- Florarans, of the "obviously plant" variety. They have leaves for hair.
- Remember the New Guy?: The pirates with a grudge against the Lucky Strike's crew appear in the fourth chapter (start of Volume 2).
- Removable Shell: It's the case for Dash's species, as seen on
this page. Word of God mentions genetic engineering. The weird part is they're nonetheless able to hide in them, as seen in Dash's flashback. - Right Through the Wall: Poor Guugel:I would tell them to get a room, but her bunk is next to mine. I hear everything.
- Ripped from the Headlines: In-universe: The "Ninjas, Robots and Engineering in SPAAAAACE!" movie is clearly based on their recent adventure (well, at least, in an April 1st guest comic).
- Run for the Border: Packwell Danten attempted to gain asylum in the Empire, unfortunately for him the imperial officer was in cahoots with Ij Farspoilernote , who sent Mara to abduct him from the imperial safehouse.
- Robot War: The apparent objective of the Artifici Liberation Front.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The Egg MacGuffin pilot chapter (not on the website as of March 2020) is all about the characters having to safely transport a giant holy egg. Once they make the delivery, the egg is fried up and eaten.
- Shell Backpack: See Removable Shell above.
- Shout-Out:
- The comic has the occasional cameo in the background, especially in crowds.
- The "Roller Ghoster" is a Pac-Man-themed rollercoaster with ghost and Pac-Man shaped carts.
- The Silent Bob: Guugel according to Dash. Side-stories (and laternote , the main story) show he's actually a telepath, but only attuned to Dash.
- Silent Snarker: Guugel slips into this role from time to time.
- Spin to Deflect Stuff: Dash deflects Sarress Aeven's thrown blades.
- Spit Take: Walter Kimney when his boss tells him he's retiring and handing him his position. And subsequently Marken, when Kimney tells him about restoring his company.
- The Spymaster: It appears to be Ij Far's job in the Federation. From what we've seen so far, he's firmly on the side of good.
- Sunglasses at Night: Marken only takes off his shaded goggles when it's both dark and indoors. Other astro-moles are hardly seen without shades either, since as a species they're highly sensitive to light. Indoor lighting is enough to dazzle Mark.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Kracker's parents fall somewhere into this given how tall his mother is compared to his father.
- Unknown Rival: Vid, the space pirate "captain".A particular target of his aggression is Dash Kameku, who Vid sees as his rival. Dash doesn't seem to care, only infuriating Vid further.
- Vengeful Vending Machine: In chapter "Grounded", Dash encounters one such machine and promptly decides to take it apart and repair it. Since he has no accreditation to do so, the owner calls security on him.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Found on this page.
- Warrior Therapist: Mara's impressive athletic abilities and leadership skills make her one of these.
- You Have Failed Me: The Wootari brothers say the Dragon does not take failure well; there's no in-comic proof of it, though. What is shown in-comic is that he's much less tolerant of betrayal.
- You No Take Candle: The Cyclopasians, at least when they speak Common. Otherwise, their speech falls under Eloquent in My Native Tongue. In the case of Orthos, it’s an act.
