I just started rereading all the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books which I haven’t read since I was in high school. Although it has the words “DON’T PANIC” in large, friendly letters on the cover, I’ve always been partial to the green character that is on the front of many of the books.
It turns out that this friendly little character is named the “Cosmic Cutie.” What I also didn’t know is that Douglas Adams vehemently disliked him, and tried very hard to disassociate him with the franchise. It turns out that when the books were first published in the United States, the publisher felt that having this green character on the front of each book would help the readers know that these books are part of the same series.
Even if Douglas Adams didn’t care for him, it’s too late and many of us fans have become fond of the little guy. The version you see above was made in Illustrator. I then took him and superimposed him upon a star field for a nifty iPhone background. Maybe not as neat as digital wristwatches, but pretty fun none-the-less.
*SPOILER ALERT* I enjoyed reading this HG2G series myself, so did another. I complained that the “space cutie” on the cover isn’t even a character in the book at all… except he remembered the green blur of a character who appears when the plot takes place upon arrival to the restaurant at the end of the Universe… *SPOILER ALERT*