K-9

---

Alias: Commander K-9


Eyes: Black
Hair: Bright green fur
Race: Martian dog


Occupation: Sidekick
Base of operations: Mars


Story: K-9 is Marvin the Martian's faithful sidekick on his missions.


Continuity: Looney Tunes
Publisher(s): Warner Bros.
First app.: Cartoons: Haredevil Hare (July 24, 1948)
Creator(s): Chuck Jones
Country of origin: USA


Background notes: K-9 is Marvin the Martian's dog. He first appeared along with Marvin in Haredevil Hare from 1948 and appeared only in two of the five original cartoons with Marvin the Martian, the other one being The Hasty Hare from 1952 (voice by Mel Blanc). After this, K-9's appearances were limited to reruns in the Looney Tunes anthologies like The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour and The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show and while Marvin the Martian has appeared in new material since 1979, K-9's appearances have been limited to a cameo in Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) and two episodes of Duck Dodgers (K-9 Kaddy and K-9 Quarry from 2003 and 2004, voice by Frank Welker) where he was called Commander K-9. K-9 is pronounced "canine" i.e. a pun on the character being a dog.

In comics K-9 has fared a bit better than cartoons. Like Marvin the Martian, he did not appear in comics until DC Comics started their Looney Tunes series in 1994. The first appearance was #7, and since then, he has only appeared about once a year.

Outside the expected appearances for a cartoon character, K-9 appeared along with Marvin the Martian in the game Marvin Strikes Back! from 2000 for the Gameboy console and Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf in 2001 from Infogrames for PC and Playstation (named Sheep Raider in the U.S. Playstation version).

Strangely enough, the medium where the Martian dog appears the most is merchandise. K-9 can be found on a wide range of items like teddy bears, pins, coloring books, figurines, and a salt and pepper set (with Marvin the Martian).


Related links/characters: