Posted in: Comics | Tagged: bill mantlo, guardians of the galaxy, keith giffen, Marvel Comics, mike mignola, rocket raccoon

Know Your Guardians – Rocket Raccoon

When I heard that Marvel was going to make a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, my first thought was: "Who's going to play Charlie 27?" Yes, sadly I was a bit out of touch with the current incarnation of the Guardians. I went to the local shop and picked up the trade for Legacy, the first volume and was stunned to see Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Star-Lord and a few other space-bound characters that I knew. But the thing that floored me the most was at the bottom left corner, the furry, gun-toting ball of fuzz named Rocket Raccoon.

Now I remembered Rocket Raccoon from being twelve-years-old and seeing him appear in The Incredible Hulk #271. The issue stuck in my mind not only for the tiny hero, but also because it was the only comic I ever saw lose value from the cover price. For a while it was listed in the Overstreet Price Guide for $0.57 cents… the cover was $0.60.

The Hulk issue was not his first appearance though. In the summer of 1976, Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen did a back up story for Marvel Preview #7. The story was called The Sword in the Star and featured the armed procyon inspired by The Beatles song Rocky Raccoon. After his appearance with the Hulk, Rocket Racoon got his own four-issue mini-series drawn by Mike Mignola and made guest appearances in Quasar and She-Hulk before finally joining the Guardians.

His early history has him Captain of the Rack 'n' Ruin starship with his first officer Wal Russ (he's exactly what you think) and having adventures in the Keystone Quadrant of space. His adventures included teaming up with the Hulk to retrieve the Halfworld Bible from Judson Jakes and rescuing his friend Lylla from the clutches of the dastardly Lord Dyvyne during the Toy Wars.

His time with the Guardians began when he was part of the team chosen to accompany Star-Lord in an attempt to stop a Phalanx infiltration of the Kree homeworld. Upon completing the mission, he stayed with the Guardians at the behest of Star-Lord. When the team fell apart because of a betrayal by Star-Lord (he had Mantis mentally push everyone to join him), its Rocket that reforms the team and eventually rescues his former leader from the Negative Zone. Rocket and Groot make a trip back to Halfworld where its discovered that most of Rocket's memories of his past are false, self-implanted in an attempt to keep the psychic villain Star Thief incarcerated.

Rocket Racoon is considered a brilliant tactician and leads the team whenever Star-Lord is unavailable. He's also an expert marksman and well trained in the use of heavy weaponry. He possesses the powers and abilities of a normal Earth raccoon… except he gets to wear clothes.

So an anamorphic character from the seventies, created around the same time as Bucky O'Hare and Captain Carrot, bounces around through the 80s and 90s making brief appearances then suddenly lands in the right place, at the right time with the right creative team and we get: "the heart of the Guardians of the Galaxy". Or at least that's what director James Gunn calls him and the speculation on who will voice the character is running rampant. My two favorite rumors are former Doctor Who, David Tennant and Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage. I think either choice would be a lot of fun and a good call for the character.

I will be back soon to take a look at another member of the team as we get prepared for next year when everywhere you look you'll see Guardians of the Galaxy.

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