Rocket Raccoon
Encyclopedia
Rocket Raccoon is a fictional character
, a superhero
in the . He first appeared in Marvel Preview
#7 (Summer 1976). Rocket Raccoon is an intelligent, anthropomorphic
raccoon
.
and Keith Giffen
and consciously inspired by the classic Beatles
song "Rocky Raccoon
" which included "Gideon's Bible
" (in the comic book limited series it was a book
that contained the sum of all knowledge on the "loony colony").
Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview
#7 (Summer 1976), in the back-up feature The Sword in the Star. He subsequently appeared in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982). He later had his own four-issue limited series (in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview). This limited series was penciled
by Mike Mignola
and inked
by Al Gordon
. Issue #3 was inked by Al Milgrom
.
Rocket Raccoon continued his new adventures starting in 2008 as a part of the team Guardians of the Galaxy along with other characters from the Annihilation: Conquest
series.
Along with Groot
, he starred in backup features in Annihilators
#1-4 (Mar-Jun 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept-Dec 2011).
At one point, Judson Jakes tried to steal the Halfworld Bible, but was thwarted by Rocket and the Hulk
. Later, Lord Dyvyne abducted Rocket's friend Lylla, and Jakes began the Toy War. As the Toy War continued, Blackjack O'Hare teamed up with Rocket, and Rocket was reunited with Lylla. The Rack 'n' Ruin was soon destroyed, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne teamed up to kill Rocket Raccoon. Rocket Raccoon and his friends cured the Loonies of their mental illnesses, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne were apparently killed. Rocket and the animals and the robots left Halfworld and took off into space for their own adventures. Some time later, Rocket was revealed to have been a laboratory subject on the Stranger
's planet, and escaped his captivity there.
During Peter David
's run on the Hulk series, Hulk went into space and David cynically addressed reader requests for Rocket's reappearance by implying that he had been killed by the aliens known as the Troyjans, who had a pelt mounted on the wall that looked like Rocket's. With Rocket reappearing alive after this story, it can be assumed that the pelt belonged to a non-sapient raccoon.
In 2007
, Rocket Raccoon returned in the Annihilation: Conquest
- Star-Lord
limited series. Rocket Raccoon is depicted as a gifted military tactician who is also fearless, loyal, and insightful. It is also heavily implied that he has a case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Rocket's trademark rocket skates are absent.
Rocket later joins the new Guardians of the Galaxy at the behest of his friend Starlord. It is he who suggests that the team adopt that moniker after hearing it mentioned by Major Victory. Later on, when the team almost disbands and Peter Quill disappears (sent into the Negative Zone by Ronan
), Rocket keeps the team alive and takes over as leader until they rescue Peter. He also brings in Groot
as a member, as the two had become firm friends.
When the team tries to halt the growing War of Kings, Rocket decides to lead the team assigned to make contact with the Shi'ar. However, they are unable to teleport into the Emperor Vulcan's flagship and have to be rescued by the Starjammers
and his old friend Ch'od
. They are able to bring back the rightful queen of the Shi'ar, but she's killed once Rocket had departed, much to his horror.
After the Guardians disband, Rocket Raccoon takes up a normal job with Timely Inc. He and Groot were reunited and tricked into returning to Halfworld: here, he found out his memories of the place were mostly half-truths and deliberately crafted fake memories. In reality, Jakes and Blackjack O'Hare had worked with Rocket in providing security at Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane; Doctor Dyvyne had been Head of Psychology there; and both the anthropomorphic animals and the automaton clowns were deliberately created to work at the asylum, as their appearance would calm the inmates. The crises that Rocket half-remembered had been caused by the psychic supervillain the Star Thief
, who had been admitted as an inmate and used his psychic powers to turn the inhabitants against each other. Rocket had turned the warders into a biological "key" to keep Star-Thief locked up, and deliberately altered his mind and left Halfworld so it could never be opened - but he was tricked into returning by the Thief, whose mind had escaped into the asylum after his host body died.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
in the . He first appeared in Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview was a magazine-sized black-and-white showcase comic book published by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of Marvel....
#7 (Summer 1976). Rocket Raccoon is an intelligent, anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
.
Publication history
The character was created by Bill MantloBill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...
and Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
and consciously inspired by the classic Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Rocky Raccoon
Rocky Raccoon
"Rocky Raccoon" is a song by The Beatles from the double-disc album The Beatles . The song was primarily written by Paul McCartney, who was inspired while playing acoustic guitar with John Lennon and Donovan in India .-Composition:The song, a folk rock ballad, is titled from the character's name,...
" which included "Gideon's Bible
Gideons International
Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over 94 languages and 194 countries of the world, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin, as an early American parachurch...
" (in the comic book limited series it was a book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
that contained the sum of all knowledge on the "loony colony").
Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview was a magazine-sized black-and-white showcase comic book published by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of Marvel....
#7 (Summer 1976), in the back-up feature The Sword in the Star. He subsequently appeared in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982). He later had his own four-issue limited series (in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview). This limited series was penciled
Penciller
A penciller is an artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms.The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout to showcase...
by Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Michael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
and inked
Inked
Inked is a documentary television series about the employees of the Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The series was created by Jeff Bowler in 2005, and was broadcast by the A&E Network...
by Al Gordon
Al Gordon (comics)
Alan Gordon is a comic book creator primarily known as an inker and writer. He is best known for his 1990s work on DC Comics' Legion of Super Heroes and the Justice League Of America, Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, and Image Comics' creator-owned WildStar.- Star Reach and Marvel :Gordon's career...
. Issue #3 was inked by Al Milgrom
Al Milgrom
Allen "Al" Milgrom is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West...
.
Rocket Raccoon continued his new adventures starting in 2008 as a part of the team Guardians of the Galaxy along with other characters from the Annihilation: Conquest
Annihilation: Conquest
Annihilation: Conquest is a 2007-2008 Marvel Comics crossover storyline and the sequel to 2006's Annihilation. The series again focuses on Marvel's cosmic heroes defending the universe against the Phalanx, now led by Ultron...
series.
Along with Groot
Groot
Groot is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.-Publication history:Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish vol...
, he starred in backup features in Annihilators
Annihilators
The Annihilators are a fictional team in the Marvel Universe and appear in publications from Marvel Comics. They are a collection of powerful space-based characters from various alien races. They act as a deterrence to galactic war.-Publication history:...
#1-4 (Mar-Jun 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept-Dec 2011).
Fictional character biography
Rocket Raccoon acts as the "Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant", an area of outer space sealed off from the rest of the cosmos by the so-called Galacian Wall. Rocket is captain of the starship Rack 'n' Ruin, and he and his first mate Wal Russ (a talking walrus) come from the planet Halfworld, in the Keystone Quadrant, an abandoned colony for the mentally ill where the animal companions were genetically manipulated to grant them human level intelligence and bipedal body construction for many to become caretakers of the inmates. Rocket was Halfworld's chief law officer ("ranger") who protected the colony against various threats.At one point, Judson Jakes tried to steal the Halfworld Bible, but was thwarted by Rocket and the Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
. Later, Lord Dyvyne abducted Rocket's friend Lylla, and Jakes began the Toy War. As the Toy War continued, Blackjack O'Hare teamed up with Rocket, and Rocket was reunited with Lylla. The Rack 'n' Ruin was soon destroyed, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne teamed up to kill Rocket Raccoon. Rocket Raccoon and his friends cured the Loonies of their mental illnesses, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne were apparently killed. Rocket and the animals and the robots left Halfworld and took off into space for their own adventures. Some time later, Rocket was revealed to have been a laboratory subject on the Stranger
Stranger (comics)
The Stranger is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.The Stranger first appeared in X-Men #11 , and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.-Fictional character biography:...
's planet, and escaped his captivity there.
During Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
's run on the Hulk series, Hulk went into space and David cynically addressed reader requests for Rocket's reappearance by implying that he had been killed by the aliens known as the Troyjans, who had a pelt mounted on the wall that looked like Rocket's. With Rocket reappearing alive after this story, it can be assumed that the pelt belonged to a non-sapient raccoon.
In 2007
2007 in comics
-January:*January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released.*January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6.-February:*February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment....
, Rocket Raccoon returned in the Annihilation: Conquest
Annihilation: Conquest
Annihilation: Conquest is a 2007-2008 Marvel Comics crossover storyline and the sequel to 2006's Annihilation. The series again focuses on Marvel's cosmic heroes defending the universe against the Phalanx, now led by Ultron...
- Star-Lord
Star-Lord
Star-Lord is the name of three fictional characters that appear in publications from by Marvel Comics.The first Star-Lord was Peter Quill, who first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 , and was created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan...
limited series. Rocket Raccoon is depicted as a gifted military tactician who is also fearless, loyal, and insightful. It is also heavily implied that he has a case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Rocket's trademark rocket skates are absent.
Rocket later joins the new Guardians of the Galaxy at the behest of his friend Starlord. It is he who suggests that the team adopt that moniker after hearing it mentioned by Major Victory. Later on, when the team almost disbands and Peter Quill disappears (sent into the Negative Zone by Ronan
Ronan the Accuser
Ronan the Accuser is a fictional character that has appeared in numerous comic book series published by Marvel Comics. A member of the alien race the Kree, he exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. Ronan first appeared in Fantastic Four #65 , and was created by Stan...
), Rocket keeps the team alive and takes over as leader until they rescue Peter. He also brings in Groot
Groot
Groot is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.-Publication history:Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish vol...
as a member, as the two had become firm friends.
When the team tries to halt the growing War of Kings, Rocket decides to lead the team assigned to make contact with the Shi'ar. However, they are unable to teleport into the Emperor Vulcan's flagship and have to be rescued by the Starjammers
Starjammers
The Starjammers are a fictional team of space pirates from the pages of the X-Men comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Starjammers first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #107 and were created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum...
and his old friend Ch'od
Ch'od
Ch'od is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe, usually seen in the X-Men series and various spin-offs. He first appeared in X-Men #104 .-Fictional character biography:...
. They are able to bring back the rightful queen of the Shi'ar, but she's killed once Rocket had departed, much to his horror.
After the Guardians disband, Rocket Raccoon takes up a normal job with Timely Inc. He and Groot were reunited and tricked into returning to Halfworld: here, he found out his memories of the place were mostly half-truths and deliberately crafted fake memories. In reality, Jakes and Blackjack O'Hare had worked with Rocket in providing security at Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane; Doctor Dyvyne had been Head of Psychology there; and both the anthropomorphic animals and the automaton clowns were deliberately created to work at the asylum, as their appearance would calm the inmates. The crises that Rocket half-remembered had been caused by the psychic supervillain the Star Thief
Star Thief
Star Thief is a fictional Marvel Comics character.-Fictional character biography:Star Thief was struck by a bolt of energy from space. This bolt kills his family and gives him extensive energy based powers. This also motivates him to attempt to end all human exploration of space...
, who had been admitted as an inmate and used his psychic powers to turn the inhabitants against each other. Rocket had turned the warders into a biological "key" to keep Star-Thief locked up, and deliberately altered his mind and left Halfworld so it could never be opened - but he was tricked into returning by the Thief, whose mind had escaped into the asylum after his host body died.
Powers and abilities
Rocket Raccoon possesses the normal attributes of an Earth raccoon, including an acute sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch. He is an accomplished starship pilot, an excellent marksman with the two laser pistols he carries as well as having an affinity for heavy weapons. He's also an excellent military tactician and leader, attributes that help him take charge of the Guardians of the Galaxy when Starlord is unavailable.In other media
- Rocket Raccoon is a playable character in the crossover fighting game Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
. He is voiced by Greg EllisGreg Ellis (actor)Greg Ellis is an English actor known for his TV, movie, and video game voice over work. He has appeared in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 2009 Star Trek film , Titanic, Beowulf, To End All Wars, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith...
with a CockneyCockneyThe term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accent. - Rocket Raccoon, along with the other Guardians of the Galaxy, will be appearing in the second season of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The show debuted on Disney XD in Fall 2010 starting with a 20 part micro-series. A second season has been...
.