[Meeting…] Rocket Raccoon

After having spoken a few weeks ago about his companion GrootIn today's article we will get to know a little better about the little raccoon known as Rocket Raccoon, who despite having started his adventures almost 40 years ago, is currently experiencing his greatest moment of glory thanks to his inclusion in the Guardians of the Galaxy group as well as his appearance in the film of the same name.

Practically all the members of that new version of the group were rescued from oblivion or from a moment of low popularity, so it is possible that in the future we will see some more in this section. That said, we can now focus on little Rocket Raccoon.

The guardian of a crazy world

In space there is a sealed area, isolated from the cosmos known as the Keystone Quadrant, where the planet Halfworld is located, a colony of mentally ill people where animals have been modified in intelligence and appearance to be able to take care of them, a situation that gave rise to Rocket Raccoon (whose name comes from the Beatles song Rocky Raccoon) and other anthropomorphic animals.

Due to his leadership skills, combat skills and spaceship management, Rocket Raccoon became the head of security in the area, which ensured that he would live adventures and meet other Marvel characters.

Talking animal irritates Hulk!

And who better to pair up with an anthropomorphic raccoon than the Incredible Hulk? Because yes, the strong and generally stupid green giant from Marvel was the hero with whom Raccoon lived some of his crazy adventures in space, which is curious, since Hulk had already fought with Raccoon's best friend today, the alien tree Groot, which placed them on completely opposite sides in the Marvel universe if they had coincided at that time.

Needless to say that Hulk was not entirely happy with his companion, but the character's readers did remember the raccoon fondly., to the point that decades later, during Peter David's era, when in a specific part of the series where Hulk was in space many fans asked for Raccoon to appear. The request was heard and the Rocket Raccoon skin appeared in the possession of the Troyjans as a trophy, implying that the character had died.

Fortunately, and as we will see below, that turned out to be just a macabre tribute and our beloved raccoon would return to the present decades later.

A return in style

Just like Groot, Rocket Raccoon was recovered in Annihilation: Conquest, where some more traits were added to his personality, emphasizing his ability as a military strategist and hinting that he has some type of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Raccoon was one of the key characters in the new Guardians of the Galaxy, because when the group found itself without a leader (Star-Lord) he did not hesitate to take command to go look for him, which shows that he is a loyal character with character, since it must not be easy to be the leader of a group of superheroes being a small raccoon.

Later, and after some events in the war between the Kree and the Shi'ar (two of the most popular extraterrestrial races in the Marvel universe), Raccoon and his new friend Groot would return to Halfworld, a situation that caused Raccoon to obtained a lot of information that I did not know about his origin and stay there.

Conclusion and recommendations:

It is undeniable that Raccoon is a very striking character, his mascot and cartoon appearance totally clashes with his attitude and his military skills. Furthermore, the fact of showing him as a character who is tremendously loyal to his friends and companions makes him very likable among the public, since it is very easy to think that if one of them falls into a trap, Raccoon will not hesitate to go and save him.

His popularity has increased greatly thanks to the new Guardians of the Galaxy collection, as well as the group's film, and consequently he is a character who has gone from being forgotten to returning with great force, as demonstrated by the fact that he has even been included as a playable character in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

Regarding recommended readings, the first and most obvious thing is to recommend your journey in the new Guardians of the Galaxy, is the most recent comic where it has a continued appearance and it is surely easy to get now that the movie has made them fashionable.

If what you are interested in is seeing something more “curious” about the character, you will have to go back to his origins or appearances with Hulk. If you're looking for something more specific character-focused, you're in luck, because Raccoon has two own collections, one published in 1985 and a more current one that began in 2014, on the occasion of the character's return to the present.