#rocket raccoon 1985

[ohfugecannada]

Ah, the agony of wanting to see a 1985 inspired skin for Rocket in Marvel Rivals while knowing full well they’ll just ruin it by giving him actual pants like they did in the Edios game skin.

[ohfugecannada]

Omg, I just realised something while watching;

Blackjack isn’t using a jet pack like Rocket is, he actually has rockets on his heels.

…which look identical to Rocket’s rocket skates in the 1985 Rocket Raccoon comics!!

Not only does Blackjack try to one up Rocket in the race of this episode, he straight up stole his look/tech from him to do it! That is cold!

Rocket and Groot - The Space Race.

[angyc0rtoons]

Sam & Max Cameo in Rocket Raccoon (1985) - Issue #3

[do-you-ship-this-comic-ship]

propaganda:

Rocket’s one that got away. This pair is bittersweet and tragic no matter what continuity. Be it the MCU and Telltale games versions, who start off as lab experiments finding comfort and hope in each-others company, longing for a better life outside their cages, only for the other to be tragically killed moments before they can escape together. Or the og comic version, which is shown first in the 1985 Rocket Raccoon miniseries as a simple but fun love story between a swashbuckling hero and his noble lady true love fated to be together, only for multiple confusing backstory retcons afterwards to kill the ship, and make lylla an increasingly irrelevant character to Rocket and the Marvel 616 universe as a whole.

Lylla just can’t catch a break fr. *sigh* At least they’ll always have the 1985 comics and the MCU batch 89 fix-it fics…

[justforbooks]

Nothing can sum up Keith Giffen’s character better than the Facebook post he wrote to announce his own death at the age of 70: “I told them I was sick … Anything not to go to New York Comic Con. Thanx. Keith Giffen 1952-2023. Bwah ha ha ha ha.”

That eruption of maniacal merriment was recognised by comic fans as a last defiant laugh from the sardonic comic writer and artist, who has died of complications following a stroke, after a 50-year career during which he created many memorable characters including Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle), Rocket Raccoon, Ambush Bug and Lobo.

A Mexican-American teenager, Reyes first appeared in Infinite Crisis #3 (2006) and became Blue Beetle two issues later, when he gained superhuman powers via a scarab that morphs into an alien battle suit, eventually going on to appear in the 2023 Blue Beetle movie.

One of the stars of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies was created by Giffen early in his artistic career. Rocket Raccoon was a smart-mouthed anthropomorphic weapons expert who first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (1976), written by Bill Mantlo, who resurrected the character in his own four-part miniseries in 1985.

Among Giffen’s other early creations, Ambush Bug’s debut in DC Comics Presents #52 (1982) and its sequel, which involved the Legion of Substitute Heroes, were so successful that they led to several miniseries and one-shots drawn by Giffen featuring the absurd, fancifully dressed alien wannabe hero, and a one-shot Legion of Substitute Heroes Special (1985).

In 1982 Giffen joined the writer Paul Levitz on The Legion of Super-Heroes #287 and began transforming the series into a saga of considerable depth. One of the most popular storylines in comic book history, The Great Darkness Saga (#290-294, 1982), featured Darkseid as its cosmic villain and Legionnaires and other heroes from across time teaming up to confront him. As a result, Legion of Super-Heroes became one of DC’s bestsellers of the early 1980s.

Lobo, who first appeared in Omega Men #3 (1983), was intended as a parody of violent characters such as Wolverine, but became a poster boy for violence when Giffen teamed up with the writer Alan Grant and artist Simon Bisley for Lobo: The Last Czarnian (1990), which spawned numerous miniseries and specials in which Giffen continually pushed the envelope of acceptability as Lobo battled everyone from Santa Claus to his own children. Combat Christ and the Howlin’ Apostles proved to be DC’s limit.

Giffen was heavily involved in numerous crossover event series, designed, he said, to “significantly alter the status quo or introduce new characters into the status quo”, including Invasion! (1988), the weekly 52 (2006-07) and Countdown to Final Crisis (2007-08) for DC, and Annihilation (2006-07) from Marvel. His creativity and tongue-in-cheek humour earned him a loyal fanbase and he won an Inkpot award in 1991.

The son of Rosa Ann (nee Duncan) and James, a salesman for a textile company, Giffen was born in Queens, New York, but grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey. He was a fan of comics from the age of eight, when his mother handed him a copy of World’s Finest, and especially loved Marvel’s monster books and Gene Colan’s Giant-Man. He began creating his own characters at high school and went on to spend “one abysmal year” at the School of Visual Arts in New York (“the less said about that, the better”).

Apart from a year of night classes at duCret School of Art, New Jersey, Giffen was self-taught, studying books on anatomy and perspective during his four years working as a hazardous materials handler at Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceuticals. During a week’s holiday he decided to submit samples to comic companies. At Marvel, an artist had dropped out of illustrating a back-up story (The Sword and the Star) for Marvel Preview, and Mantlo, who had spotted Giffen’s portfolio, suggested they give him a try.

Giffen briefly produced layouts for Wally Wood on Justice Society of America for DC’s All Star Comics (1976), but was let go. After a period of selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door and other odd jobs, he tried again, drawing horror stories and Doctor Fate as a back-up strip in The Flash (1982), and working his way up to the Legion of Super-Heroes.

An accusation of “swiping” the work of José Muñoz in Ambush Bug (1985) – Giffen said he “parroted” it, rather than doing an outright copy – derailed his career for a time, until he was offered the chance to plot, and do breakdowns for, Justice League (1987-92) and its spinoff, Justice League Europe (1989-92), working with JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire. He also plotted and did breakdowns for Aquaman (1989) and plots for L.E.G.I.O.N. ’89/’90 (1989-90), a superhero group spun off from Invasion.

The range of Giffen’s output over the next 30 years was astonishing. He drew the superhero parodies The Heckler (1992-93) and Punx (1995-96), the return of Justice League International in Justice League: Generation Lost (2010), and episodes of Outsiders (2011), O.M.A.C. (2011-12) and Infinity Man and the Forever People (2014-15). He plotted or wrote full scripts for Eclipso (1992-93), Vext (1999), Suicide Squad (2001-02), a biography of HP Lovecraft (2004), Blue Beetle (2006-07), Midnighter (2007-08), Wetworks (2007-08), Reign in Hell (2008-09), Doom Patrol (2009-11), Booster Gold (2009-11), Magog (2009-10), Justice League 3000 (2014-15) and The New 52: Futures End (2014-15), all for DC; and for Marvel he wrote stories featuring Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell (2005), Drax the Destroyer (2005-06), Defenders (2005-06), Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos (2005-06) and Annihilation spin-offs Annihilation: Silver Surfer (2006) and Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord (2007).

During the same period he also penned or plotted various comics for Image (1993-94) and Valiant (1994-96), adaptations of Japanese manga, Battle Royale (2003-06) and Battle Vixens (2004-10), for Tokyopop and 10 (2005), Hero Squared (2005-07), Planetary Brigade (2006-07) and others for BOOM! Studios. He was also a storyboard artist for the animated shows Batman Beyond and Static Shock, as well as writing episodes of Ed, Edd n Eddy and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network.

In early 2023 he produced a podcast titled I’m Not Dead Yet, and had recently moved to Tampa in Florida.

He is survived by his children, Kyle and Melinda. His wife, Anna, predeceased him.

🔔 Keith Ian Giffen, artist and writer, born 30 November 1952; died 9 October 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[ohfugecannada]

I like your take on the origin. I feel Ike it strikes a good balance between the best elements of all the origins while still being cohesive and not overly convoluted. Also love the idea of Pyko as the leader of the Halfworld rebellion. It feels true to his character in the 1985 comics being this calculated and wise old man figure who ultimately wants to bring balance to the chaos of halfworld. He’s underrated af.

Also, one minor correction on the 85 origin: by the end of the 4th and final issue of the 85 comic, Rocket and co didn’t ditch the humans with the robot clowns. the humans have been cured of thier insanity by the miricle toy helmets, and with the help of the robots +rocket and co, were able to defeat the clowns in the big final battle. After this, it’s explained that, with the help of uncle pyko, the humans plan on remaking their civilisation on their own. Though they do offer rocket and co to stay, rocket ultimately wants to find a new place amongst the stars. And the humans are basically cool with this since they don’t have need for them now that they’re more self sufficient.

Also, Only Judson Jakes owns Mayhem Mekaniks while Dyvyne owns a rival toy company Dyvynicies inc. Though they do reluctantly form an alliance in the 3rd issue to kill Rocket and co. And it was only Judson who killed Lyllas parents.

Apart from that, a very good breakdown of all of rockets weird ass origins. The comics especially are a mess. At least the other media like the MCU and the animated show etc have the excuse of being set in different continuities and being loose adaptations of the comics that can take creative liberties. The comic writers of the 616 universe can never seem to make up their minds about what’s retconned and what isn’t. The v5 2018 origin kinda comes close to something simple that draws from the MCU a bit, but then throws a wrench in with the flashbacks to the 85 comic??? Hopefully, with vol.3 re-introducing elements of his origin to a broader audience, the writers will be encouraged to actually stick with the lab experiment origin and save us all the logistical headache of the 85 series somehow still being canon…

Rocket's Backstory

*deep breath* God help me

This is the most inconsistent Marvel backstory and I, the top expert on Halfworld, am here to clear it up.

I'm going to split the variants into the following catagories: 1985, 2014, modern comics, show, and mcu. (the show is simply called Guardians of the Galaxy and is on disney+ and i highly recommend).

I have compiled a spreadsheet to go over the main points

As you can see, it's a shit show.

(As i go over the stories as best I can, please note that i am not a comic buff i am a 15 yo with Asperger's and an obsession with Halfworld and if i get something wrong plz don't be mad at me just tell me and I'll fix it :3)

1985 Rocket Raccoon- Rocket is a genetically modified caretaker on Halfworld, a mental asylum used to hold the insane of the galaxy, known as loonies/shrinks (extremely offence things to call mentally ill ppl but it was the 80'ssss). They have a book called the Halfworld Bible, which holds the secrets of the planets and it's people. The planet is ruled by Mayhem Mechaniks, a toy company owned by Lord Dyvyne and Judson Jakes. They killed Lylla's parents to steal the company and it's... horrifying robot clowns. Pyko steals the Halfworld Bible for it's instructions on how to escape the planet in a giant human-shaped ship. MM finds out about this plot as crashes a party and there's a big battle and Rocket, Lylla, Pyko, Wal, Blackjack, and possibly Pyko escape Halfworld on the ship, leaving it in shambles as the loonies are massacred by the clowns.

2014 Rocket Raccoon (my fav series :3)- This one doesn't have much in the way of backstory, all we know is what Captain Sale gives us in the last book. Throughout the series it is shown that Rocket has no memory of his creation and believes he is the last of his kind. Until he ends up on Captain Sale's ship. She gives he the key to the Book of Halfworld and he takes 4 hours to read it. He is shown to be disgusted and horrified at the contents, leaving it with Sale and going home. (Clowns and the toy factory etc are mentioned, implying it is a sequel to the 1985 version.

Modern Comics- This section is specifically about v5 GotG #8 as I don't recall any other comics going into much detail. Here, there are loonies and robots, but no clowns. They must have thought it was too silly. Rocket is a therapy animal turned sentient with cruel experimentation. This is the first version of Rocket's backstory to show him sustaining significant and lasting trauma from his past. Not to mention the debilitating physical effects of having a metal skeleton and countless other weird things he doesn't understand. After his transformation, he is shown with the 1985 gang and other past team ups in a montage. It seems there is also an attempt at continuity here but it misses the mark a bit.

GotG Show 2015- This is by far the worst adaptation in my opinion, as it completely overhauls the story. So note that I have bias here. Here, Rocket is a simple Earth raccoon that has been transformed with the purpose of being a living weapon. His purpose was more 'artificial genius' than 'genetic marvel'. Immediately after being let into a more open enclosure, he meets Groot and effortlessly destroys the robots and steals a ravanger ship. After freeing all the creatures, of course.

(i am unable to provide images for this section as disney is a pussy ass company and won't let me screenshot but just imagine it sucking)

MCU- Anyone reading this has already seen the movies but I'll go over it anyway. The High Evolutionary is a man trying to recreate a sentient Earth-like planet by modifying creatures. Rocket is one of these poor souls. He lives his early years in a cage with Floor, Lylla, and Teefs. Rocket manages to open the cage one day, only to have his friends shot in front of him by the High Evolutionary. He then escapes. He meets Groot later in a well, not shown but confirmed by James Gunn.

Wow this took long to write. Time for the conclusion. Here i will 'average out' all the stories and throw in my personal theories.

My version- Halfworld is an insane asylum built by the Kree where they experiment on mentally ill people to try to cure them(we used to do this here on earth until the 60's). The 'toy factory' is a cover-up for this operation. The robot 'doctors' use clown faces to put the patients at ease. But what do psycho robot doctors do when the asylum is abandoned and not longer supplied with patients? They turn to the animal inhabitants on the planet. The Halfworld Bible/ Book of Halfworld is an engineering manual documenting the disgusting progress of making an innocent creature sentient. Pyko frees his people after decades of slavery in a grand rebellion and Lylla becomes the Priestess and guardian of the book like in 1985. Unfortunately, during the rebellion, 89P13 and Groot get stuck in an escape pod and sent away from the Keystone Quadrent, leading him to believe all of his people are dead or re-enslaved.

I think this version harnesses the soul and vibe of all the backstories while making it make more sense in the long run.

I had a lot of fun putting this together and I hope y'all appreciate it :D (Follow for more Halfworld content <3)

[mrwolfhare]

Hi! If one wanted to get into Rocket Raccoon comics, where would one start? My only real exposure to him has been the movies, although I did just start the animated tv show on Disney plus. Also, thanks for that video, I actually ended up buying that prose novel featured in it! I’m excited to read it. It was an interesting video essay.

The prose novel? The one where Rocket first appeared? Okay, so if you only start with that, then you should know it is like part 2 of a story that never finished. You can learn more about it and Rocket in this video:

Brynk Bunny knows his comics and Rocket inside and out, but he only made 3 episodes for far.

Anyway, concerning getting into comic Rocket, it depends on how much energy you wanna spend. I mean, if you want Pre-MCU Rocket comics, then you can go all the way and start with the Hulk #271 comic and then the 1985 Rocket Raccoon #1. Or just watch episodes 2 and 3 of the Heroic Beasts podcast, they cover those two comics.

Alternatively you can jump to GotG Rocket comics, which starts with the 2007 Annihilation Conquest: Starlord comic, as you might remember from the video you watched.

From then on it's the 2008 to 2010 Guardians of the Galaxy comic series.

You can look through all the GotG comic series on this site:

You might notice a GotG series ending in 2015, and then a new GotG series starting that same year, the year MCU GotG came out. Rocket is even clothed like his cinematic counterpart.

Hope this info was helpful. Comics can be an expensive hobby, so I'd suggest you pick and choose what might interest you.

Oh, once you got a feel for comic Rocket pre and post MCU, I really suggest you try reading the 2017 Ewing Rocket series, where the two sides, (pre and post mcu) finally merges into a more cohesive personality.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[dogwithglasses]

Out of general curiosity: what is your favorite comic interpretation of Rocket Raccoon? (Either visually or written or both.)

visually, Sara Pichelli drawings of Rocket in Bendis' GotG are great. I loooove the way Aaron Kuder drew him in All New GotG. in DnA GotG there's a couple issues drawn by Brad Walker and he draws Rocket looking like an actual raccoon which is really fun and good. tbh though my fave Rockets are probably Valerio Schiti and Juann Cabal in Bendis' GotG and Ewing's GotG, respectively. They just drew him so fuckin beautiful and expressive

as far as writing, my fave is probably Al Ewing. he really really gets the character imo and you can tell since he's written Rocket a bunch of times (Avengers No Road Home, Rocket, GotG, plus a few minor appearances in other titles Ewing wrote). Skottie Young wrote a killer Rocket and made it canon that Rocket loves Gilmore Girls which pleases me immensely

and of course i have to mention, Mike Mignola's art and Bill Mantlo's writing in the 1985 Rocket Raccoon miniseries. the lore is frickin wild and Rocket is mostly fighting robot clowns but it's good stuff and gave us our beautiful raccoon boy

[scienceninjaturtle]

ROCKET RACCOON: MARVEL TALES #1

Written by BILL MANTLO

Penciled by MIKE MIGNOLA

Cover by NICK BRADSHAW

VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY NICK BRADSHAW

The fiery furball known as Rocket Raccoon shows he has what it takes to one day be a Guardian of the Galaxy as we celebrate the legacy of the House of Ideas with MARVEL TALES! This anthology series shines a spotlight on fan-favorite characters, features timeless stories and highlights some of Marvel's most impressive talent from the past eight decades! In ROCKET RACCOON (1985) #1-4, acclaimed writer Bill Mantlo teamed with superstar-in-waiting Mike Mignola to present Rocket's first solo adventure as Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant! When Rocket's girlfriend Lylla is kidnapped by the mercenary Blackjack O'Hare and held captive by Lord Dyvyne, one of the most powerful creatures on Halfworld, it's up to the galaxy's deadliest weapons expert to go in – guns blazing – and save the day!

104 PGS./Rated T …$7.99

[ohfugecannada]

I love the red/orange eyes on most modern gotg rocket designs, but I also think the OG ranger rocket and his blue eyes deserve more love.

[dynamobooks]

Bill Mantlo & Mike Mignola: Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant (1985)

[ohfugecannada]

Behold my absolute favourite out of context panel from the og 1985 Rocket Raccoon comic miniseries.

[acmeoop]

Rocket Raccoon Cover Art (1985)

Rocket Raccoon 1 Cover by Mike Mignola

[angyc0rtoons]

✨ Fairytale ✨

Selfshipping Inktober #4

🚀 Rocket x 23✨

04: Fairytale

For the lore I have, I mainly base it on UCM's Rocket Raccoon and that line/events, BUT after having discovered that in the comics Rocket is usually Game Master / Dungeon Master in parties that himself organizes with other heroes it occurred to me that he could have the idea of a campaign with characters inspired by his friends from batch 89 🥹💖.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL, the adventures he imagines would be based on the ones he had in his original version of the comics (1985) in Halfworld, aaaand well it was cute for me to think that Rocket would tell 23 his ideas and stories for that campaign 🥹💖💖💖

Here we can see Rocket telling 23 that he made some changes to his story to include them as a character, since it was a story he had imagined a long time ago, before they met.

A little detail is that here I made Floor with a costume inspired by Blackjack O'Hare, I put her a little helmet and goggles c:

Btw I got late and I'm even more delayed with the list haha but it was for a good reason since my back hurt a lot yesterday and I had to rest it, take care of your back band, and support your local artists so they can buy a good chair 💺✨.

[yetanothercomicbook]

The Age of Enlightenment

Rocket Raccoon #4

Action-packed and satisfying conclusion to the storyline.

The highlight, of course, is the curing of the Loonies. Really, really enjoyable.

The rest is mostly a battle to the finish, with everybody involved.

Highlight of the battle: the return of Blackjack O’Hare.

9/10

[arborescentarecaceae]

Rocket in Rocket Raccoon (1985) #3

Written by Bill Mantlo. Art by Mike Mignola, Al Gordon, and Christie Scheele.