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Rocket Raccoon’s origin’s include robot armies, killer toy companies, and insane humans – and that’s just the beginning.
The Guardians of the Galaxy’s roster has boasted some of the most unique and interesting characters in the Marvel universe including super-soldiers, ex-assassins, and a walking tree. Aliens of all kinds have joined the Guardians in the pursuit of vanquishing evil across the cosmos. But perhaps none are stranger than the Guardians gun-toting, foul-mouthed, and furriest member of all, Rocket Raccoon!
Debuting in 1976’s Marvel Preview #7 within the story “The Sword in the Star” by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen, Rocket was called simply “Rocky”. He wasn’t as foul-mouthed and ill-tempered as he is today, but “Rocky” was still just as verbose as he aided the wayward Prince Wayfinder of Ithacon. But it was in 1982’s Incredible Hulk #271 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema that “Rocky” reappeared, officially becoming Rocket Raccoon as he starred alongside Hulk.
Rocket would again return for his first solo comic series, 1985’s Rocket Raccoon by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. The story is simple: Rocket’s love interest, the fair otter-maid Lylla, becomes captured by the evil mole, Judson Jakes! Rocket’s quest to save Lylla takes him across Halfworld and into conflict against not only Judson Jakes, but Blackjack O’Hare and the Black Bunny Brigade, Lord Dyvyne, and armies of robot fiends. During his adventures Rocket learns the truth of not just Halfworld, but himself as well.
Halfworld itself is a planet that is split directly down the center. One half of the planet is a lush paradise while the other is a harsh industrial hellscape. Two rival toy companies battle each other endlessly for total control of Halfworld. The primary residents of Halfworld are sentient animals as intelligent and capable as humans. The humans that exist on Halfworld are all insane and act as nothing more than overgrown children. It’s a planet of absolute chaos and murderous cartoon mayhem.
The origins of Halfworld and its populaces is a sad one. Long ago human psychiatrists had sent their mentally unstable to Halfworld so that they may live somewhere safe while experiments could be performed in order to cure them. The psychiatrists had given the mentally ill humans robots to keep them alive and animals to keep them happy and entertained. But when funding for their experiments dried up, the psychiatrists were forced to leave the humans on the lonely planet with nothing other than their robots and animals. They built the Galacian Wall as means to keep the humans partitioned away from the rest of the galaxy, safe from outside forces.
As the years passed the robots became exponentially more advanced due to a theorized exposure of radiation from a nearby nova. The robots then began to perform genetic experiments on the animals and thus were able to grant them advanced intelligence and cognitive abilities. Left amongst themselves for so long the animals began to war with one another using the toys they had originally made to entertain the humans with as templates for their weapons of war. The planet became segregated into the living spaces for the humans and the factories for the animals hence its name Halfworld.
The mini-series ends with Rocket ending the war on Halfworld, saving Lylla, and curing the humans of their mental instabilities. With Halfworld and the Keystone Quadrant open to the rest of the galaxy, Rocket and the humans look to the stars as their destinies lay before them. Rocket would late join the Guardians of the Galaxy during the 2007 Annihilation: Conquest event.
Rocket Raccoon’s comic origin is radically different than that of his MCU origin. It isn’t delved into much, but a few key scenes from 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy film reveals that Rocket had undergone harsh experimentation that had turned him into the walking, talking raccoon that he is. It’s understandable why the MCU decided to simplify his origins as attempting to truncate the entire history of Halfworld would have been clunky and obtuse for the sake of the film. A nice nod to Rocket’s comic origin can be heard in 2021’s “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” video game, however, when Rocket makes a passing comment about Halfworld to Star-Lord.
It could be argued that Rocket Raccoon could have the wildest and most original origin story out of the entire history of the Guardians of the Galaxy and that’s exactly what makes him so endearing. His personality has become a bit more caustic over the years since his debut, but his dedication to his friends has never faltered and he’s proven himself a hero time and time again. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming in 2023 fans will be able to see more of the explosion-loving varmint and his best friend, Groot.
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