Rocket Raccoon #1

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg

Artist: Jorge Coelho

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Much to his chagrin, Rocket Raccoon’s space ship is blown to pieces, leaving him stranded on a primitive cesspool planet known as “Earth.” The terrestrial setting is an unexpected occurrence for a Rocket Raccoon comic book. Occasional creators toyed with putting Rocket in mundane situations, but we’re normally treated to seeing him blast baddies in space battles.  Most of this story follows Rocket as he incredulously navigates the everyday injustices of New York City, such as homelessness, starvation and prejudice, while he tries to escape Earth.

He is told by friendly aliens that all traffic to or from Earth has been shut down by the Avengers. Rocket schemes to get himself smuggled off-planet, even though guest stars work on persuading him to stay. This causes me to worry about the future direction of this series because I don’t really want to see Rocket on Earth. This may be a personal preference, but I’ve seen Earth. Marvel has “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” We can read about Spider-Man who is from the Bronx. We can read about  the Great Lakes Avengers in Milwaukee or Hawkeye in L.A. Do we really need one of Marvel’s space veterans tethered to the planet we see the most? When I read about Rocket Raccoon, I want spaceships and laser guns and celestial threats, supernovas, tears in the fabric of space-time, cancer-verses, Galactus and the Nova Corps. We definitely don’t need another fish-out-of-water story considering how many awkward high-schoolers Marvel has handed the reins to.

I do quite love a side-effect of this Rocket Raccoon story. To go along with the theme of our hero being trapped on Earth, Rocket Raccoon #1 has one of the best ever covers to a regular series comic book. Painted by David Nakayama, who is more known for drawing buxom babes, shows Rocket caged in a pound kennel surrounded by worried looking lost pets, clinging to the bars with a determined look on his face. It appropriately thematic, comedic and adorable. I wish Marvel hadn’t even included the splashy title over the painting; I like it that much.

As it is, Rocket Raccoon #1 is good enough. Earth has an amusing alien underworld that Rocket must explore in order to escape the planet. It generates some funny lines featuring deep cuts from Marvel lore. Jorge Coelho’s art looks a bit like John Romita’s way back when he used to shade and the writer Matthew Rosenberg nails Rocket’s character. I was never disappointed in Rocket Raccoon #1 so much as I was worried about the future of the comic book. It nagged me the entire time I was reading, but it was still an enjoyable read.