Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection by Bill MantloMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection collects early adventures of Groot & Rocket from Tales to Astonish #13, Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket Raccoon #1-#4, Marvel Preview #7, Annihilators #1-#4 and Annihilators: Earth Fall #1-#4.
Okay, like a lot of people, I never heard of Groot before the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and I was only slightly aware of Rocket Raccoon. They're easily my favorite GOTG characters so I decided to give this a shot. Good thing I only paid five bucks for it.
Groot's first appearance isn't all that bad. It's an eight page Lee and Kirby tale from pre-superhero days of Tales to Astonish. The Groot in this story is evil and can talk normally. It turns out he's from the same species as our Groot but isn't related. It's pretty much a monster story.
Rocket's first appearance was a black and white story in an issue of Marvel Preview. He was called Rocky and the only interesting thing from the story is that the prince in it is Prince Wayfinder, who is part of Micronauts lore from Bill Mantlo's run. Rocket's second appearance is a lot better. The Hulk finds himself on Half World, a world populated by half animals. Rocket is more like the Rocket we know and love in this appearance.
The material from the Rocket Raccoon miniseries features art from Mike Mignola and writing from Bill Mantlo so I had high hopes for it. It was a damn mess. Too many puns, too much cheesiness. It was a long four issues for me.
The Annhilators issues made the book worth what I paid for it. Rocket is working a regular job after the death of Quill and gets pulled back into adventuring when someone sends a killer clown to kill him. It also makes the Half World stuff in the miniseries easier to take in retrospect. Rocket and Groot also tangle with Mojo in another fun adventure.
I'm glad I read Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection for it's historical value where Rocket and Groot are concerned but I can't say I enjoyed it or would recommend it. Two out of five stars.
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