Rocket Raccoon #3 Review: You Are Not Alone Rocket

I’d really like to say I enjoy everything about this issue, but that wouldn’t be much of a review. It would, however, be a pretty accurate summation of how I feel about it.

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From the time this book was first announced, I think I can speak for many fans in saying we knew his art would be a great fit. It’s not just his cartoony style either, but the overall design elements. The sound effects continue to amuse, and I’m going to assume it’s Young who puts those in since he’s writing and drawing this series. Did you know that getting smacked in the face with a raccoon tail makes the sound “tail?” He’s inventing his own onomatopoeia!

The action in Rocket Raccoon #3 is amazingly creative, at least in the sense that I’ve never seen fish used as spacecraft. stargates and weapons before — and definitely not all in the same story. I’m also really enjoying Young’s characterization of Rocket, as it strikes a little bit more of a balance between humor and balance than the Brian Michael Bendis “Blam! Murdered you!” take. Ideally, Rocket should be like an outer space Spider-Man in the sense that he makes wisecracks to cover up his own insecurities. The difference, obviously, is that he’s got a lot more of a violent edge.

What I wasn’t as sure about during the first two issues is the overall plot, but this issue was stronger in that regard. It’s pretty fun to see Rocket so bewildered not only by the appearance of a character who challenges one of his most strongly held beliefs, but one who also seems to be a step ahead of him at all times. He’s already been forced to turn himself in and break out of jail (not that the latter is too big a deal), but it’s going to take all of his resourcefulness to see this first arc out.

And now, we venture on to the …

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

Though the Ex-Terminators, a group of Rocket’s jilted ex-girlfriends, have caught up with him and Groot, they’re able to escape thanks to Macho Gomez and his fish-based space tech. They make it to the planet Sendak, and after escaping from a tight situation and the hands of a few of his henchmen, they end up getting the audience they want with “intergalactic kingpin” Funtzel.

Rocket is looking for information on the being who is running around looking like him, implying that he might not be the last of his kind. But what he gets from Funtzel is more surprising and could be even more significant: a hint that the Book of Halfworld, a legendary tome on Rocket’s home world, might be real. Funtzel is about to find out what our hero thinks about his attempt to mock the Book of Half-World when the faux Rocket Raccoon shows up. He’s already captured Groot, so you know he means business.

Young has set up a pretty compelling mystery here, one that just might give us some more insight into Rocket’s true origin. Added to the art and humor, there are plenty of reasons to keep coming back.

Favorite moment: As in the first two issues, there are several to pick from, but I’ll go with the showdown right at the end of the issue. With his unknown assailant holding the advantage and the lights out, Rocket still talks some good trash: “Hello? I don’t know who’s out there, but I assure you that once I kill you, you’ll regret all this.”

Final thought: Since we now know that the Guppy Warp exists, we can probably tell the physicists to stop worrying about how to achieve faster-than-light travel, eh? Also, if you think your last breakup was bad, at least it didn’t (hopefully) end with the other person saying this:

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