Misplaced Pages

#129870

112-516: Rocket Raccoon is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen , the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (July 1976). He is an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon , who is an expert marksman , weapon specialist and master tactician . His name and aspects of his character were inspired by

224-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with

336-488: A script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have the final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors ,

448-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought

560-455: A 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in the red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch

672-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,

784-627: A band of superheroes, and were then dumped through a portal to the Negative Zone . Groot was later tracked down and captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. 's Paranormal Containment Unit, nicknamed the Howling Commandos , when his tree scent was detected by Sasquatch and Abominable Snowman . While Groot was being held captive, Gorilla-Man talked to Groot about joining the Howling Commandos. When Merlin and his forces attacked

896-585: A character audiences love not only for his cuteness and humor, but for his saddened soul and desire to fit into the dramatic universe of Marvel. Let’s hope we get to see a lot of Rocket Raccoon in Avengers: Endgame next month, and let’s hope he makes it out alive so we can see more of him in the future." According to Diamond Comic Distributors , Rocket Raccoon #1 was the best selling comic book in July 2014. Jeff Lake of IGN gave Rocket Raccoon #1

1008-508: A consequence of the battle, Groot dies, buying the team some time to escape. A new Groot was created as a sprig offshoot and went on to accompany the team on their continued mission against the Phalanx, but was one of the team members captured by the Phalanx. Groot and the others were freed by Mantis , and escaped back to the lines of the Kree's resistance. In time, Groot's body regenerated from

1120-457: A grade of 8.7 out of 10, writing, "In Rocket Raccoon #1, Skottie Young proves a quality storyteller behind the pages and on them. Though the plot is a little barebones for now, Young imbues the script with enough energy to keep it going, his amazing visuals doing the rest. Rocket's fan base will only grow in the coming months, and. Young appears well suited to do him justice." According to Diamond Comic Distributors , Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1

1232-714: A member of the Guardians. Groot is one of the stars of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. In March 2015, it was announced that Groot would be getting a solo series by writer Jeff Loveness and artist Brian Kesinger . The Groot who appeared in Tales to Astonish and the one introduced in Annihilation: Conquest were retroactively established as being separate members of

SECTION 10

#1732786775130

1344-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as

1456-459: A new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as

1568-451: A number of things, and his varying inflections of the sentence are the equivalent of words and sentences. People who have interacted with Groot are gradually able to decipher the meaning of the inflections and can carry on full conversations with Groot as time goes on. The meaning of the word 'Groot' comes from the Dutch word 'groot' and translates as 'Tall'. The mature form of Groot's species

1680-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did

1792-419: A separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books, the art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with

1904-438: A strong narrative with the small tree creature-slash-assassin. Despite only speaking three words, he does inflect great emotion through Groot. Flaviano's art adds to it, as Groot is given a visible range of emotion to help the reader understand what he's saying. His overtly cartoony Groot stands out wonderfully well against the much more realistic Guardians (even Rocket), drawing the reader's eye to Groot in every panel he's in. This

2016-441: A success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of

2128-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring

2240-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were

2352-435: A total of ten comic books in his first thirty years of existence. Besides a brief appearance in a 2006 issue of Exiles , Rocket Raccoon was next seen in 2007's Annihilation: Conquest and Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord limited series, and their spin-off series, a new volume of Guardians of the Galaxy . He remained a regular member of the series cast until it was canceled with issue #25 in 2010, also appearing in

SECTION 20

#1732786775130

2464-417: Is a great trick, as it does show that Groot is the central focus. At the climax of the book, the art gets downright weird, but it's beautiful. The planet Terminal is presented as an eerie alternate world, with vibrant colors (thanks to Menyz). The colors are stunning throughout the whole book — he uses them well to set up the overall feel of each page. I honestly can't pick a favorite panel, since this whole book

2576-422: Is a master military tactician and leader, attributes that help him take charge of the Guardians of the Galaxy when Star-Lord is unavailable. Dominic Lerose of The Daily Cardinal called Rocket Raccoon a "top fan favorite," writing, "Rocket is the only surviving member of the Guardians of the Galaxy after Thanos' snap for good reason. He’s the most interesting out of them all, the most emotionally vulnerable and

2688-485: Is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized,

2800-469: Is absorbed through photosynthesis ; this is a highly advanced education method, making the Flora colossi geniuses. Groot originated from an "Ennobled Sap-line" and was gifted with a tremendous grasp of quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering. Groot did not get along with fellow saplings but instead preferred the company of the "Maintenance Mammals", against which the other saplings discriminated. Groot

2912-742: Is beautiful to look at." Two distinct incarnations of Groot appear in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), both voiced by Vin Diesel , who also provided motion capture for the character and voice work for some foreign dubs. Additionally, Fred Tatasciore voices an alternate universe variant of Groot in the What If...? episode "What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?". Baby Groot appears in Ralph Breaks

3024-551: Is learned that "Rocky" is short for "Rocket". In 1985, he received his own four-issue limited series and in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview , penciled by Mike Mignola and inked by Al Gordon with Al Milgrom . Rocket appeared in Quasar #15 in 1990 and later appeared in three issues of Sensational She-Hulk in 1992 (#44–46). The character only appeared in

3136-679: Is robust and heavyweight, which causes the organs of acoustic generation to become stiff and inflexible. It is this nature of Groot's larynx that causes people, who are oblivious to the subtle nuances of Flora colossi speech, to misinterpret Groot as merely repeating his name. It could not be determined whether Maximus' claim was true or merely another manifestation of his madness, though Groot genuinely did seem to be assisting Maximus with highly advanced engineering. Later, in All-New X-Men #23, Jean Grey telepathically links with Groot, showing that Groot's thought processes are indeed complex, and

3248-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined

3360-427: Is the beginning of something good. All the pieces are there story-wise, art-wise, and character-wise. Now the task is the new journey we’re taking with some ink and paper friends. Fans of the movies and fans of the original comics will find much to appreciate with this issue. Time to blast up the jams on your old cassette tape deck and enjoy with a smile." Baltimore Lauren of Bleeding Cool asserted, "Hastings delivers

3472-632: The All-New, All-Different Marvel relaunch. Rocket Raccoon is the "Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant", an area of outer space sealed off from the rest of the cosmos by the Galacian Wall. Rocket is captain of the starship Rack 'n' Ruin , and he and his first mate Wal Rus come from the planet Halfworld in the Keystone Quadrant, an abandoned colony for the mentally ill whose animals were transformed into anthropomorphic forms to care for

Rocket Raccoon - Misplaced Pages Continue

3584-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),

3696-467: The Flora colossi for their apparent inability to speak, though Groot was shown to have been actually speaking not just understandably but eloquently in his language throughout Annihilation: Conquest . The Flora colossi are ruled over by the "Arbor Masters" and teach the children of the species with "Photonic Knowledge", which is the collected knowledge of the Arbor Masters of the generations and

3808-399: The Flora colossi that Gardener grew from Groot's splinters. Groot got close to Gardener and used his healing powers to purge the poison that Loki put in him from his body. Gardener repaid Groot by using his abilities to restore Groot back to his previous size. In addition, Groot can now speak in full sentences and refers to himself in the third person. Groot can absorb wood as food, and has

3920-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for

4032-619: The Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of

4144-746: The Marvel Universe was a book that contained the sum of all knowledge on the Loonies colony. Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976) in the back-up feature "Prince Wayfinder: The Sword in the Star", where he was called "Rocky". In this appearance the character spoke using stock British English phrases such as "bloody well," "old bean," "jolly good," etc., which did not continue in later appearances. He next appeared in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), where it

4256-729: The McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved

4368-757: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on

4480-546: The Stranger 's planet, and escaped his captivity there. Rocket Raccoon resurfaced as a member of the team chosen to accompany Star-Lord on his mission to stop a Phalanx infiltration of the Kree homeworld. Rocket is depicted as a gifted military tactician who is fearless, loyal, and insightful. It is heavily implied that he has a case of obsessive compulsive disorder . Rocket's trademark rocket skates are absent. Rocket joins

4592-729: The Ultimates , Hyperion, and Quasar in intercepting a fleet of Chitauri that are approaching Earth until a Hydra-aligned Steve Rogers activated the Planetary Defense Shield trapping those fighting the Chitauri outside of Earth's atmosphere. Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot try to enlist representatives of the Skrulls, Kree, Brood, Shi'ar and Spartax empires that are on the Galactic Council in helping against

Rocket Raccoon - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-456: The Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as a way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from

4816-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following

4928-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had

5040-419: The 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect the comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of

5152-567: The Babel Spire. When Star-Lord was captured by Ultron , the original plan of laying explosives in the Spire failed, so Rocket Raccoon and Groot needed to come up with a new plan. Groot decided to sprout inside the Spire, growing to colossal size and filling a large portion of the building. Mantis was able to remix Groot's sap in a way as to make it extremely flammable, and again Groot died for

5264-468: The Beatles ' 1968 song " Rocky Raccoon ". Rocket Raccoon appeared as a prominent member in the 2008 relaunch of the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy . The character has appeared in several media adaptations as a member of that team, including animated television series , toys and video games . He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of

5376-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In

5488-415: The Chitauri hordes and to break down the Planetary Defense Shield and get rid of Hydra. Realizing they are now facing a galaxy without human interference, the Galactic Council refuses aid and attempt to kill the three Guardians as they flee. After the Planetary Defense Shield is shut down, Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy join the final battle against Hydra. Rocket Raccoon and Groot are on their way to

5600-529: The Destroyer and Gamora , whom Groot counted as friends. During the 2015 Secret Wars storyline, Groot is with the Guardians of the Galaxy when they take part in the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610. Groot and Rocket Raccoon are killed by the Children of Tomorrow. However, when Peter Quill — one of the few survivors of the incursions from Earth-616 — finds himself confronted by Black Swan in

5712-702: The Earth from an alien invasion. When the team tries to halt the growing War of Kings , Rocket leads the portion of the team assigned to make contact with the Shi'ar . They are unable to teleport into the Emperor Vulcan 's flagship and have to be rescued by the Starjammers and Rocket's old friend Ch'od . They bring back the rightful queen of the Shi'ar, but she is killed after Rocket departs, much to his horror. After

SECTION 50

#1732786775130

5824-533: The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022 television film), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). In these appearances, the film version character of Rocket is voiced by Bradley Cooper , with motion capture provided by Sean Gunn . The character

5936-514: The Guardians disband, Rocket Raccoon takes up a normal job with Timely Inc. He and Groot were reunited and tricked into returning to Halfworld: there, he found that his memories of the place were mostly half-truths and deliberately crafted fake memories. In reality, Jakes and Blackjack O'Hare had worked with Rocket in providing security at Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane; Doctor Dyvyne had been Head of Psychology there; and both

6048-766: The Guardians of the Galaxy while Star-Lord is busy on Spartax. During the crisis in Avengers: No Road Home , when the dark goddess Nyx threatens to destroy all light in the universe, Rocket is one of the heroes who were inadvertently assembled to fight her, including Hawkeye , Hercules , Hulk , the Scarlet Witch , Spectrum, the Vision , Voyager, and Conan the Barbarian . Once Nyx was defeated, Rocket mused that this would allow him to cross "being an Avenger" off his bucket list. Rocket Raccoon possesses

6160-694: The MCU, starting in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy , with Krystian Godlewski playing the initial incarnation of the character via performance capture and James Gunn doing so for his reborn offspring, colloquially known as "Baby Groot". Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (Nov. 1960), and was created by Stan Lee , Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby . He appeared again in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 Annual #5 (Oct. 1976), alongside five other monsters from Marvel's anthology horror comics of

6272-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in

6384-460: The Stohlad Ring when they are ambushed by Gardener where he shattered Groot because the Guardians of the Galaxy "corrupted" him and diverted him from his true purpose. Rocket Raccoon escaped with a splinter where Groot grew a new body from it. During the " Infinity Countdown " storyline, Groot was with the Guardians of the Galaxy when they notice that the planet Telferina is under attack by

6496-503: The ability to regenerate . Groot can control trees and plants, using them to attack others, and appears to be resistant to fire. Groot is able to sprout dramatically increasing mass which then severely inhibits movement. Groot has been seemingly killed on multiple occasions, each time regrowing from a sprig. Black Bolt 's brother Maximus the Mad asserted that whenever Groot is saying the trademark "I am Groot!" he has actually been saying

6608-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This

6720-585: The anthropomorphic animals and the automaton clowns were deliberately created to work at the asylum, as their appearance would calm the inmates. The crises that Rocket half-remembered had been caused by the psychic supervillain the Star Thief , who had been admitted as an inmate and used his psychic powers to turn the inhabitants against each other. Rocket had turned the warders into a biological "key" to keep Star-Thief locked up, and deliberately altered his mind and left Halfworld so it could never be opened - but he

6832-473: The back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted a year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by

SECTION 60

#1732786775130

6944-478: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated

7056-495: The base, the Howling Commandos let Groot and their other captives free, who proceeded to stampede on Merlin's army; Groot was the only one to turn back, offering to join the Howling Commandos. Groot aided the Howling Commandos as they assaulted Merlin's forces. A different Groot played a part in Annihilation: Conquest , at which time it was shown Groot may be the last remaining member of the Flora colossi and

7168-598: The castle of Emperor Doom , he reveals that he has been carrying a small twig of Groot in his pocket ever since the incursion, slamming it into the roots of the World Tree and causing Groot to transform the giant tree into his body, decimating Doom's castle as the surviving heroes mount their final assault. During the " Civil War II " storyline, Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy are summoned by Captain Marvel to help her in her fight against Iron Man's side when it came to

7280-414: The comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into

7392-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled

7504-497: The continued misadventures of Rocket and Groot. It's tough to go wrong with that. Unlike some Guardians comics, this series quickly finds its niche and promises interesting wrinkles to come for both characters." According to Diamond Comic Distributors , I Am Groot #1was the 71st best-selling comic book in May 2017. Alexander Jones of Comics Beat called I Am Groot #1 a "charming, colorful tale," saying, "Thankfully, I Am Groot

7616-480: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote

7728-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,

7840-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of

7952-554: The declaration of "I am Groot!" usually represents attempts at highly intelligent communication. Mike Fenn of The Daily Dot asserted, "The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest entry, Guardians of the Galaxy , has resulted in the spread of the Internet’s latest meme: I Am Groot." C. M Crockford of Looper wrote, "Groot quickly became an Internet meme thanks to his simple vocabulary and pleasant nature, with his catchphrase "I am Groot" spreading into popular culture." According to Diamond Comic Distributors , Groot #1

8064-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In

8176-559: The fate of the Inhuman Ulysses Cain . The resulting battle damaged the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship stranding them on Earth. During the " Monsters Unleashed " storyline, the Guardians of the Galaxy defend Groot from a snake-headed Leviathon. During the " Secret Empire " storyline, Groot and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy assist Captain Marvel, the Alpha Flight Space Program, members of

8288-694: The film The Avengers . He appears prominently in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the 2012 Marvel NOW! relaunch. In February 2014, it was announced that Skottie Young would write and illustrate a Rocket Raccoon ongoing series. The series began in July 2014, with the first issue selling over 300,000 copies. Jake Parker replaced Young as the artist beginning with issue #5. The series ended in May 2015 as one of many titles to be cancelled for Marvel's Secret Wars event. A new volume, titled Rocket Raccoon and Groot , began in January 2016 as part of

8400-750: The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring the Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on

8512-470: The follow-up limited series The Thanos Imperative . Along with fellow Guardian Groot , Rocket starred in backup features in Annihilators #1–4 (May 2011 – August 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4 (November 2011 – February 2012 ). Rocket Raccoon, along with the other members of the Guardians, appeared in issues #4-8 of Avengers Assemble , a series intended as a jumping-on point for fans of

8624-556: The inmates. Rocket was Halfworld's chief law officer ("ranger"), who protected it from various threats. At one point, Judson Jakes tried to steal the Halfworld Bible, but was thwarted by Rocket and various animal associates. Later, Lord Dyvyne abducted Rocket's friend Lylla Otter, and Jakes began the Toy War. As the Toy War continued, Blackjack O'Hare teamed up with Rocket, and Rocket was reunited with Lylla. The Rack 'n' Ruin

8736-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there

8848-486: The largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of the process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in

8960-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across

9072-404: The late 1950s and early 1960s. In The Sensational Spider-Man #−1 (July 1997), Groot was featured in a nightmare of the young Peter Parker . Groot reappeared in 2006 in the six-issue limited series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos and appeared in the Annihilation: Conquest and Annihilation: Conquest – Star-Lord limited series. Groot went on to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in

9184-451: The limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in the 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than

9296-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed

9408-451: The mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in the tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from

9520-574: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934),

9632-564: The new Guardians of the Galaxy at the behest of his friend Star-Lord. It is he who suggests that the team adopt that moniker after hearing it mentioned by Major Victory . Later, when the team almost disbands and Peter Quill (Star-Lord) disappears (sent into the Negative Zone by Ronan ), Rocket keeps the team alive, and brings in Groot as a member, as they had become firm friends. Rocket takes over as leader until they rescue Peter and save

9744-430: The normal attributes of an Earth raccoon , including speed (which has been additionally amplified by his training), and an acute sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch. Sharp claws allow him to scale walls, buildings, and trees with ease. He is an accomplished starship pilot, a brilliant engineer and technician, and an expert marksman with the two laser pistols he carries as well as having an affinity for heavy weapons. He

9856-605: The page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of the American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be

9968-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in

10080-437: The same persona, therefore invalidating the retroactive change from issue six of the Groot series. Groot is a Flora colossus from Planet X, the capital of the branch worlds. The Flora colossi are tree-like beings whose language is almost impossible to understand due to their stiff larynxes , causing their speech to sound like they are repeating the phrase "I am Groot". Other beings try to be friendly but become angry with

10192-464: The same species in the sixth and final issue of the Groot ongoing series that launched in June 2015. In Infinity Wars , however, Groot specifically references the fact that during his first visit to the planet Earth, he had promised to "march across the surface of the planet and doom all who dared to oppose Groot." This seemingly reverted the character's origins to having both eras of Groot referencing

10304-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash

10416-428: The series of the same name and remained a fixture of the title until its cancellation with issue #25 in 2010. Groot appeared in its follow-up, the limited series The Thanos Imperative , and, alongside fellow Guardian Rocket Raccoon , Groot starred in backup features in Annihilators #1–4 (March–June 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4 (Sept.–Dec. 2011). Groot appeared in issues #6–8 of Avengers Assemble as

10528-464: The small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck , a collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published

10640-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half

10752-424: The team, this time by purposefully igniting so the resulting fire would destroy the Babel Spire. A cutting of Groot was kept by Rocket Raccoon, though, and Groot was again able to regrow. Groot then joined the new Guardians of the Galaxy (or, as Groot would have it, "Groot and Branches"), and began regrowing under the care of Mantis. When the Guardians reformed, Groot joined with Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax

10864-586: The three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically, the size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that

10976-411: The twig, growing back to full size. Groot and the others intended to carry on as part of Star-Lord's team. Groot and the team returned to Hala to prepare another assault against the Phalanx, but their agent Blastaar was captured by the Phalanx and taken to their Babel Spire as he tried to carry Groot's pollen spores. Groot and Rocket Raccoon continued their mission by sneaking into the sub-basement of

11088-449: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Groot The character

11200-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in

11312-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of

11424-582: Was created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen , and inspired by the Beatles song " Rocky Raccoon ". Other references to the song were featured in Rocket's appearance in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982), which was titled "Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon" and saw the Hulk help Rocket stop a villain trying to steal "Gideon's Bible", which in

11536-435: Was exiled by the "Arbor Masters" in Guardians of the Galaxy #14 after killing another sapling to defend a maintenance mammal it was brutalizing. An alternate origin was presented in the Groot ongoing series. In the story, it is revealed that the other Flora colossi had been abducting organisms from other planets, including a young human girl named Hannah. After seeing Hannah, Groot realized that what his people were doing

11648-413: Was reintroduced as a heroic, noble being in 2006, and appeared in the crossover comic book storyline Annihilation: Conquest . Groot went on to star in its spin-off series, Guardians of the Galaxy , joining the team of the same name . Groot has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel media, including animated television series , toys and trading cards . Vin Diesel voices Groot in

11760-746: Was seemingly destroyed by termites used by Leslie Evans. Xemnu made a duplicate of Groot by making a human and tree hybrid that was used to fight the Hulk , but it was destroyed in the battle. Groot was later revealed to have survived, but was a captive of the Collector and held in his zoo in Canada until Groot and the other captive creatures were freed by the Mole Man . Groot and the other creatures rampaged in New York City until they were stopped by

11872-401: Was soon destroyed, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne teamed up to kill Rocket Raccoon. Rocket Raccoon and his friends cured the Loonies of their mental illnesses, as Judson Jakes and Lord Dyvyne were apparently killed. Rocket and the animals as well as the robots left Halfworld and took off into space for their own adventures. Some time later, Rocket was revealed to have been a laboratory subject on

11984-401: Was the 10th best selling comic book in June 2015. According to Diamond Comic Distributors , Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1 was the 15th best-selling comic book in January 2016. Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1 a grade of 7.8 out of 10, writing, "This new series may not feel terribly "all-new" or "all-different," but it features a proven creative team exploring

12096-547: Was the 15th best selling comic book in January 2016. Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1 a grade of 7.8 out of 10, writing, "This new series may not feel terribly "all-new" or "all-different," but it features a proven creative team exploring the continued misadventures of Rocket and Groot. It's tough to go wrong with that. Unlike some Guardians comics, this series quickly finds its niche and promises interesting wrinkles to come for both characters." According to Diamond Comic Distributors , Rocket Raccoon #1

12208-595: Was the 29th best selling comic book in December 2016. Characters supporting Rocket include: Rocket Raccoon had enemies of his own in his comic series, including: Rocket appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , motion captured by Sean Gunn and voiced by Bradley Cooper . This version, also known by the label 89P13 , was created by the High Evolutionary and possesses cybernetic implants. American comic book An American comic book

12320-542: Was tricked into returning by the Thief, whose mind had escaped into the asylum after his host body died. When the Guardians of the Galaxy title was relaunched in 2013, Rocket was again a member of the team. In the first issue of Secret Wars , the Guardians of the Galaxy take part in the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610 , during which Rocket and Groot are killed by the Children of Tomorrow. In All-New, All-Different Marvel , Rocket Raccoon takes leadership of

12432-476: Was under arrest by the Kree for an unknown reason. Groot earned freedom by joining Star-Lord 's strike force, where Groot and Rocket Raccoon formed a bond, Rocket being one of the few beings with the ability to understand Groot's language. Star-Lord's team fought their way through the Phalanx , but after the death of Deathcry the team decided to escape through a drainage pipe that Groot could not fit into. As

12544-415: Was wrong and managed to save the child and send her back to Earth. However, for his disobedience, Groot was exiled from Planet X and forced to wander the universe until he met Rocket Raccoon many decades later, where this version of Groot later became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot is an extraterrestrial tree monster who initially came to Earth seeking humans to capture and study. Groot

#129870