Review: Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection
Quick Summary
Pros: The older stories are interesting from a historical aspect. Rocket’s solo series is bizarre in an entertaining way. Rocket and Groot’s team-up adventures provide a wonderful combination of action and humor. The entire collection is filled with great artwork.
Cons: Some of this collection’s stories might feel antiquated for modern readers.
Overall: This is a unique collection packed with a wide variety of stories. Some stories are average from a storytelling standpoint but interesting from a historical standpoint. Other stories are downright fun and are full of action and humor. However, all of the stories are bathed in great artwork and provide a unique look at two great characters. Fans of Rocket and Groot will definitely enjoy the majority of this book.
Story
Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection is a compendium of stories that detail some of Rocket Racoon and Groot’s earliest comic appearances and some of their more modern ones. The majority of these stories are wacky, weird, and unique in a way that allows them to significantly stand out from most mainstream comics. They also have a nice level of humor that suits both of these characters rather well. However, the classic stories may come across as a bit antiquated for most modern readers. Overall though, this is a solid collection that presents a historical and modern view of Rocket Racoon and Groot.
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The beginning of Rocket Raccoon & Groot tells several stories that depict the earliest appearances of both Rocket Racoon and Groot. These stories are a bit underwhelming in some regards, as they fail to really establish an overly compelling narrative regarding the characters. This might make them harder to read for modern audiences.
However, these chapters are much better when viewed from a historical context. I thoroughly enjoyed comparing the monstrous and evil version of Groot with the kind and lovable version seen today. Not everyone will be able to appreciate this positive but those who like comic history will find this to be interesting.
The next chapters in Rocket Raccoon & Groot come from Rocket’s first solo series. The adventures detailed here are wacky and weird, yet end up being surprisingly entertaining. The bizarre nature of this story helps it stand out initially and the unique worldbuilding regarding Halfworld carries on interest from this point. By the end of the miniseries, I found myself invested in the progress of the Halfworld animals and was excited to see them succeed in their mission.
The final chapters of Rocket Raccoon & Groot are the best of the bunch. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, these chapters have Rocket and Groot on two equally strange adventures that give them a chance to save the world and recapture their status as heroes. These adventures are packed with jokes and humor that suit the characters well and provide some laughs along the way. Plus, both stories still find time for some action, especially from the ever-expanding arsenal of Rocket Racoon.
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Art
The entirety of Rocket Raccoon & Groot is filled with wonderful and diverse artwork. The older issues contain nice looking chapters from comic legends like Jack Kirby and Mike Mignola. Though Mignola’s issues do not feature his now signature art style, they are still full of imagination in a way that helps bring the planet of Halfworld to life.
This volume also sees the return of Timothy Green II to the characters of Rocket and Groot. Green had previously worked on these characters in Annihilation: Conquest Book 1 (Review), where his creative pencils helped bring them into the modern comic landscape. His work here contains a similar level of quality and is still one of my favorite interpretations of both characters. Overall, the artists working on this volume are all very skilled and help make this collection an impressive looking book.
Continuity
Rocket Racoon & Groot: The Complete Collection is a book that contains Rocket Racoon and Groot’s exploits from various eras from the characters’ histories. The majority of these stories do not directly continue stories from other comics, though any references made are detailed below.
Rocket and Groot’s next major appearance is in Avengers Assemble.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Rocket’s appearance in Marvel Preview #7 continues story elements from the “The Sword in the Star!” story from Marvel Preview #4.
- Rocket’s appearance in The Incredible Hulk continues story elements from Incredible Hulk #270, now collected in The Incredible Hulk: Pardoned.
- The beginning of the Annihilators chapters mentions a number of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s recent adventures. These include:
- The Annihilation War, in which Star-Lord and Gamora participated since the Guardians had not been created yet. This war is detailed in Annihilation Book 1 and Annihilation Book 2.
- The Phalanx Invasion, during which the members of the Guardians first met. This story is told in Annihilation: Conquest Book 1 (Review) and Annihilation: Conquest Book 2 (Review).
- The fight against the Cancerverse, which caused the Guardians to effectively disband. This story is told in The Thanos Imperative (Review).
- The death of Star-Thief is mentioned. He died in Warlock #14, now collected in Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection.