Rocket Raccoon and Groot #9
Writer: Nick Kocher
Artist: Michael Walsh
Publisher: Marvel Comics
It's that time of the month again. No, not THAT time! Time for my favorite duo Rocket and Groot in their second Civil War II tie in. Last issue Gwen Pool threw a monkey wrench in our duos plan to capture Chammy, an old bounty that got away from Rocket.
We start off with Gwen talking to us the readers about what went down in the previous issue. This was great because it fits her character about her breaking that 4th wall since she was once just a comic reader herself, and it keeps you updated without the typical editor text boxes. What I love best about this is that the other characters have no idea who she is talking to. She is already crazy enough as it is, but this makes the other characters think she is just a bit over the top.
I also love how she always refers to Rocket and Groot as "Squirrel and Tree". It reminds me of the old Bullwinkle cartoons where they are referred to as "Moose and Squirrel".
So Ms. Marvel tries communicating with Rocket and Groot for help in their battle in the Civil War II "tie in", and they pretend the communicator is busted right before Rocket torches it. Gwen then proposes a truce since Rocket is not in this for the bounty, he wants to get the one guy that got away.
They arrive at Ruth's house looking for Chammy, and as Gwen is ready to kick the door down we see Rocket go in through the doggy door. That scene is genius! Partly because Rocket hates being treated like a pet, so it's ironic, and it fits the comedic tone of the book. Right down to the point that when Gwen kicks the door in Rocket gets slammed into the wall head first.
Poor Ruth has no idea what the hell these three are doing in her house and yells for Chammy to come out of the crapper to make them fix the door. The bathroom door is locked, so of course Rocket blasts the whole think to smithereens as they figure out that Chammy split.
We cut to Chammy as he waits for the smuggler that was supposed to get him off Earth. Chammy feels that something is not right with this guy and he tries texting Gus for help. Poor Gus, we don't see what happened to him after the last issue, but it is implied that he is no longer with us.
Our "trio?" see the message meant for Gus and Gwen tells us the readers that they are able to see Chammy's message and Rocket tells her to shut up since to him she is just a crazy lady talking to herself. Even Ruth is asking who she is talking to. Gwen starts asking Rocket to triangulate on the signal and zoom in on him, so I am assuming that she watched way too much 24 and Homeland before she got pulled into the comic book world. Rocket is able to lock on to his location just as Chammy pulls out his gun and tries to shoot the smuggler who is from the same species he is, but appears to be badly burned.
This guy is actually a pretty good fighter. From the previous issue I thought he would be one of those villains that relies on just their powers and is not really good at hand to hand combat, but this guy can throw down. He beats up Chammy and knocks his gun away. Chammy stumbles to the gun and the burnt dude told him to shoot him, but instead Chammy was about to shoot himself.
Just as the gun goes off, the burnt guy pushes the gun away and uses his powers to pull information from Chammy's brain and then pukes. For some reason he throws up when he uses his power, and this makes him want to kill the victims he uses his powers on. That seems to imply that Gus is in fact dead as I assumed.
Rocket blasts the burnt baddie and then, GWEN KICKS ROCKET IN THE FACE?! WTF?! She declares the truce is over and tries to get Chammy to collect his bounty just as GROOT SMASHES HIS STATION WAGON INTO GWEN! The way this page is laid out with the panels and the action play out just like an action movie scene. Each panel flows perfectly into the next and builds all the way up to the awesome "Smile and wave" panel from Groot. Groot picks up Chammy and then gets cut in two by the burnt bastard! So we have Groot crawling around with his upper body with Rocket and Gwen
Gwen asks about the bounty on Chammy and the burnt bastard tells her there is no bounty, he set up the fake listing and was going to kill whoever brought him in. Gwen gets discouraged and just wants to bounce since there was no bounty, and as she sees it Chammy is a bad guy being kidnapped by a bad guy, so she doesn't care. Rocket is not about to quit because he is pissed off and blasts off (Pun may be intended...) blasting at the burnt baddie who tosses some explosives at Rocket and tosses him into Gwen.
Then the burnt dude SETS GROOT ON FIRE?! That bastard!! Ruth shows up with a boat and helps Chammy get away as Rocket puts out the fire on Groot. In the meantime the burnt alien dude got on is ship.
Chammy tells Ruth how he feels, and she plants a kiss on him. It seems that she is into alien erotica. In actuality, she is just glad to finally know the truth and wants to stay with Chammy. Even if it means she has to leave Earth as well.
Rocket decides he has had enough and he is not interested in getting Chammy anymore and wants to leave. Just as they are about to get into the station wagon Chammy and Ruth show up and ask them for help as the issue closes.
So since we had the new creative team not only have I still enjoyed the book, I actually like it more. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Skottie Young fan and will always be. The reason that I like the book more is that it has a more consistent story line and the flow of the book is done better as well. Even with the Civil War tie in the book is able to avoid it almost entirely. Nick Kocher has done a great job of putting the Civil War portion of the book in just a few panels and keeping it away from Rocket and Groot, allowing this book to shine on it's own.
As I said last month, I can't wait for the Civil War tie ins to be done with even though it is not interfering with the series. I just think personally that this team can really shine if they did not have to worry about writing in a major crossover into a book that is designed to exist on it's own.
4/5 Beards
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