Raccoonatics.com

Cosmic Greetings! This site will be flarkin' awesome... but it's currently under construction...

My name is Leo Wyld and I am the Raccoonatic Commander. Years ago, back when Rocket Raccoon was still considered an obscure character whose closest brush with the mainstream was among players of "Mahvel", I decided Rocket Raccoon needed proper online recognition. A collective name for his fans. Raccoonatic was a word I coined at random (to mean Rocket Raccoon fan) during an early Marvel Heroes live chat, a combination of raccoon and lunatic, and it caught on among the Marvel Heroes community. It ended up becoming the basis for my Marvel Heroes supergroup name The D'ast Raccoonatics and even a unique item in the game, that was named for myself and Rocket's so-named fans.

The first Raccoonatics site was created around that time. There used to be special titles, akin to my Commander, handed out to various fans I met - mostly through Marvel Heroes but also social media. As far as I am concerned, those with such titles still hold them - such as Raccoonatic Overlord, the title David Brevik (creator of Diablo) approved for himself (yes, he is a big Rocket Raccoon fan). That said, it is a practice I no longer continue. I realized it felt like a class system developing in a growing community.

Back around the time of the first Guardians movie, those who loved Groot started using "We are Groot" as a call of unity. We needed something for us Rocket Raccoon fans so I threw one together. So, in closing this, I use that phrase now, for all the fans old and new...

"Raccoonatics Unite!"

My Superfan Origin Story

Gallery

A gift from the very talented RedSummerArt of Twitter (not sure if he is on other platforms - I left Twitter)

A sketch from when I had the unbelievable once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to SDCC in 2014. This is by Andy Lanning, of DnA fame (him and Dan Abnett did some of the best cosmic comics)

A little graphic created by Cameron Logan, my editor on the now-defunct Guardians of the Galaxy news site Guard the Galaxy

The unique item on Marvel Heroes that was inspired by me and the Raccoonatic fandom. Marvel Heroes officially sunset in November 2017. But some crafty people out there haven't quite given up on it. I hear online that for Marvel Heroes, Tahiti is, indeed, a magical place where all are welcome.

Other Records

Who is Rocket Raccoon?

Rocket Raccoon is a Marvel Comics superhero - although sometimes he has been portrayed as more of an antihero, originally created by Writer Bill Mantlo and Artist Keith Giffen and intentionally inspired by the Beatles song Rocky Raccoon (this was more obvious in earlier works but still carries on in some ways like his love of guns and his otter friend Lylla being similarly named to Lil). He is a genetically (and cybernetically, in later media) enhanced raccoon who is a talented marksman, engineer, and a tactical genius who originally hails from Halfworld in the Keystone Quadrant (although his origins have seen about as many changes as his wardrobe, especially recently). He first appeared in Marvel Preview #7, released on July 13th, 1976 (as such, July 13th is Rocket Raccoon Day). This version of Rocket appeared in what was a spacey take on the Odyssey, spoke in somewhat stuffy "ol' bean"-style jargon, and wore Greco-Roman style armor.

It wasn't until Hulk 271 in 1982, Rocket Raccoon was properly inserted into Marvel's 616 universe in a version of a character that closer resembled the one we now know, arguably - 80's Rocket was still very different than the post-MCU/Bendis Rocket we have now. Three years after his appearance in Hulk, Rocket Raccoon received his own self-titled limited series. And then... well, not much else happened. In the early 90's, he made an appearance in a She-Hulk story, a comic that typically made a point of roping in the lowest tier characters that could be found as a gag. After that it was a large absence from anywhere, save a minor panel cameo or two...

Back in the aughts, there was a large cosmic event in comics called Annihilation. It had many spinoff and connected series. One of those series that followed in the wake of that event was Annihilation Conquest, which itself was made up by several stories featuring different characters. In the story starring Star-Lord, he was brought on by the Kree to assemble a special ragtag group of heroes to battle the Phalanx. Thanks to the recommendation of people like editor Bill Rosemann, this group would include the return of previously obscure B-Monster-like character Groot and... Rocket Raccoon. Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon... no, this wasn't the Guardians... yet. This group didn't actually have a name during the series, but it did lay that groundwork. Shortly after Annihilation Conquest, Peter Quill decided to form a team to help handle cosmic threats. Among the founding members were Adam Warlock, Mantis, Phyla Vel, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon and Groot. An encounter with a team from the future called the Guardians of the Galaxy (who had previously appeared in past comics) changed history. Rocket Raccoon had been the vocal one in the group trying to brainstorm a name. And after meeting those Guardians, he insisted they name their own team after them. That's right, Rocket Raccoon is the reason the modern Guardians of the Galaxy team (the one that inspired the movies) is named the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Unfortunately, that Guardians of the Galaxy run was a financial flop and got canceled after a couple years. Yet many fans loved it, regardless, including people like James Gunn. One thing led to another and Marvel ended up greenlighting a Guardians of the Galaxy film for its recently exploding MCU. This was years before that was common knowledge, however, but it still had lasting effects. Such as Marvel pushing for a character from Guardians to be added to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a representative to be a vanguard for the modern Guardian team for the masses. And that was, of course, Rocket Raccoon! UMvC3 was Rocket's very first (and thankfully far from last) video game appearance. It is the reason many people (including me) even learned of his existence. Something similar happened with Marvel Heroes. Rocket Raccoon was added to the launch roster for the game, leaving the general populace playing it scratching their heads and asking who was the "nobody wasting a roster slot"...

As it did for many other Marvel characters, the MCU changed everything. Sure, it led to poorly nuanced reworks of the Guardians characters in comics (and Rocket really suffered from that). Sure, Groot ended up overshadowing the previously presumed future fan favorite Rocket Raccoon after the first movie released. But still, Rocket Raccoon exploded out of his previous history of obscurity. He was everywhere. Cartoons, toys, games. With the Guardians of the Galaxy movies finished and the heart and soul of the MCU Rocket Raccoon character now running ship at DC Studios, perhaps Rocket Raccoon's future is a bit dimmer now. After all, synergy has a ton of value and no more movies means no more of that. But this isn't 1985, anymore. Rocket Raccoon has a whole lot of established fans he just didn't have then, even some at Marvel. And even if he somehow fades into history again, one day one of those fans will come along to remind everyone that Rocket Raccoon was, is, and always will be flarkin' awesome!