We all know that Bill Mantlo based his now famous creation, Rocket Raccoon, on the song written by John Lennon, Rocky Raccoon. (We do all know that, right? Especially that part about Bill Mantlo being his creator, yes?)
Did you ever wonder what inspired John Lennon?
No, i don't mean his pet raccoon. I mean, what inspired him to name his raccoon Rocky. Could it have been Happy Comics?
We know John and the Beatles read comics. I think we covered that a bit during the King Kirby 100. He even doodled and drew images from the comics he read.
So it could be entirely possible that Rocky Raccoon owes his name to - Rocky Raccoon.
So far, i've only found him in the very first issue of Happy Comics, but i'm still looking through as i find issues. Meanwhile, here's that first story for your perusal:
Ol' Rocky does seem to prefer banjo to guitar, but... What?
Oh.
Never mind. My staff has just pointed out that i misread things. His name isn't Rocky, it's Racky...
Oops.
Carry on.
RACKY Raccoon written & drawn by Gene McGregor for Happy Comics #1 (1943)
I knew that Bill Mantlo created the character, but I don't recall knowing that he was based on a John Lennon song. You learn something new every day, eh?
ReplyDeleteWell, then - join us tomorrow (9 Nov) for "Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon" and learn yerse'f a bit mo.
ReplyDeleteBTW - did you know that Rocky spoke with a British accent originally? That only made sense, since he was John's.
ReplyDeleteNope, didn't know that, do now.
DeleteOh, I understood the references and/or allusions to the Beatles song when I read Hulk #271 in the early 1980s, but I did not know until now that Lennon had a pet raccoon named Rocky. Live and learn.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem rather forgotten these days, but a half century back it was fairly common knowledge. My favorite reference to it comes from The Monkees' song Gonna Buy Me A Dog:
ReplyDelete"I'd buy a raccoon, but John already has one."