Now, Somewhere In The Black Holes Of Sirius Major...

It took Bill Mantlo about six years to decide how and when to bring the world's favorite raccoon back from oblivion after Wayfinder ended up in limbo.
When he did, Rocky was already upstaging the big stars...

Rocky was retooled and brought into the main Marvel universe through one of those very strange periods in the Hulk's history when he's off in other weird worlds. It's been openly acknowledged that Rocket was inspired by John Lennon's pet raccoon and his song in various interviews. But in case you had any doubts, let's enjoy his colour debut with the appropriate background music. A song that opens with the line...

And, indeed, Hulk Smash with great efficiency. In almost no time...

...and while not afraid, they've got better things to do than waste their time with Keystone Cops. (Kids - google it) So, it's off to their ship, where Rocket shows how much he understands the Hulk...

Strange images which tell an odd tale of HalfWorld - Half barren and roboticized, half garden paradise. There is, unsurprisingly, trouble brewing between the two halves...

You see the otter in green?
Her name was Magill and she called herself Lil, but everyone knew her as Lylla.

Rocket manages to persuade the Hulk to come along, and soon they find the wreckage left behind by the Black Bunny Brigade's attack...

Pyko claims that Gideon's Bible is purely gibberish, but Jakes isn't buying it. Before they can do anything else, word comes in that Rocket Raccoon and company have arrived in local space...

And, shortly thereafter...

Yes, folks. It's the '80s and Killer Klowns From Outer Space are a thing.
But not for long...

And that's it for Hulk - he's outa here.
While making his offer and sending Hulk back home, Pyko makes it very clear that he can read and comprehend Gideon's Bible, but has no intention of letting it disrupt life in the Keystone Quadrant.
But Rocket's story continues...

35 years later, we've seen a lot of "someday"s. Rocket's story grew more elaborate as the chance was presented to explore further, and before too long he was out in the galaxy at large. But those are a pile of other stories. And we all know where he ended up.
Hollywood.

How many of you think that next tale is a Harlan Ellison homage/parody/shout-out?

pages by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema & company for The Incredible Hulk #271 (1982)

Where's The Enigma Force When We Really Need It?

Today belongs to arguably the most tragic story in comics. Unfortunately, the tragedy does not take place within the pages of the comics.

Today is Bill Mantlo's 66th birthday. Bill was a brilliant writer and is a tremendous person. He left writing as his main career behind and focused on being a hero to others. And then he was cruelly struck down. Rather than try to explain things myself, we'll excerpt from the introduction to Mantlo: A Life In Comics and let his brother Michael tell it...

I cut most of the introduction - meeting Jack Kirby, living with a member of The New York Dolls, and much more. And this was merely the introduction to a book filled with memories and behind the scenes stories of Bill Mantlo, Comics, and old Marvel. Not only is it great reading, it's also a benefit book to help cover Bill's medical costs. If you haven't read it, don't own it, nows a good time to correct that.
Personally, i found a new connection to Mantlo just in the introduction bits above. I used a Jon Nagy drawing board as my main drawing surface throughout the 70s and 80s. (It was an old Jon Nagy drawing kit passed down to me from the 50s)

While i enjoyed  his work on The Incredible Hulk and his Spider-Man tales, among many, many others; and loved creations of his such as Jack Of Hearts and Cloak & Dagger - one of the things that impressed me the most about Bill Mantlo as a young reader was Rom: Space Knight and The Micronauts. They gave him toys and he gave us fully fleshed out universes for them to exist and adventure within. Decades after it ceased publication, there are still hordes of fans aching for a return of Rom. Now if only the Enigma Force would find Bill to act as host for Captain Universe.

Of course, his most famous creation has gone as yet unmentioned - Rocket Raccoon of the Guardians Of The Galaxy. As we mentioned a couple of days ago, Rocket was based on the Beatles' song Rocky Raccoon (and we'll get to that a bit more next time). His first appearance was in Marvel Preview, one of the black & white newsstand magazines Marvel put out back in the 70s. Of course, being John Lennon's raccoon, Rocky had a British accent when he first arrived on the scene.

The story of Wayfinder began 3 issues previously, with this being the second part. In truth, the story is unimportant today. All that's really needed to know is that Wayfinder found his way to crashing on a strange planet known as Witch-World while on a quest for revenge. He makes his way to shore and seeks to get his bearings...

Local lifeforms have noticed the Wayfinder's ship, but it protects itself. Meanwhile...

The predictable fight erupts...

...but "Kirke watches without eyes. And when she speaks... Power flows through the very molecules of the air from her vocal chords...to the strangely humming gem at the top of her scepter..."

<Spoiler> the Pilgrims failed.

It would be over half a decade before our favorite Raccoon returned. But next time, he got the cover. Join us later for "Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon" Meanwhile, here's the cover for the tale above for those what loves 'em:

text images from Mantlo: A Life In Comics (2007), pages by Bill Mantlo & Keith Giffen for Marvel Preview #7(1976)