Rocket Vol. 1: The Blue River Score

Rocket (2017) #1-6

by Al Ewing, Adam Gorham (Illustrator), Mike Mayhew (Illustrator)

Collects Rocket (2017) #1-6.

Get ready for a life of spacecrime with Rocket! It's a dirty universe out there, even when you're not regularly mistaken for trash-foraging vermin. And it's about to get dirtier. He thought his paws were clean, that he was on the up-and-up. But then an old flame swam back into his life, and he was back in the game...the heist game. Rocket will end up in court in the trial of the (light) century, and there's only one thing keeping our hero out of the iron hotel: the galaxy's greatest lawyer, Murd Blurdock! Is he worth his fee, or will Rocket be forced to break out of prison - again?! Plus: An interplanetary mobster who makes the Kingpin look like Aunt May! Deadpool! Castor Gnawbarque III, the richest sentient in three sectors! And...Ranger Rocket, sheriff of Halfworld?!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 2017

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super hero critter comics straddle a thin line between cute/obnoxious and entertaining/pointless dreck.

Uh, Jeff, that’s two thin lines.

Shaddup!

For every decent Rocket Raccoon or Detective Chimp story, there’s a crappy Howard the Duck comic or Beppo, the pooh flinging Super Chimp atrocity.



Rocket the gun-toting, flark-spewing raccoon has his little caper adventure, which for the most part actually works. Add in a noirish narrative voice to force the kids to actually read a little more than is normal so they can keep those reading skillz from atrophying and you have a decent comic.



We find Rocket in a bar getting drunk because that’s where caper-noir adventures usually start.



He’s approached by a lady otter friend with whom he has a past but who done him wrong, yet needs help.

Pleaazzzeee!!!



Rocket, cuz he looks kind of like a huggable stuffed animal you could actually buy for your impressionable kids…



…agrees to help.

So it’s planning the caper…



The caper itself…



The Howard the Duck/Tweetybird combo character…



The Win/Win courtroom drama with the best attorney in the galaxy…



Uh Oh! New strategy!



Uh Oh! The Jail break stuff…



…and Enter Deadpool



What the flark? Another forced appearance by Deadpool, who just happens to be in deep space?

Why?

Well, the kid’s like him and Marvel wants to sell more Deadpool watch fobs and cans of Deadpool Potted Meat.

Bottom line: For those of you who love Rocket, Superhero critter comics, second-rate Deadpool or inter-species love and betrayal .

Three and a half stars rounded up.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening really reminds me of an old black and white detective/crime movie, kind of thing! With the whole bar scene and the intro and so on! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this volume, but this totally surprised me with the tone and the narrative and the storytelling!

I have to say, I live for all the nice little easter eggs that got dropped in, like you know....Daredevil. I love catching them and fangirling a little bit!

Rocket assembles a crew to pull off a heist, which I could have told him was a bad idea! Then the story evolves in to a prison break and it was such a lot of fun as the tables turned again and again. It's fast paced, completely hilarious like the lines, and the language used and everything. I had many a chuckle as I was reading! I loved it. It genuinely had me cracking up continuously! I also loved the written narrative going along the side, it was seriously like an old black and white 30's movie!

I loved the pairing of Rocket and Deadpool, it was a match made in snark heaven and I need more of it! I could quite easily read an entire series that's just the two of them, I'm not going to lie!

Rocket is a fun adventure featuring you know...Rocket, obviously! I loved the storytelling to it and the way it was written, it was something a bit different to what I'm used to in comic books but oddly enough it really fit Rocket and it was wrapped up really well!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 Sterne

Rocket: Der Coup wurde geschrieben von Al Ewing und ich liebe diesen Mann! Rocket konnte mich nicht durchgehend begeistern. Mir fehlte das Guardians of the Galaxy Umfeld sehr und so schien mir die Geschichte nur halb so schön. Allerdings war die Form der Geschichte sehr besonders. Die klassischen Comic-Merkmale vermischten sich mit der Erzählweise eines klassischen Kriminalromans und das gab dem ganzen eine ganz eigene Atmosphäre, die zwar auch viel Text mit sich brachte, auf der anderen Seite aber auch wahnsinnig cool war. Besonders in der zweiten Hälfte gab es noch einmal ein sehr cooles Element, das ich auch aber an dieser Stelle nicht verrate!

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. 2.5, really. I wasn't that impressed.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow Ewing managed to take many of my favorite things (Rocket, heist movies, hardboiled detective writing) and get every single one wrong. This is more boring than anything.

[mil · Rating 2 out of 5]

al, if u see this, which u prolly wont but,, this is flaming garbage im so sorry

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this the minute I saw these pages: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/06/...

A noir/heist story by the writer of Loki: Agent of Asgard? And it's funny? Sign me up!

Unfortunately those two pages and parts of a a guest spot by Deadpool ('Cause you can't have a Marvel comic without a shoe-horned appearance by Deadpool!) were the only things about The Blue River Score that were remotely fun.

The sidebar narration is a chore; the emotional beats are shallow, and the whole thing is just dull.
By the halfway mark I was skimming over any text not in a word balloon.

This might have made for a good three or four issue story arc but dragging it out for six kills it.

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was friggin’ excellent! A hard-boiled noir tale featuring lots and lots of shades of gray and ends badly for everyone involved. Somehow, Ewing makes you feel bad for even Deadpool (who’s in space because of stuff he did during Secret Empire). I really cannot overstate how much this surprised and delighted me. Ewing even used the Technet, man, and he did it so well.

[Ryan Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al Ewing may be the greatest current comic writer. A Rocket Raccoon comic shouldn’t be this funny or poignant, especially not in the issue guest starring Deadpool. But man, he just knows exactly how to provide a fresh take on these characters.

[Alain Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read featuring one of my favorite comic book characters. Rocket Raccoon gets hired for a heist only to get double crossed. Now he's out to settle the score and meets some interesting characters and challenges along the way. Very entertaining

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, it’s a little annoying how talented Al Ewing is. This is not only a great heist story, but also an even better Rocket Raccoon story because Ewing actually cares about his origins. Rocket’s first story ran as a back up story in the U.K. Transformers comic in the mid to late eighties, and initially baffled me until it beguiled me - a strange, slightly mad tale of anthropomorphic animals and robots, with Rocket not as the wisecracking mercenary he is now but instead a happy swashbuckler type. It pleases me no end that Ewing doesn’t only embrace the Mantlo and Giffen era but make it integral to how the story ultimately plays out

Because Ewing cut his teeth in 2000AD he has a canny ability of juggling lots of continuity, black humour and daftness with a more emotional heart. Deadpool here is basically Zombo, but with a strange melancholy that Rocket picks up at the end - this doesn’t usually happen with Deadpool, who is usually blackly comic manic nonsense, but Ewing wants to delve a bit deeper. Similarly the femme fatale otter is not simply a villain but an inverse of Lylla from the Mantlo era. And that he embraces the full on gonzo weirdness of Gatecrasher with such relish, but again makes her a sympathetic figure who calls Rocket out on his bullshit is even more delightfully unexpected

Best of all though is his ability to knock out some ridiculous jokes and mine some of the dafter corners of Marvel as part of his worldbuilding - Joyboy is one of the oddest creations in Marvel history and Ewing confronts this innate weirdness head on. Similarly, Hard Boiled Henry is a delight to discover, a mad combination of Mean Machine Angel and Tweety Pie. The best moment though, by a considerable margin, is a direct quote of one of the funniest line reads in Doctor Who history. It’s a joke about 5% of the readership of this will get but for those who do it’ll make you cough up a lung at how audaciously stupid it is to get Rocket Raccoon directly quote Rodney Bewes in a Marvel comic. What a time to be alive

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Told in an interesting "storyteller" type of format (maybe even slightly like detective noir), this is the story of Rocket off on his own, post-Secret Empire, citing a need for some time away from the Guardians. Mostly a multi-tiered heist story, complete with double crossing, insane amounts of money, a dame (makes sense that Rocket would fall in love with an otter lady), and a cast of characters that add to both the action and the hilarity.
Glad to see that Marvel sees the Rocket can have more depth than giant guns and snarky comments.
Recommend, especially if you like silly noir.

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tra la fantascienza e il noir, tra l'avventura e la dark comedy!
Questa miniserie gestisce Rocket senza sbavature, presentandolo a capo di un'operazione per salvare un popolo, mentre ripeschiamo il suo passato. Una scorribanda tra prigioni di altissima sicurezza, bar malfamatissimi, amori impossibili e i terribili Technet!
Una cosa va detta: Rocket è un po' IL protagonista dei Guardiani della Galassia, e non si può dire che non riempia le scene, quindi riuscire a farlo diventare il titolare di questa mini di 6 episodi, aumentandone la relazionabilità, riuscendo a pescare ancora più a fondo nella sua anima nel mezzo di un "Italian Job" che Diabolik levate proprio, solo applausi sfrenati!

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't sure what to expect from this title as a lot of Rocket Racoon comics tend to degenerate into random violence. But this title actually had a distinct plan in mind - to craft a noir-esque heist story with multiple twists and turns. It's a title that makes the most of the fact that Rocket's experience is focused on space and dealing with the quirks of near-infinite alien races with their own unique abilities that may or may not be super powers even. And the whole thing came together rather nicely.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocket Raccoon playing off a big cosmic heist taking him across a galaxy, mixing up some classic noir crime tropes with some out-landish sci-fi superhero cheekiness. Al Ewing gets to flex his creative muscles in making both genres work side-by-side with some neat approaches to storytelling - the noir prose pages, and the strange chronology of each issue - while Adam Gorham has a balst drawing big larger than life space superpowers as well as some dark brooding Rocket. It's real fun, even if the style does drag on at times.

[Beattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comic manages to be funny and heartfelt and I loved it. All of the bizarre characters were great additions (minus Deadpool).

The storytelling style of this comic was perfect for a heist story (and not something I’ve seen done with Rocket before). I also loved how characters from other Rocket comics/games were pulled in (especially Lylla and the bunny guy who’s name I’m forgetting).

I have a soft spot for Rocket Raccoon comics and I’m really glad I picked this one up. A great first read of the year!

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a bad story. But it sure was not a good story either. Flash backs, flash forwards, lying to the reader are all how this story is told. It was if someone watched the Maltese Falcon and said, "I can do that" after watching the new Oceans 13 movie. Yet even with a great story idea and interesting side characters to work with the writer just could not make everything work. I have been reading Rocket stories forever and this one just left me, Disappointed.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was fun. Kind of like an Ocean's Two? Not in the number of characters—there are a lot. But it stays mostly pretty simple.

Some of superpower stuff is a little deus ex machina. Also, does Ewing think that every alien has bizarre superpowers?

And then it ends with a tie back to the Mantlo origin story. I thought that was all put to bed. Is there more to do with it?

[Omnibuster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Ewing gives us a pretty standalone Rocket adventure. There's nothing revolutionary about this story but I do appreciate the prose-gutter narrative device Ewing uses to tell this Ocean 11's-type heist which ends up being told by Deadpool.

We learn a bit more about Rocket's past, his true motivations, his soft interior, and of course his off-the-cuff antics.

This mini-series is full of weird creatures, weird races, laughs, thrills, betrayal, plot twists, and anthropomorphic fun.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rocket: The Blue River Score. Ewing's first work on the Guardians is a noir-take on Rocket, set during a week that Peter is getting Chitauri blood out of his hair. It's a fine enough noir, and issue #5, which has the most challenging and interesting writing, is quite good: a narrative set of dominos that's set up and knocked down. But the rest of the story really isn't that memorable, other than a bit of a pang of nostalgia for some imaginary time when Rocket was happy [3+/5].

[Finn Pumford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shockingly low rating on this one. Maybe most Marvel fans don't understand where the author took his inspiration from on this one. Great crime noir elements. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but 3.5 is a very low rating for this author's demonstration of talent whilst staying true to the central character here in my opinion.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was prepared to hate this...and the storytelling style with prose used in a the gutter.

But in the end found the story to be a fun little caper that really relies on Rocket's personality...and backstory.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical heist in space story. Rocket is flying solo and puts together a team of crooks and they are not the Guardians of the Galaxy. Pretty fun read if you are looking for more Marvel cosmic goodness.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, but also had some seriousness in it as well. Especially concerning both Rocket and Deadpool’s mental health and depression.

Fun story and characters but not for children (sometimes that assumption is made with Rocket and Groot comics).

[OvercommuniKate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not care about any of these side characters. Rocket and Otta are great, I love a good noir dame getting a man in trouble, but the side team stuff was a mess. If they wanted to do a limited TV show that leans more into the noir stuff and cuts out everyone else, I'm so on board.

[Warren Sabado · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Graphic Novel, what to say about it. This was a mess. It’s a pleasure seeing Rocket and what he does best: Blowing stuff up and making wise cracks while doing it. It’s a mess here. The crew Rocket is working with was a interesting bunch but this story was just all over the place.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, cool. Gatecrasher's Technet! Y'know, from Excalibur? No? Just me?

In a comedy noir, Rocket gets mixed up with a femme fatale, gangsters, a heist,na jailbreak and another heist. I like the way Al Ewing actually sets up all of the clever solutions Rocket comes up with. The art is solid.

[Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd go 4.5 if half stars were an option, but they aren't so I'll round up. The noir style heist story is right up my alley, and the Deadpool appearance gave me a duo I needed but never knew I needed. The story telling also fit a Rocket story perfectly. Liked it a lot!

[Nolan Buro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al Ewing never misses. I am not a big Rocket fan, but Ewing is great at finding what makes a character work and then going wild with it. This comic is a Richard Stark Parker novel in space. AND funny as hell, and includes a supporting cast of some of the weirdest weirdos in Marvel Comics.

[Brian J. Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranger Rocket!

I've always been a fan of OG Ranger Rocket, and the modern, much different Rocket of Guardians of the Galaxy. Very different, but characters change. But this book, entertaining all in it's own, forms a surprise bridge between them, and I love Al Ewing for it.