Rocket Raccoon and Groot: Tall Tails

Rocket Raccoon and Groot (Collected Editions) #1-2

by Skottie Young, Nick Kocher, Filipe Andrade (Illustrator)

There’s a new criminal mastermind in the galaxy, and it’s - Rocket Raccoon?! How did this happen? Groot knows, but he’s not talking! Well, he is talking, but all he’s saying is - Oh, you know. Diabolical danger, madcap mysteries and astonishing adventure abound in tall tales of everyone’s favorite cosmic double act! Then, Rocket and Groot put the “fun” in “funeral” — but any mirth is only hiding a certain raccoon-like critter’s grief at the death of his mentor in conartistry. And when Captain Marvel enlists her Guardians of the Galaxy pals to fight in CIVIL WAR II, surely it won’t divide these BFFs. After all, they are Groot, right? All that, plus the unbelievable Gwenpool! If you love adventure, animals, outer space and just about anything in between, this is the book for you!

COLLECTING: ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT (2016) #1-10

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Marvel, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

232 pages, Paperback

Published March 24, 2020

About the author

Skottie Young has been an illustrator and cartoonist for over ten years working for entertainment and publishing companies such Marvel, Warner Bros., Image, Upper Deck, Mattel, and many more.

He is currently illustrating the New York Times Best Selling and Eisner Award Nominated adaptions of L. Frank Baum's OZ novels with writer Eric Shanower. The series has gained acclaim from both fans and critics.

Skottie currently lives in Illinois with his family, Casey, Baxter and their Saint Bernard, Emma.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Skottie Young half of this, surprisingly, isn't very good. It's full of bad art and boring stories. Once Nick Kocher comes on board things turn around tremendously.

I have no idea who Nick Kocher is but he needs to write more comics. His story was awesome. It's a non tie-in tie-in to Civil War II as Rocket and Groot do their best to stay completely out of Civil War II. They go after a robbery at a baby powder factory because Rocket knows of a space criminal who uses baby powder to fuel his space ship. There's a ton of absurd fun as Gwenpool guests in these issues as well. Kocher really knows how to make her work too. Marvel needs to hand Gwenpool over to him now. The only bad thing about this book is Michael Walsh's art. It's not good, to put it nicely.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonderful art, however the writing and jokes fell way flat for me. I only read the first 3 issues but It's obvious this wasn't for me :(

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection contains the first 10 issues of Marvel’s Rocket & Groot series and is a bit of a let down. During the GOTG boom of 2017 Marvel did various series for the GOTG with Rocket and Groot getting their own series. On paper this was decent but in execration it leaves a lot to be desired.

2/5

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half of this book wasn't too enjoyable for me. Although most of the jokes still landed and there were some great moments, I still felt like I had to push through each issue. That was until Gwenpool arrived. The last 3 or so chapters were absolutely hilarious, and the storyline was unique and well thought out. Because of this, I've given this book 5 stars.

[Jaime Guzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It's silly and fun. The first 6 issues are written by Skottie Young with whimsical art by Felipe Andrade, Aaron Conley, Jay Fosgitt (love his art), Brett Bean (love his art too). As a guy who likes to drawing and cartooning these issues stood out really stood out for me better than the stories.
The last three issues written by Nick Kicker and art by Michael Walsh is where the hilarity gets kicked up a notch with the addition of Gwen Pool. These issues are where both the art and story complemented very well. The art is a bit more realistic and not as whimsical as the first six issues but the story arc was definitely a lot better and funnier.
A fun read!

[Alba Calvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al tratarse de dos de mis personajes favoritos del UCM, tenía bastantes papeletas para gustarme este volumen de Marvel Young Adults, y así fue. Baja como el agua, tiene mucho carisma y, en definitiva, es una lectura desenfadada que te hace pasar un rato muy agradable. Mi parte favorita es la ilustrada por Skottie Young (integral de Oz, I hate Fairyland...), llena de color, vitalidad, expresividad y movimiento. El mundo necesita más cómics de Mapache Cohete y Groot.

[Carrie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good set of comics focusing on Rocket and Groot. I definitely like the characters better when they are working off of the other Guardians of the Galaxy but this had some gems in it. I really like Skottie's style having read his I Hate Fairyland series years ago so it was fun to see it again with characters that I really enjoy.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this collection to be a mixed bag. Skottie Young is such a talented artist, but some of the stories in this... not sure they were quite appropriate for a children's audience (Looking at you, Gwenpool storyline).

[Christany · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars really - I didn't like all of the stories or the artwork, but I love Rocket and Groot, and I'm a fan of Skottie Young, so I was naturally excited about this series. It's a bit of a mixed bag for me.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was really fun and had some great humor. Reminded me a lot of Zdarsky’s Howard the Duck in tone and style.

I also really liked the unique art throughout- just wish it wasn’t in a smaller format!

[Elysa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the opening stories and the Gwen Poole storyline, but the middle stories that were basically singles weren't captivating to me. I almost put down the whole book. Glad I stuck it out though.

[Caleb Bollenbacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some phenomenal art in this, and a lot of good chuckles. Story-wise it was a bit disjointed.

[Bruno Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo que más me gustó fue la primera historia con un tono oscuro que me sorprendió. A partir de ahí, historietas cortas de rápida lectura y humor fácil. Que funciona, oye, pero me esperaba más.

[Zaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is deceiving. I was hoping for a young Groot and Rocket. The art is always amazing but it wasn't until pg 93-135 that I loved the style.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the look of the book, but the stories didn’t work for me. I found the first to be incredibly hard to follow and the second to be pretty lame. Oh well.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

+6 I realised very quickly that this book was meant for kids, through just the consistent stream of action and funny dialogue with no depth or pacing. Still a good read though. Will review again and more in depth once I've read more Guardians of the Galaxy.

[Read and reviewed in May 2022]

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little romp around the universe. Really commiting to a prank. Stubborness to the extreme. Very meta.

[George Senus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fun anthology book, wasn’t a huge fan of the civil war 2 cross over being the final 3 issues