The character was created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen and consciously inspired by the classic Beatles song Rocky Raccoon which included Gideon’s Bible (in the comic book limited series it was a book that contained the sum of all knowledge on the Loony Colony). Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976), in the back-up feature The Sword in the Star. He subsequently appeared in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982). He later had his own four-issue limited series (in an afterword to the first issue, Mantlo himself asserted that this was the same character seen in Preview). This limited series was penciled by Mike Mignola and inked by Al Gordon. Issue #3 was inked by Al Milgrom. After the mini, poor Rocket Raccoon didn’t get the spotlight often, appearing as second banana to the She-Hulk. New adventures of Rocket Raccoon started in 2008 as a part of the team Guardians of the Galaxy along with other characters from the Annihilation: Conquest series.