So they're finally releasing a Rocket Raccoon... Kinda

When Guardians of the Galaxy was released back in August, and I finally got a feel for what was going on in their Lego sets, I blasted Lego because the only place we could get Rocket Raccoon in his Ravager/Guardians outfit was through an over-priced San Diego Comic Con exclusive that later became ridiculously over-priced as it hit eBay.  And since it didn't seem Lego would be releasing any more Guardians sets featuring this minifigure, I resigned myself to being without it. 

But it looks like someone at Lego finally listened to the internet's complaints, as they'll be releasing a Ravager-garbed Rocket Raccoon Toys R Us polybag exclusive.

Thanks to this eBay listing posted to Reddit, this came to my attention. And I must say, while I'm pretty excited this minifigure is being released, I'm a little disappointed in how it's happening. 

I'm just not looking forward to overpaying for something just so I can get this minifigure that I desperately want. And I'm not talking about the standard price of Lego, I'm talking about the fact that Toys R Us loves to mark up the price of what they sell. It's pretty damn ridiculous to walk into my local TRU, and see an X-Wing that sells on Lego.com for $59.99 jacked up to $79.99. Or the "hot" price of the Lego Movie Super Secret Police Dropship being listed at MSRP. It just really annoys me when I see this, and when I see people fall for their pricing structure. I know TRU price matches, and that's pretty much the only reason I occasionally shop there. But generally, I walk in and just feel like I'm getting ripped off. And I hate that feeling. 

So will I be buying whatever it is that will get me this polybag? 

Most likely. Hopefully it comes packaged with the GotG blu-ray and won't cost an arm and a leg. 

But will I like doing it? 

Probably not. 

I'm part of the problem. I accept that. 

But it still pretty much sucks nard. 

Guardians of the Galaxy

After what seems like forever, Guardians of the Galaxy has finally been released, and oh man is it amazing. 

Seriously, I've only seen it once and it's already my favorite Marvel movie (and I watched The Avengers three times in theaters). 

This movie was definitely Marvel's biggest gamble. If Iron Man was a relatively unknown comic character in 2008, the Guardians of the Galaxy surely were not on anyone's radar, save for a few geeks like me. But they pulled it off. Guardians' greatest success is that it makes you cares about these characters in the short time they are on screen. 

Chris Pratt turns in a dynamite performance as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana does a great job at portraying the badass Gamora is, and Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer was just phenomenal. Seriously, he's one of the best parts of the movie due to the his comedic timing alone. Bradley Cooper's Rocket is also well done, letting you forget that the heavy weapons expert of the group is an anthropomorphic raccoon (but  I wouldn't call him that). And rounding out the main cast, Vin Diesel did a great job voicing Groot, although the animators should get a lot of credit for making an endearing character out of someone who can only say "I am Groot."

As far as content, GotG has all the action and humor you could ask for in a summer blockbuster. It's definitely worth the price of admission and an absolute must watch in theaters. Hell, I'm probably gonna watch it again, and not just because I was sitting in the third row from the front.

If I had one complaint about the movie, it's that I'm not sure how it ties into the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe, apart from a connection to Thanos. But I suppose that isn't that big of a concern since we're still not sure exactly how Thanos fits in to the MCU as a whole. We just know he's the baddie, we don't really know why yet.

So if you take anything away from this, it's that you need to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Rocket Raccoon blasts out the gate; Star-Lord stumbles before finding his footing

With the Guardians of the Galaxy movie debuting in less than a month, Marvel Comics is kicking things into high gear with two solo series based on the Guardians' most popular characters, Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon, both of which are pretty entertaining. So lets delve a little deeper into both these books and see what makes them tick.


Rocket Raccoon #1
Written and drawn by Skottie Young

Young wastes no time setting the tone for this series: a book that's quirky, amusing, and lots of fun. Starting things off with a high energy prison break, transitioning to a wrestling date gone awry, and then moving on to a run in with the law is a great way to establish that the Guardians, with Rocket in particular, are the scoundrels the movie's advertising campaign makes them out to be. While the Guardians do make an appearance, it's a brief cameo showing that Rocket is part of the team but it's still his book, although Groot has an extended appearance that is hilarious, and I'm sure will result in some pretty cool moments as the series goes on.

Rocket himself is presented as a not-so-debonair ladies man, which comes back to bite him on the tush with a twist ending that's unexpected and contains just the right amount of absurdity to make this book an absolute joy to read. 

The art is also fantastic, giving it a cartoonish feel thanks to Skottie Young's amazing pencil work. Since he also wrote the book, the art couples with the story even more so than usual because he's able to channel exactly what he wants the reader to see. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more.

The Legendary Star-Lord #1

Written by Sam Humphries

Art by Paco Medina

This review will probably sound a lot more negative than I want it to. I did enjoy this book, I just have some problems with it that I can't gloss over.

As the first issue in a new series, it does a good job of introducing us to Star-Lord: hinting at a troubled past, displaying his swagger and swashbuckling, almost Han Solo-like nature, and setting him up as a scoundrel with a heart of gold. 

The problem is this issue finds itself depending too much on what's happened in other stories. His relationship with Kitty (Pryde), while not quite well-defined in other books, is added without context. I find it interesting that it would work much better if Kitty wasn't already a well-defined and established character in the X-Men universe. 

There's also the issue of the twist ending that doesn't really work well without the context of the proper Guardians of the Galaxy series. It's an interesting development, but only something I care about because I happen to know why it's interesting. I find it hard to believe that someone who picked up this title because of their interest in the upcoming movie would really care about the happenings of the final page.

On the art side of things, I think Paco Medina does a solid job, but I do have some issues with the coloring. Human/humanoid characters just seem to be too glossy, but overall I really dig the artwork. And I'd do anything to see more of this.

The Verdict

Overall, both comics are worth the purchase, but if you had to choose only one, Rocket Raccoon is by far the better of the two. It's a true stand-alone title that doesn't require previous knowledge to enjoy what's going on.

Oh, and just in case you've missed it, here's the second Guardians of the Galaxy trailer, just because it's totally rad.

Lego Review: Knowhere Escape Mission

Today I'll be reviewing Lego set 76020: Knowhere Escape Mission from the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Superhero line. 

Clocking in at 433 pieces and a price point of $39.99, your mileage with this set either depends on how badly you want Groot and Rocket Raccoon, or how young you are. I can see this set being a lot of fun for a kid, especially with the missile launcher being able to shoot across the room, but as an adult collector, I sadly found myself a little disappointed in the playset and the minifigure I wanted the most: Rocket Raccoon. So read on for more details on this set.

The Minifigures

Groot

While technically not a minifigure, Groot is the standout of this set. With fourteen points of articulation, most of them being the newer ball joints, you can get a lot of movement and pose-ability out of Groot, which is great since most Lego figures only move at the arms, legs, and neck. Now I do wish he moved at the neck, but ultimate it doesn't hurt the overall figure.

As far as the build goes, it's pretty solid. You can definitely get a lot of play time in without worrying about Groot falling apart in your hands. His head and chest consist of one piece that slips over the torso, and it, along with two pieces on his legs, have grass and branches printed on them. The character is a living tree, after all, and the build shows that.

Nebula

Surprisingly, I don't know a lot about this character, either because I've never seen her in a comic, or because I've read about so many comics my brain can't handle any more information. All I know is she has two swords and is a badass, probably because she has two swords.

I do think the minifigure is done well. The purple of her body really sticks out and the printing on her torso and head is well done, with just a hint of metallic paint to make the character pop. I also really dig the design of her head, which probably implies that her character could be an alien/cyborg hybrid, or she just has some wicked tattoos. I don't know what's right, and I'm too lazy to find out. Guess I'll know come August.

Sakaaran Soldier

So here we have the Sakaaran Soldier, and this guy I do know a bit about. He's supposed to be on Thanos' payroll and is after the silver orb that Rocket's hanging on to. But here's the awesome part: he has greater ties to the overall Marvel Universe. Ready for your geek lesson of the day? Here we go!

The planet Sakaar was the setting for the Planet Hulk storyline, in which Tony Stark, Nick Fury, and Reed Richards determined that Hulk was too dangerous to keep on Earth. So they rocketed him off planet to this peaceful place (read: not so peaceful) where the Hulk was supposed to live out the rest of his days picking flowers and playing with space puppies. Instead Hulk found himself as a gladiator, fighting for his freedom and ultimately the freedom of the entire planet. He also teamed up with some space roaches, impregnated a local, and had his new found happy place blown up by the damaged reactor core of the very spaceship that got him there (Thanks Tony!). Long story short, Hulk found his way back to earth and did what he does best: SMASH.

Anyway, back to the Lego. This guy's pretty neat. I'm a fan of his double-sided head, which looks like a masked/unmasked version of what we'll be seeing in the upcoming movie. The gun also closely matches the movie weapon, so that's cool. The paint and decals are also well done, utilizing more of that metallic paint to accentuate his armor and eyes, giving him an otherworldly feel.

Rocket Raccoon

 

So here we are, at the final minifigure in this set. I know I said I was underwhelmed by this figure, that shouldn't detract from the overall quality of the actual piece. It is well made, and does look a lot like the character from the movie. Rocket's head is a new piece designed for this set. And he comes with a long, bushy tail that fits between his legs and torso, which is pretty dang cute.

The minifigure utilizes shorter, yet immobile, legs, making him smaller than the other figures. The shoulder pads restrict arm movement to a little above his shoulder line. 

Rocket has two accessories, the silver orb the Sakaaran is after, and his weapon. The weapon is pretty cool and fits the character, who's a heavy weapons expert, and trust me, this weapon is heavy. Which leads to my biggest problem with this mini: the gun is big. Too big for Rocket to hold in any way that makes sense. And when coupled with the limited arm range and the solid legs, unless you have a base plate or keep him attached to the set (or Groot), he's spending a lot of time on his face, which probably isn't the best position for the space raccoon to find himself.

The Playset

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Lego playsets. I love the minifigures and vehicles, but being that I'm 29, my imagination's pretty much dried up and having a platform with a trap floor doesn't excite me as much as it used to. Although I still get a kick out of missile launchers that can poke someone's eye out from across the room.

In the comics, Knowhere is a spaceport at the edge of the universe housed inside the decapitated head of a Celestial, so I'm pretty sure this is a terrible representation of that. And this set is called the "Knowhere Escape Mission" but I'm not actually sure what they're escaping from. 

The Platform... thing

I have no idea how this fits into the movie, and to be honest I'm probably breaking it down as soon as this review goes live. 

BUT if I was a 10 year old this would be pretty cool. The platform itself has a drop away floor (and a flat panel so minis standing on it will actually fall through the hole) and pressing down on the satellite looking thing causes the scaffold to break off from the set. Built in destructibility is always fun. There's also a small catapult attached to it that launches either bombs or toxic waste. I'm not sure.

The Space... ship? Pod?

The spaceship pod thing is... not very big, and probably isn't an attack vessel. My best guess, given the two claw hands, and the sticker decals, is that it's some sort of heavy loader, probably one that moves toxic waste. Or bombs. I'm still not sure.

The actual design is solid but it's on the small side and doesn't look like it would be that enjoyable to play with.

The Missile Launcher

Now this is something I can get behind, mostly because I don't want to stand in front of it.

The launcher itself is rad, and the range is pretty awesome, taking me back to my childhood when most G.I. Joes came with rocket launchers that could seriously put an eye out. But the overall build is less that stellar. I do like that it has good up and down motion, but the handle is useless, being that it's off to the side of the launcher and not actually attached to it.

The Verdict

I'm torn. The value of this set definitely comes from the minifigures. Groot is great, and while I have problems with Rocket, it's not a deal breaker, especially since this is the only set where you can find him, and the figure is still fun to play with. Nebula and the Sakaaran Soldier are nothing special but are solid minifigures overall.

The playset itself is rather underwhelming, but I'm sure most people will be buying this set for Groot and Rocket Racoon. In that regard, I think it's worth the purchase, and if you can get it on sale, even better.