Blackjack O'hare X Rocket Raccoon
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Type: Extraterrestrial planet; Keystone Quadrant star system (in relative proximity to 'the black holes of Sirius Major'), Milky Way galaxy
Blackjack O'hare X Rocket Raccoon, uefa slots, poker lexington ky, lubiaz slot art festival 2018. A cruel and merciless mercenary, Blackjack O'Hare sold his services to the highest bidder. Working for the malicious mole, Judson Jakes aboard Spacewheel, O'Hare and his Black Bunny Brigade launched a raid on the Cuckoo's Nest and stole Gideon's Bible for his employer. He also kidnapped the girlfriend of Rocket Raccoon. (Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Rocket Raccoon was the security chief, with Blackjack O'Hare as his number two. Rocket personally supervised the admission of thousands of patients. Security was fundamental.in thirty years it had never breached.
Environment: Earthlike
Usual means of access: Space travel
Dominant Life Forms:Robots, Loonies(aka humans), various altered Terran animals
Significant Inhabitants:'AwfulEight', Black Bunny Brigade, Chief Toysmith of Spacewheel, 'Croaker' (Dyvyne's assistant), Drakillars,Lord Dyvyne, Dyvynicies Inc., Good Humor Men, HeadRobot, Lylla, Judson Jakes, Keystone Kops, Killer Clowns/Psycho Circus, Blackjack O'Hare, Uncle Pyko, Robohorse,Robomower, Rocket Raccoon, Simian Sentries,Snail Gang, Stinker,Wal Russ, Wild Worms,various unidentified animals, humans,and robots;
formerly the ancient shrinks
Significant Items: Red Breath, Gideon's Bible/Halfworld Bible, Wonder Toy
Significant Locations:AdmissionsWard, Asylum, unidentifiedcantina, Cuckoo's Nest, GalacianWall, humanoid spaceship, MayhemMekanics, Spacewheel
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#271 (May 1982)
History:
(Rocket Raccoon#2 (fb) - BTS) <From the log of the Starship Gideon> - The 'counsel' decreed that certain forms of insanity were were incurable, and a group of psychiatrists(?) were ordered to transport their planet's most insane to a world of their own, where they would be cared for by robots and kept amused by pets for the rest of their natural lives.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb)) -Psychiatrists from an unidentified starfaring human civilization (see comments below) left their homes in search of a planet that they could use to house their seemingly incurably insane patients away from the sane society that loathed them (the patients) and made them outcasts from the rest.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb)) - Five years out, the psychiatrists found a world they found suitable for their needs, and, with great rejoicing, they set theirhospice ships (at least five of them) down on it. They built a facility to house their allegedly incurable patients whom they vowed to cure, building robots to care for their needs while the animals the doctors brought served their intended purpose as companions and entertainers for their patients. Administering the settlement from their headquarters in Asylum, the psychiatrists spent years studying the functions and dysfunctions of the human mind, expanding their knowledge of same, and writing down all their observations of their patients' mental problems in the logbook of the hospice ship Gideon.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 (fb) - BTS) <According to Uncle Pyko> - The Loonies and humanity shared common ancestry with the Firstcomers (see comments)...perhaps indicating the Firstcomers were part of one of the races which has claimed to be ancestors of all humanoid races throughout the universe, such as theXorri.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb)) - Before they could find a cure, though, their research was called into question, their funding was cut off and the doctors were ordered to return to their homeworld. Having no choice but to obey, the doctors did so
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - The shrinks built the impenetrable Galacian Wall around the entire Keystone quadrant
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb)) - The wall was built to keep the doctors' patients (left behind due to safety concerns) safe from outside harm from their home society, and to keep the patients from inadvertently escaping into possible harm. Having no choice but to obey their orders to return to their homeworld, the doctors left their patients, uncured, in the care of the robots, and also left behind the animals to continue on as companions and entertainers.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb)) - The hospice ships founded the Halfworld asylum in the Keystone Quadrant to exploit the region's remoteness; far away from anything, it was more secure.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb)) - The largest asylum in known space. Halfworld was established as a Matrioshka Brain, a bio-organic ecosystem of world spheres that maximize the power output of the sun at its center. The Galacian Wall was merely its outer shell. Each level housed patients living out therapeutic fantasies, conducted via virtual immersion by the wardens, who were anthropomorphosized animals designed to be friendly and reassuring to the patients, which was part of the therapy. At the very heart of the Matrioshka structure were the highest security sections for the incurably insane. Those levels had the greatest concentration of security guards, who were made to look like clowns to enhance the cheerful, fun atmosphere of the place, as they didn't want any of the dangerous inmates to get upset.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Rocket Raccoon was the security chief, with Blackjack O'Hare as his number two. Rocket personally supervised the admission of thousands of patients. Security was fundamental...in thirty years it had never breached.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb)) <speculated by Uncle Pyko> - 'Ages passed,' and over the following years (centuries?) the robots continued their task of taking care of the patients and their descendants, who, if not born already insane, were born into and affected by their parents' insane environment and acted insane as normal behavior. Eventually gaining an artificial intelligence of their own (perhaps caused by radiation from a nova affecting their inner workings), the supremely logical robots began chaffing at the illogic of their charges, and sought a way out. They found an answer by genetically manipulating the animals and enhancing their intelligence, enabled them to speak human language, and gave many animals prosthetics that mimicked human movement, including the ability to walk upright and use their front paws/hoofs as hands. The robots then turned over day-to-day care of the insane humans, now called Loonies, over to the altered animals while the robots retreated to their claimed side of the planet, which they turned into an all-metallic industrial plain.
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - Ceaselessly laboring, the robots created artificial limbs for the animals and making parts for toys used to keep the Loonies entertained, they also began working on a gigantic humanoid-shaped starship.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb) - BTS) - The robots studied how to shut down the Galacian Wall, while also making vehicles and weapons.
(Rocket Raccoon#1-3 (fb) - largely inference from events and beings in current stories rather than specifically seen history events) - Over the following years (more centuries?) animal society evolved around caring for the Loonies, with toy companies becoming the chief source of income for many animals, and with the Chief Toysmiths of each company designing both toys for Loonies and far more dangerous 'toys' (aka weapons) for their bosses. Other animals became law enforcers, called Rangers, with both the care of the Loonies and the keeping of law and order among the other animals a chief concern to the animal Rangers.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 (fb) - BTS) - The main housing facility of the patients became known as the Cuckoo's Nest, the capital (for lack of a better word) of the non-robotic (and thus still full of plants and other natural stuff) half of the planet, now called Halfworld by its inhabitants.
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - The doctors' headquarters became a shrine called the Admissions Ward, home of a religion worshiping the ancient Shrinks, and tended to by priests called the Good Humor Men, and which only the Loonies were supposed to enter.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 (fb) - BTS / Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Cuckoo's Nest shrine also housed thelog book of the Gideon (which became known as Gideon's Bible or the Halfworld Bible), left behind by the doctors (who came to be referred to as 'Firstcomers' and 'Ancient Shrinks') when they left, and venerated by the Loonies despite the fact that none could actually read it, let alone had the education to understand what it said.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 (fb) - BTS) - The system Halfworld belonged to was named the Keystone Quadrant by its inhabitants, though where the system is located (i.e. which galaxy it’s in, which empire it’s nearest, etc.) in relation to the rest of the universe at large has yet to be revealed.
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb)) - Not realizing their true origins, the animals felt the robots were unable to stop themselves from making machines for which they had no use, so they gave them to the animals, who used them with which to play and farm.
(Rocket Raccoon#3 (fb) - BTS) - Judson Jakes, chief Toysmith of Mayhem Mekaniks (presumably originally named Inter-Stel Mechanics), assassinated the business' husband and wife owners, seize their company, and wage war on his competitors; Jakes also made himself guardian of the former owner's daughter, Lylla, who nonetheless stood to inherit the company upon coming of age.
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - From the Spacewheel (allegedly built by the presumably built by scientist tortoise Uncle Pyko, but perhaps actually constructed by the robots, with Pyko's guidance), in the center of the Keystone Quadrant, Jakes ruled Inter-Stel Mechanics, from which Uncle Pyko apparently turned out automaton assassins such as the Killer Clowns, as well as the alien Drakillars, and used Blackjack O'Hare and his Black Bunny Brigade to do his dirty work. Jakes and Pyko apparently sought Gideon's Bible to learn the origin of the Keystone Quadrant and its inhabitants.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 - BTS) - Many years ago, under unrevealedcircumstances, tortoise toysmith Uncle Pyko probed the mind of a humanKeystone Kop, and unearthed deeply submerged memories of the connectionbetween the Firstcomers (aka the psychiatrists) and the Loonies (whom theKop belonged to). In the process, Uncle Pyko also learned the keyto deciphering the Gideon's Bible, which all believed held the secret forultimate power on Halfworld. Unhappily for him, the Kop did not survivethe probe.
(Incredible Hulk II#271) - A runaway robot mower approached a sleepingHulk (Bruce Banner, who, long story short, had been transported to Halfworldby a dying GalaxyMaster), who could not be awakened by the two animals (Rocket Raccoonand Wal Russ) who had found him. Rocket attempted to divert the robomowerfrom its path, but the robot couldn't be stopped. The sound fromthe mower awoke the Hulk, who was angry his sleep was disturbed, and smashedthe robomower, but not before the 'mower got off an alarm and summonedthe Loonie police, the Keystone Quadrant Kops. Upon arriving, theKops promptly crashed into the victim, then futilely gave chase to thetwo animals and the Hulk, who calmly left in the spaceship Rakk 'n' Ruinwhile the Kops were getting themselves organized enough to begin theirinvestigation.
(Incredible Hulk II#271) - After Rocket explained what he knew of Halfworld to the Hulk, he received a distress call from the Cuckoo's Nest, as Lylla (Rocket's girlfriend and Wal Russ' niece) reported the Black Bunny Brigade's assault.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 - BTS) - The Black Bunny Brigade overpowered those defending the Cuckoo's Nest, and they took both Lylla and Gideon's Bible back to the Spacewheel.
(Incredible Hulk II#271 - BTS) - The Hulk agreed to aid Rocket and Wal Russ and they traveled to the Cuckoo's Nest, where Stinker, one of the few conscious guards, reported the abduction of Lylla and Gideon's Bible. Rocket correctly reasoned they had been taken to the Spacewheel, and he led Wal Russ and the Hulk there aboard the Rakk'N'Ruin. As their ship arrived, Jakes had Pyko send Killer Clowns to intercept them; Wal Russ remained behind to pilot the ship. With the Hulk's power, they made short work of the Clowns, and the Hulk smashed his way into Spacewheel (with Pyko's servodroids rapidly repairing this damage upon their entry). When Blackjack threatened Lylla to force Rocket's surrender, the Hulk punched the ground, upsetting Blackjack with the Shockwave and allowing Rocket to finish him off. As Rocket rushed to confront Jakes, the Hulk was distracted and summoned by Pyko, who had read Gideon's Bible and determined the Hulk's planet of origin and offered to send him back. As Rocket defeated Jakes' Drakillar agent and forced Jakes' surrender, Pyko briefly explained how he had determined that the Firstcomers were the ancestors of the Keystone Kops and the Hulk (meaning they had come from Earth). Setting his devices to send the Hulk home to prevent him from upsetting Halfworld's balance of power, Pyko returned the Halfworld Bible to Rocket, claiming it to be incomprehensible even to him. With the Bible, Rocket and Lylla rejoined Wal Russ on the Rakk'N'Ruin and departed Spacewheel, heading back to return the tome to the Cuckoo's Nest.
(Rocket Raccoon#1 (fb) - BTS) - Under unexplained circumstances, Jakes apparently relinquished control of the Spacewheel to his chief rival in the toy industry, Lord Dyvyne and his Dyvynities Inc. Jakes renamed Inter-Stel Mechanics as 'Mayhem Mekaniks' and established a new base in a factory on the crater-ridden border between animal and robot zones.
(Rocket Raccoon#1) - After borrowing the Gideon's Bible from theLoonies in an attempt to decipher it, Rocket and his companions, Wal andLylla were interrupted by the Keystone Quadrant Kops, whoseinvestigation of the Snail Gang was interrupted by a call from toy mogulLord Dyvyne over the assassination of his chief toysmith, which sent theKops off to find Rocket so he could take the call. Rocket returnedthe Bible to its caretakers, the Good Humor Men, whose leader assured Rocketthat the language of the ancient Shrinks was unfathomable, then invitedRocket to watch the ancient rites, which Rocket did for a few moments beforegetting back to Dyvyne's call. As Rocket headed to investigate Mayhem Mekaniks, Dyvyne ordered Blackjack O'Hare to kidnap Lylla so he could possess her inheritance.
As the Loonies prepared for the Great Masquerade, Pyko, hidden beneath a sheet, sneaked into their shrine, stole the Halfworld Bible, and replaced it with a fake. During a later performance of their ancient rites, the leader of the Good Humor Men asked, as part of the ritual, for the ancient book to speak to them, only to be horrified when the book opened like a jack-in-the-box and revealed a jester's head inside the book. Desperate to recover the Bible before the Loonies sank into lethal despondency, Lylla armed herself only seconds before being ambushed and abducted by O'Hare.
Jakes' forces, including a giant nutcracker, the Killer Clowns (aka the Psycho-Circus), and other cyborgs/robots assaulted Rocket, Wal Russ, and the Rakk'N'Ruin. As Jakes' forces fell, he nonetheless revealed his goal of becoming chief toysmith and charging the Loonies for the toys, despite it being the animals' intended duty to entertain the Loonies for free; of seeing Dyvyne dead; and of marrying Lylla to make her fortune his. Pyko interrupted the struggle and pointed out the pointlessness of it all, as well as revealing Dyvyne's announcement that he held Lylla and intended to make both her and Mayhem Mekaniks his.
(Rocket Raccoon#2) - Later that night, the Loonies held the GreatMasquerade, where each Loonie could become what they truly believed theywere for a night, as part of the 'therapy' left for them by the ancientShrinks. Wal Russ monitored for the presence of non-Loonie lifeforms using the parade as cover, but by the time he detected two incoming attackers, Rocket was too far away to hear his warning, and was attacked by a Drakillar and a KillerClown (courtesy of Dyvyne and Jakes, respectively) during the parade portion ofthe celebration; Rocket ultimately destroyed both. Meanwhile, O'Hare decided to keep Lylla for himself, notifying Dyvyne of his intent to marry her and make himself top toysmith in the Keystone Quadrant. In response, Dyvyne unleashed the misty Red Breath creature (created by Lord Dyvyne's late toysmith) to seek out and erase his enemies. Jakes interrupted Pyko's review of the Halfworld Bible, and the two argued regarding there differing motivations; when Jakes noted his plans to 'clean house' (by eliminating anyone in his way), Pyko (perhaps seeking to distract Jakes so he could return to the Halfworld Bible), showed him his Vacusleds, which could clean up anything or anyone.
As the Loonies arrived at the sacred building Asylum and continued their Masquerade Ball there, Blackjack, his brigade, and Lylla entered seconds before Wal Russ and Rocket arrived there via the Rakk'N'Ruin. The Red Breath arrived tokill Rocket and Blackjack, and erased anything else that got in its way, including severalLoonies. Wal Russ freed Lylla, and the two fought the Bunny Brigade until a squad of Killer Clowns arrived on Vacusled, sucking up all of the other Black Bunnies besides Blackjack. Wal Russ and Lylla pointed out who Blackjack was now enemies of both Jakes and Dyvyne, like Rocket, and that they should join forces. Blackjack detoured the Killer Clowns on vacusleds into the path of the Red Breath, which was sucked up by the Vacusleds even as it erased both sleds and riders. With the Red Breath eliminated, the erased Looniesrematerialized, seemingly none the worse for their experiences. Rocket and Blackjack reluctantly agreed to an alliance against the two toy moguls.
(Rocket Raccoon#3) - After faking their deaths to throw off aposse composed of Judson Jake's Killer Clowns and Lord Dyvyne's chimpanzeesamurais, O'Hare brought Rocket, Wal Russ, and Lylla to a cantina on therobot side of Halfworld, where O'Hare claimed that every deal for the toyssold to the Loonies was negotiated. There, Rocket, Lylla, and Waldiscovered Uncle Pyko waiting for them, wishing to talk. While Pykorevealed the true history of the Shrinks as detailed in the Gideon's Bible,O'Hare slipped off and recruited seven other animals to kidnap Lylla andthe Bible so he could turn them over to Lord Dyvyne (his most recent employer)and return to Dyvyne's good graces. Rocket and the others defeatedO'Hare and his so-called 'Awful Eight' and escaped. Pyko took themto the Assembly Line, run by the Head Robot, and explained to Rocket thatthe Bible also held the notes the ancient Shrinks had taken about the formsof insanity the Loonies suffered from, and that the best way to end thetoy war between Jakes and Dyvyne was to cure the Loonies using the notesin the Bible. Rocket reluctantly fed the Bible to the Head Robot,which digested the data within the Bible and soon turned out a therapeutictoy designed to cure the Loonies.
(Rocket Raccoon#4) - Days later, the four animals, along witha Robohorse, set up a traveling carney show to give all the Loonies ofHalfworld a Wonder Toy (the therapeutic toy from last issue's end) in anattempt to cure the Loonies of their insanity, and thus end the toy warbetween toy moguls Jakes and Dyvyne by depriving them of their customerbase. After every Loonie got a toy, the four commented on thesilence that now hung over the Cuckoo's Nest, before coming under attackby the combined forces of Dyvyne and Jakes. Rocket, Wal, Lylla, andPyko fought the two armies, but even with the aid of a semi-repentant O'Harethey were outgunned by their enemies, until the Robohorse returned withreinforcements -- the other robots and the now-cured Loonies -- who quicklyturned the tide of battle and finished off the Clowns, and took the chimpanzeesamurais prisoner. Afterwards the humans asked the animals and robotsto help them rebuild their world; while some animals and robots accepted,others chose to follow Rocket onto the humanoid spaceship into outer spaceand seek their destiny there after the Robots shut down the Galacian Wall.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb)) - Star-Thief (Barry Bauman) was admitted to Halfworld; his physical body having been killed on Earth years ago, his mind had survived, jumping from one new host to the next. Inside his latest host body, he was brought to Halfworld and placed in the tightest security. Bauman resisted all therapy, possessing inmates and guards alike, causing riots and disruption. He repeatedly tried to escape, and he even managed to take control of the beloved head of psychology, Dr. Dyvyne. Rocket and Blackjack fought to stop the escape, to avoid the risk of his madness infecting the entire galaxy.
Realizing it could only be a matter of time, Rocket took drastic action, turning the very bio-organic nature of Halfworld against Bauman: The wardens were biological components of the living prison; Halfworld was the lock, and Rocket turned the wardens into the key. Only the wardens' collective unique cellular patterns could combine to open the inner levels of the asylum. Unless all were present and willing, Halfworld's lock could never be turned, and Bauman could never escape. To guarantee this, Rocket decided to throw away the key, leaving Halfworld forever.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Before he departed, Rocket redesigned a number of systems, including having the clown-class security drones made from bioreactive dendronic wood from Planet X (home of Groot) because it was best suited to Halfworld's living eco-security system.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb)) - Believing it to be his duty as security chief, Rocket handed his badge over to Blackjack, then made the other wardens use the immersion therapy to wipe his mind so he could never remember his life or his friends there, so he would never be tempted to return. As Rocket left, he took with him were half-memories of adventures he had participated in.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Judson Jakes became Blackjack's new number two security chief.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Lylla married Blackjack O'Hare.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - More recently, Jakes was possessed by Star-Thief and ran amok. Blackjack and the others managed to stop Jakes but not before he could jettison some of the clown-class security drones. Via Star-Thief's manipulations, the Clowns were intended to lure Rocket Raccoon back to Halfworld.
(Annihilators#1/2 - BTS) - A Killer Clown was sent to Rocket Raccoon while he was working in the postal division of the Alpha Centauri offices of Timely Inc. Customer Services Division. Rocket learned of its arrival while being reprimanded by his superior for receiving a personal delivery, and upon opening it was attacked the the Clown. It recovered from a series of assaults as Rocket briefly pinned it to the wall with a staple gun, stunned it with a mop handle, bound it in bubble wrap and parcel tape, and kicked it into the incinerator. Finally, Rocket threw a water cooler at the Clown, knocking it through a window/causing a hull breach into the vacuum of space, and then sent it hurtling through space with the exhaust from a fire extinguisher. It's right arm broke off just below the elbow in the final assault, and was left behind in the office as the room was sealed and the atmospheric breech contained.
Fired for endangering the other workers and the amount of paperwork his boss would have to fill out, Rocket decided to visit his old friend Groot, alleged monarch of Planet X, after being reminded that the Clown's wood was a bioreactive dendronic material found only on Planet X. He took with him a Timely Inc. Shipment Processing and Analysis Device.
(Annihilators#2/2 - BTS) - Groot informed Rocket that Killer Clown had been manufactured on Halfworld, which Rocket had failed to realize due to the previous memory blocks; Rocket had even forgotten Halfworld existed until he heard the name. Groot further correctly posited that whoever sent the Clown had realized they wouldn't be able to slip much past Timely Inc's security systems, perhaps one Clown, which they knew Rocket would be able to deal with, but that it would bring him to Planet X, to which they could more easily deploy a full-scale hit squad.
A group of Killer Clowns then appeared and confronted the Undergrowth Resistance (allies of Groot), threatening to burn down the entire forest if they did not surrender Rocket, but Rocket and Groot led the Undergrowth Resistance to fight back, destroying the Clowns; Rocket put out the fire the Clowns and the struggle had started.
Rocket and Groot then piloted the Clowns' ambulance ship to Halfworld, and en route Groot informed the memory-damaged Rocket that Halfworld was an insane asylum.
(Annihilators#2/2) - Two days later, via jump drive, they arrived at the Keystone quadrant, where they found the Galacian wall had been reinforced from a force field into a full-scale barrier. As they approached, a gate opened for them, and when they found the dock area deserted, Rocket used his communicator to announce his presence.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Upon learning it was Rocket in the approaching ship, Blackjack O'Hare figured Rocket must have remembered and thus presumably have been possessed by Star Thief...and was coming back to organize a mass escape.
(Annihilators#2/2) - Blackjack O'Hare said, 'Oh Rocket, you should never have come back...because now we'll have to kill you,' at which point he launched 24 fusion warheads at Rocket and Groot's ship.
(Annihilators#3/2) - Blackjack lamented having to have killed Rocket, but Rocket, via his Timely Inc. Shipment Processing and Analysis Device, Rocket had himself and Groot immediately transported to Halfworld in a package brought in by Clowns and announced by Wal-Rus. Blackjack realized what the package was just as Rocket and Groot burst forth; they made short work of the Clowns, and then Rocket held Blackjack and Wal-Rus at gunpoint and asked what they had to say for themselves. However, Rocket was then distracted by suddenly remembering his two old associates, an Lylla blasted him from behind, apologizing afterwards and noting it was for his own good. She injected Rocket with a cortical stimulator to gently awaken his dormant memories via (to reduce the shock of recalling the harsh truth) a happy aspect of his past, couched in the comforting and reassuring terms of a children's tale. Strapped to a table, Rocket recalled his memories of his adventures, culminating in defeating his enemies, and lead Blackjack, Wal-Rus, and Lylla to escape Halfworld; Blackjack apologized for having to restrain him, but noted they had to be sure what they were dealing with. Blackjack identified their location as the Halfworld Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Blackjack and Lylla explained the reasons for the fairy tale memories, and Lylla revealed she had long since married Blackjack. They then strapped Rocket in the immersion couch, and began the full upload restoration of his memories.
Upon recovering, a confused Rocket wondered if the bits of his life he did remember weren't real, and Lylla responded, 'Of course they're real, silly! Just not real in the same way. See?' Not really understanding what had really happened, Rocket accepted Blackjack's suspicions and then realized that he had been lured back there, presumably by Star-Thief so he could open the lock. Superceding Blackjack's authority, Rocket ordered Wal-Rus to check on Star-Thief and insisted on interviewing Jakes himself. Upon being revived, Jakes was mortified to see Rocket had come back, denying Rocket's assurances that things were still OK and Rocket's questions about what thoughts Jakes had gleaned from Bauman from their mental contact. Jakes insisted that if Rocket was there then Star-Thief was as good as escaped already. Blackjack reminded Jakes that Bauman would have to provide the unique genetic combination and that they had extra security watching Bauman, who was locked up tight. Just then, the massive combination tumblers began turning and the immersion systems crashed. Jakes screamed that Halfworld was going to open wide and Star-Thief was coming, and then Jakes' head suddenly exploded. As the tumblers continued to turn and mass panic ensued, Rocket instructed Lylla to sedate the patients and instructed Groot and Blackjack to accompany him to the high security core. There things seemed normal, with the Clown on guard, and Wal-Rus showed Rocket a video showing Star-Thief's host as deeply immersed. Rocket insisted on seeing the host himself, and they found a skeleton there indicating the host had been long-dead. As the tumblers turned again, Star-Thief's image appeared before Rocket and his allies, and he revealed he had control of the Clowns, and that his madness had escaped into the bio-facility's nervous system; he WAS the Halfworld asylum now, and he could unlock himself.
(Annihilators#4/2 (fb)) - Needing the wardens alive but pacified, Star-Thief zapped Rocket, Groot, Blackjack, and Wal-Russ, and the Clowns brought them into an enviroputic bio-scape, an immersion environment, which kept the wardens entranced.
(Annihilators#4/2 (fb) - BTS) -Star-Thief had enthralled all of Halfworld and begun herding all of the inmates into the giant ark ship Halfworld's robots built, planning to use the ship as a body to escape the asylum, with the inmates as a living, bio-organic control system and/or a crew.
(Annihilators#4/2 (fb)) - As the Clowns wheeled Groot away, he split off a cutting of himself, made a break, and slipped into the bio-scape holding Rocket. Using his natural dendronic powers, Groot spoke through the bio-scape's trees.
(Annihilators#4/2) - Groot revived and rescued Rocket (who had been dreaming of a relaxing time with Lylla and Wal-Russ by a stream), and they found Star-Thief herding the inmates into the ship, with only 10-15 minutes before Star-Thief would be ready to launch. Fearing Star-Thief's madness spreading across the galaxy, Raccoon led Groot back into the bio-scape, from which Groot extricated Blackjack as he rose a toast to the Black Bunny Brigade. When Blackjack noted they needed to reach the control center, which Bauman would have guarded, Groot germinated the Clown's living wood and sent them to assault the ship and distract Star-Thief. As Star-Thief forcibly retook control of the Clowns and ordered the ship's repair, Blackjack and Rocket broke into the control center, and destroyed the guards present there. Blackjack accessed, and they reviewed Bauman's files while Blackjack noted that since Star-Thief was hooked into the asylum's Matrioshka brain structure to be in control, if they cold disrupt Bauman's attention, the asylum's systems might have a chance to reboot automatically and sedate him again. As Star-Thief announced the completion of ship's repairs and that they were prepared to depart, Rocket dropped in, posing as Mr. Binkey, the dog Bauman had loved while possessing Tom Vocson, his first human host before becoming Star-Thief. Confused and wondering if Mr. Binkey was real, Bauman became sufficiently distracted and thus vulnerable, and Black activated the asylum's psychic dampeners. Star-Thief was pulled back into his own immersion environment (where Barry Bauman was a healthy child with his parents and Mr. Binkey), while Wal-Russ, Lylla, and the other wardens were awakened from within their bio-scapes.
Rocket wished Blackjack and Lylla to be as happy as Bauman and Mr. Binkey and declined Blackjack's offer to return as co-chief of security, opting instead to continue his efforts to save the universe, whether it wanted it or not.
Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Jim Novak (inks).
This profile is mostly a catch-allfor the many Halfworld denzines that didn't fit in with the other animalcharacters getting their own profiles (Rocket Raccoon, Lylla, Wal Russ,Uncle Pyko, Blackjack O'Hare, Judson Jakes, Lord Dyvyne, maybe Psycho-Circus),or who had enough history in common that they didn't need truly need separateprofiles for them (Robots and Loonies). The Wild Worms and Drakillarshave their own profile already.
I've seen mentioned on some websitesdiscussing the Rocket Raccoon stories that Mantlo wrote, that he had beenstrongly influenced (or was doing an homage of sorts) to a Beetles song,('Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', I think is the song being referencedby them), given much of the fun lunacy that Halfworld has. My guessis that Mantlo was simply drinking from the same creative well, figurativelyspeaking, that whoever wrote 'Lucy' drank from, and nothing more (no rocking-horsepeople or girls with kaleidoscope eyes homages on Halfworld that I saw,anyway). Halfworld simply had the same feel as the world in 'Lucy',is all. (And before anyone brings it up, yes I am aware the Beetles'song was supposed to 'really' be about a LSD trip, and no, I'm not accusingthese creators of using it or anything like that. You can get weirdimagery like rocking-horse people without using ANY drugs, trust me. Imagination and a different world view is all you need. to do it with.)
What happened to the Halfworlders who left the planethas never been revealed, beyond the fact that Rocket Raccoon was somehowseparated from the others and has yet to be reunited with them. Myguess/preference is that they first went to the world the ancient psychiatristcame from, and then saw how many threats were out there (Kree invaders,Skrull invaders, other alien invaders, ect.), then decided to return toHalfworld and make it their home base to explore the rest of the universefrom.
What link Bill Mantlo intended between Halfworld,the Swordin the Star timeline, and Earth (which was mentioned as having a linkto the same people who founded Halfworld in the Hulk issue), will unhappilynever be revealed by him, due to a brain injury he suffered several yearsago (some details and occasional updates here). Given the number of similarities between many of Halfworld's denizens (allanimals people are clearly descended from Earth animals, the Loonies dressup as characters from American pop culture, etc.), there has to be a majorlink between the two planets somehow. Most likely is that Earth humanswere seeded onto other worlds by an outside agency (or the outside agencyseeded Earth along with the other worlds), and that is the source of muchof the commonality. Or else several Earth humans and animals werekidnapped by aliens and stranded on the planet the ancient psychiatristscame from (who said that such things didn't/couldn't have happened beforethe sliding timescale activated in the modern MU?), with some time-travelinvolved in the mix. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like an answerwill be revealed anytime soon. :(
Perhaps the Firstcomers were part of one of the races which has claimed to be ancestors of all humanoid races throughout the universe, such as theXorri.
I'm not sure what exact mental condition(s) the Loonieswere suffering from, beyond loss of contact with reality, and being thestereotype of the happy-go-lucky harmless crazy person. Possiblythe planet the Loonies originally came from managed to eliminate the trulyviolent crazies from their population, leaving them just the more harmlesscrazies to fear.
It's unclear just how many centuries passed sincethe Shrinks first came to Halfworld and the current day. I'm guessingnot very many (like, maybe, 2-3 centuries at most), since at least oneof the Loonies still remembered how to read the Shrink's native language(the Kop Uncle Pyko inadvertently killed), which apparently all livingLoonies can't, given how impossible it was for Rocket to read the HalfworldBible on his own (otherwise, why wouldn't the Loonies just tell him andthe other animals how to read it if they knew how?). Another mysterythat likely won't get solved anytime soon.
One thing I noticed with the altered animals is thatthere seems to be no birds or marine animals among the altered, just landmammals and reptiles. Possibly the altered dolphins, whales, andvarious fish species, if they exist, live primarily in the oceans and lakes,where none of the Rocket Raccoon series took place. Where the alteredbirds live, if they exist, I'm not sure. Maybe they're primarilyforest/mountain dwellers, and have no use for either the Loonies or therobots, or the other animals at all.
The simian sentries tended to scream 'Chim-Chim-Chireeee!', presumably intended as an homage to Dick Van Dyke's song from Mary Poppins.
One thing I noticed during the recent Planet Hulk/WorldWar Hulk storylines. the design for Warbound member Arch-E 5912 isvery similar to that of the Halfworld robots. Perhaps a ship fromthe Shrink's homeworld (NOT Halfworld, since it doesn't have but the oneinterstellar craft capable of FTL travel) managed to get trapped in thatwormhole the Sakaarian Shadow Priests had been creating for the last severalyears, and that's where Arch-E's from originally. Or not. . . . .
Profile by Elfwith a gun
Clarifications:
Halfworld and its various places (Admissions Ward,Cuckoo's Nest, the cantina, ect.)have no known connections to
- any other 'half' or 'world' places and/or people
- any other places with identical names
- ANI-MEN (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Dragonfly, Frog-Man)- agents of Organizer + Count Nefaria + Madame Masque, originally recruitedby Organizer, briefly empowered by Nefaria's scientists, killed by bombSpymaster set for Tony Stark @ Daredevil I#10
- ANI-MEN (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man) - successors, recruited+ outfitted and Ape- + Cat-Man subsequently killed by Death-Stalker @ Daredevil I#157
- ANIMEN(Buzzard, Crushtacean, Flying Fox, Komodo, Spinner) - New Men, sent tosabotage one of the Jackal (Miles Warren)'s labs, opposed the Scarlet Spiderand the Cult of the Jackal @ Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1
- ANI-MEN(Giraffe-Man, Great Horned Owl-Man, Pig-Man, Rabbit-Woman) - attacked theMilwaukee Convention Center on an animal rights crusade, defeated by Avengers @ GLA#1
- ANI-MEN(Ape-Man, Bird-Man, Cat-Man) - present at Hammerhead's meeting @ Civil War: War Crimes#1
- CULT of the JACKAL (Anubia, Caiman, Harrier, Piranis) - NewMen, formerly worshipped the Jackal (Miles Warren) for his promises tomake them human, eventually convinced by the High Evolutionary to abandontheir wishes of becoming human @Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1
- NEW MEN (Animen, Animutants, Barrachuudar, Bobo, Bova, Civit,Cult of the Jackal, Eaglus, Equius, Haukk, Inheritor, Jackal-Man, Knightsof Wundagore, Kohbra, Lizhardus, Lycrus, Man-Beast, Monck, Phrogg, Pih-Junn,Porcunius, Reynar, Reynardo, Rhodan, Snakar,Tabur, Triax, Weezhil) Artificially evolved animals created by equipment/processed used by theHigh Evolutionary @ Thor I#132
- NEW MEN - more primitive version, designed by Sinister whenhe took over the High Evolutionary's citadel @ Uncanny X-Men#380
- or any other of the hundreds of animal races & groups (natural or artificial)running around the Marvel Universe.
- The Bibles distributed by Gideon'sInternational to hotel rooms across the USA and other countries
but otherwise has no connection to - any other book(s), mystic or otherwise, called a 'bible', 'journal,' or'tome'.
The Keystone Quadrant Kops are an homage to
- The Keystone Cops, a silent film series produced by the KeystoneFilm Company, and that originally ran from 1912 to 1917, with variousrevivals since then, in both movies and video games.
but otherwise have no connection with - other 'keystone' or 'kop/cop' characters/places/things
The Loonies have no known connection to:
- LOONIES(Billy Bird, Guns Gummy, Ham, Rochester, Rooster Cockburn, Southpaw, Tailgunner)- robots of Arcade, modeled after cartoon characters @ Marvel Comics Presents#31/4
- other loonie characters/races or crazy people
The robots of Halfworld may or may not have a connectionto
- ARCH-E-5912 - Sakaar robot, enlisted with Hulk's Warbound,piloted stone starship to Earth @ Incredible Hulk III#93
but otherwise have no know connections to
- any of the other hundreds of robots out there in the Marvel Universe
- any other known human or human-like races roaming the Marvel Universe spaceways.
The animals of Halfworld were originally broughtto the planet by the Shrinks as companions and entertainers for the Shrinks'insane patients. The animal species seen include (but aren't limitedto) dogs, raccoons, walruses, otters, iguanas, snakes, chimpanzees, gorillas,rabbits, warthogs, pigs, skunks, alligators, turtles, frogs, and tons moreI can't quite identify off the top of my head. (Given the selectionof animals present, and that many of those animals would not have madegood pets at all, I'd say it's a fair assumption that the ancient Shrinks,or someone associated with them, did some undocumented massive terraformingon Halfworld before setting up shop there, otherwise why bring so manywild animals along with them on an interstellar journey?) Afterthe Shrinks left, the logical robots charged with caring for the insanehumans eventually came to dislike the day-to-day aspects of the job, sothey played around with the genetics of the various animal species alsoleft on Halfworld, and eventually succeeded in giving the animals sentience. The robots altered the animals' bodies so they could walk on two legs,and use their front paws as hands (when feasible; walruses and snakes don'thave humanlike legs, and use robotic prosthesis's as hands. Presumablyother animal species whose bodies are close to the ground, like seals,say, also weren't altered to have humanlike arms and legs). Evidentlyall normal animals on Halfworld were altered into intelligent animal-people,since there seems to be no unaltered animals left anywhere on Halfworldthat I could see, nor are any mentioned by anyone anyplace. Oncethey had the results the way they wanted, the robots passed the day-to-dayjob of caring for the Loonies to the animals, and retreated to their ownside of Halfworld, where they could keep the contact with both animalsand Loonies to a more tolerable level (for them, anyway).
How exactly the animals' society is set up has neverreally been revealed. It is unknown, for example, if intermarriagebetween different species is common or not, and if such marriages can produceyoung of any kind (the genetics would be hard to work out, but not impossiblein the MU, at least). In fact, it's unknown if the animals renewtheir numbers via something like a cloning lab, or if they do the in thetime-honored ways. There is a criminal element among the animals,hence the need for law enforcement officers like the Rangers, though theredoesn't seem to be a need for more than a few active Rangers at any giventime. Beyond that, nothing is really known about the society(ies)of the animals.
While many of the animals left Halfworld onthe robots giant Ship, some animals remained to help the now-sane Looniesin rebuilding their world, though in what capacity they're doing so remainsunrevealed.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
(And yes, those are Steve Purcell's Sam& Max characters sitting in the corner there in this pic. Which may go a long way to explaing a great deal of the things on Halfworld,if someone wishes to go in that direction. >:) )
Blackjack O'hare X Rocket Raccoon Traps
A group of animals gathered on a moment's noticeby Blackjack O'Hare to capture the Halfworld Bible from Rocket Raccoonand Uncle Pyko, take Lylla the otter hostage, and return them to O'Hare'sestranged employer, Lord Dyvyne. Presumably they were mercenariesof some sort, and were solely after the rewards both Dyvyne and JudsonJakes were offering for Rocket and co.'s heads (and other body parts). During the fight in the unnamed cantina, the Awful Eight were quickly reducedto the 'Frightful Five', then down to the 'Terrible Trio', before Rocketand co. escaped the enraged O'Hare.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
One of the few animals outside of the main seven ever given names. Stinker is a skunk (obviously) who is a close friend of Rocket and Lylla. It is unknown if he had any of the same abilities of a Terran skunk, likebeing able to hibernate and shoot smelly musk at his enemies. Hewas among those animals attacked and knocked unconscious by the Black BunnyBrigade's assault on Cuckoo's Nest in order to steal the Gideon's Bible. He revived just in time to give Rocket the information that the BBB hadtaken the Bible and Lylla hostage. It is unclear if he was one ofthe animals who left with the others at the end of the toy war, or if hestayed behind to help the former Loonies rebuild Halfworld.
--Incredible Hulk II#271
The human Loonies are descended from the insane patientsthe ancient Shrinks brought to the future Halfworld to cure them of theirinsanity. The home planet of the Shrinks and the patients has neverbeen revealed, though it isn't Earth (616 planet Earth doesn't have enoughspace capability to launch spaceships for a multi-year journey -- yet). Nothing has been revealed about their home culture, save that it seemedto have had a one-world government of some type, and that the insane patientswere feared and loathed by the sane members of their society, to the pointthat the insane had to be removed to a different world for their own protection. After the Shrinks were ordered back to their homeworld, they left theiruncured patients behind where they would be safe from harm from their ownspecies. The patients' descendants eventually became the Loonies,playing their lives away since they had no idea how to become productivepeople in their own right, and had to be cared for by the robots, thenlater the animals the robots engineered to take their place as caretakers. Some of the Loonies did manage to remember how to read the ancient languageof the Shrinks up to at least a few decades before the Hulk visited Halfworld,since Uncle Pyko learned to read the Halfworld Bible from buried memoriesprovided to him by a Loonie, though seemingly no other Loonie knows howto read, or else didn't connect reading with what was written in the Bible. After they were cured by the Wonder Toy, the former Loonies began the taskof taking responsibility for themselves, and remaking their world to createa new place for themselves in it.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
The high priests, so to speak, of the Loonies, andprobably the closest thing to rulers the Loonies could manage while theywere insane. There were seven of them that performed the sacred ritesin the chapel called the Admissions Ward at least once or twice a day,in an attempt to gain the Final Cure and become one with the Shrinks. The rites included tying each up in their straightjackets while the leader'read' an old nursery rhyme from the Halfworld Bible ('One flew East, oneflew West, one flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'), then all began dancing aroundthe pedestal where the Bible sat. Later the Good Humor Men woulddance out of the chapel, then dance back in and, according to their ritual,ask the Book to speak to them, and not with words. Which it didn't,until Uncle Pyko stole the original Bible and secretly left a substitutein its place, which did 'speak' when asked to, by opening up and allowinga clown's head to bobble out of it, horrifying the watching Loonies. (Incidentally,Good Humor Men is a slang term for the guys in the white coats who catchcrazy people in butterfly nets to haul them away to the local insane asylums. In case anyone was wondering why these Loonies were called that here.)
The guy at the head of the line in this pic seemsto be the head Loonie. He was one of the Loonies erased, then un-erasedby the Red Breath at the Masquerade Ball, then later let the cured Looniesagainst the combined forces of Dyvyne and Jakes in their last battle againstRocket and company. Later, he was the one who acted as the humanspokesman asking the animals and robots to stay on Halfworld and help themrebuild.
--Rocket Raccoon#1 (Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
(more commonly referred to as 'Keystone Kops')
These are the Loonies who acted as the Loonies' lawenforcement division. After receiving the alarm from the damagedrobomower that it was under attack (by Rocket Raccoon, Wal Russ, and theHulk), this group of Kops responded, demanding that everyone stop in thename of the Law, while inadvertently running over the victim with theircar. While the two animals and the Hulk calmly entered the spaceshipRakk 'n' Ruin the Kops futily waved their nightsticks at them while demandingthey stop. Sometime later, during one of Rocket's days off, the KeystoneKops Crime Detection Squad approached him (this time crashing their carinto in pool Rocket was relaxing in) to report that a call from toy mogulLord Dyvyne had come in about the assassination of Dyvyne's Chief Toysmith. After receiving their report, Rocket sent them back to original missionof tracking the Snail Gang back to their lair (a mission that was supposedto take 'the next century and a half' to complete). After Rocketand co. distributed the insanity-curing Wonder Toy to the Loonies, theKops joined with the other cured Loonies to help the robots drive awaythe enemies trying to kill Rocket and co., then later stayed on as truelaw enforcement officials to help rebuild Halfworld.
Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1, 4
The founders of the future Halfworld, and creatorsof the human stronghold Cuckoo's Nest. The psychiatrists left theirhome planet (location as yet unrevealed) to find a world where they couldsafely treat their patients without worrying about threats from their sanefellow humans. On their new planet, the doctors used everything attheir disposal to try and cure their patients, and prepared against theday they would be ordered to return to their homeworld. When thatday arrived, they chose to leave their patients behind a protective GalacianWall, safe from their fellow humans. What happened to the psychiatristsafter that remains unrevealed. On Halfworld, they were mythologizedas god-like creatures, with their buildings and their left-behind logbookbecoming the focus of worship from the human Loonies.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
Snail Gang
To occupy the Keystone Cops for an extended period of time (Wal-Rus estimated a century and a half), Rocket ordered them to track the Snail Gang to their lair. The Cops broke from their duty to locate Rocket and inform him that a Killer Clown had assassinated the Toysmith of Lord Dyvyne. Not wanting the Cops to negatively affect his efforts, Rocket sent them back after the Snail Gang while he prepared to determine who had ordered the assassination.
We don't know anything about the Snail Gang (who may or may not even actually exist), other then that Rocket considered them such a low level threat that he sent the Keystone Cops after them...and that he figured they were safe from being inadvertently harmed by the Cops.
--(mentioned only) Rocket Raccoon#1
The robots were first created by the humans who originallysettled the future Halfworld as a haven for their insane patients. While the psychiatrists worked to cure their patients, the robots tookcare of the patients' more mundane needs (like food and water). Theseearly robots, though intelligent enough to care for their human patients,apparently didn't have a true intelligence comparable to sentient organics. After the psychiatrists were recalled to their homeworld, they left therobots behind to continue to care for the patients they had to leave behind. For years (centuries? see comments above) they took care of theircharges while the charges (now called the Loonies) stayed at the same levelof insanity as their ancestors had. At some point the robots developeda true intelligence (though radiation from a nearby nova was postulatedas a cause of this, it has never been confirmed or denied as part of thecause). Chaffing under the illogic of their charges, but unwillingto leave them without caretakers, the robots eventually discovered howto alter the animals left behind as entertainers and companions for thehumans, creating a race of animal people to become the Loonies' new caretakers. The robots then retreated to the other side of the planet, which they turnedinto an industrial land to work on how to shut down the protective GalacianWall surrounding their planet, and worked on a giant humanoid-shaped starshipto take them into space. They also manufactured the toys designedfor the Loonies' amusement, and manufactured the prosthetics and weaponsthe animals requested for their own use. After the Loonies were cured,almost all the robots left in their starship for adventures offworld, thoughpresumably some robots stayed behind to help the humans rebuild Halfworld.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
This particular robot was located in the main assemblyplant (called, appropriately enough, the Assembly Line), and was apparentlywhere the animal toysmiths inputted their designs for their toys to bemass-produced. Uncle Pyko introduced Rocket to the robot, and explainedhow information in the Gideon's Bible could be used by this robot to createa means of curing the Loonies of their insanity, and thus ending the toywar between Jakes and Lord Dyvyne. Rocket placed the Bible in therobot's mouth, and the robot chewed, swallowed (with a satisfying 'aahh'afterwards), and quickly digested the data. It then reprogrammedthe other robots on the assembly line to design, build, and program theWonder Toy helmets to cure the Loonies. Whether this robot left withthe others, or remained on Halfworld, is unrevealed.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
This robot joined Rocket Raccoon, Wal Russ, Lylla,and Uncle Pyko when they distributed the Wonder Toys to the Loonies inCuckoo's Nest. It (though it was referred to as a 'her' throughoutthe issue) pulled the carney wagon the animals were using to distributethe toys from. When the animals came under attack by the combinedforces of Jakes and Dyvyne, Wal cut the robohorse loose from the wagon,allowing her to escape and summon reinforcements. It soon returnedwith the robots' humanoid Ship, which unleashed an army of other robotsand the now-cured Loonies fighting for their futures. After Jakesand Dyvyne were defeated, the robohorse may have joined the other animalsand robots who chose to leave Halfworld in Ship.
--Rocket Raccoon#4
This robot's main job was as a lawn maintenance worker,mowing the grass and trimming the hedges as needed. However, it malfunctionedsomewhere, causing it to run away from its chores and leaving it unableto stop or change the direction of its path to avoid mowing down animalsand other creatures in its way. The robomower (definitely a slow-movingone, given its original job) eventually came across the unconscious Hulk,whom it threatened to chop up despite the attempts by Rocket Raccoon andWal Russ to either stop the robot or move the Hulk out of its path. The noise the 'mower made woke up the Hulk, who angrily attacked the 'mower,saying if the machine like to make noise that the Hulk would make morenoise than it ever could, and smashed the 'mower on the ground, destroyingit. Before it got smashed, though, the 'mower got off an alarm tothe Keystone Quadrant Kops, who came to investigate, and ran over the 'mowersremains in the process.
--Incredible Hulk II#271
A chapel located in the main building of Cuckoo'sNest. Unclear if this room was originally used as an actual admissionsward for the original patients when they first settled in the compound,or if it was originally used as a religious chapel by the Shrinks and renamedlater by the Loonies. In the modern era of Halfworld's history, theWard was used to house the Halfworld Bible, and where the Good Humor Mendid their dances in an attempt to obtain the Final Cure for themselves.
--Rocket Raccoon#1
Originally built by the Shrinks for use as theiradministrative office and general headquarters. Later it became asacred shrine of the Loonies that the animals (and presumably the robots)evidently did not enter. The Loonies used it once a year as the siteof their Masquerade Ball, which became one of the battlefields of the toywarbetween Jakes and Dyvyne when they both sent assassins after Rocket Raccoonand a renegade Blackjack O'Hare.
--Rocket Raccoon#2 (Rocket Raccoon#2-3
The main human settlement on Halfworld, and possiblythe only one in existence there. It is also home to various animals,though whether it's also the only animal settlement on Halfworld (at leastby law-abiding animals, anyway) is unrevealed. Originally used ashousing and treatment centers for the original patients of the Shrinks. The name 'Cuckoo's Nest' was most likely used by the original settlersas a nickname for the hospital, with the name becoming official sometimeafter the Shrinks left for their homeworld. (It should be notedthat in the Rocket Raccoon issues, Cuckoo's Nest was shown with a moatinside the compound's walls, while in the Hulk issue there was no moatto be seen within those walls.)
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-2, 4
The Galacian Wall was a force field created by theShrinks when they were forced to leave Halfworld by their native government. Presumably the Wall was started long before the recall order came, sinceit would take several years to plan, build, and power something like this. The Wall surrounded Halfworld, and, from the looks of things, several ofHalfworld's moons IF the picture here is accurate. (Doubtful if italso included the entire solar system Halfworld belonged to.) Themetallic part of the Wall generated a globe of energy that wouldn't allowanyone inside to leave, and supposedly repelled anyone outside of it fromentering. The Wall's main purpose was to keep the humans the Loonieswere originally descended from from attacking and destroying them, sincetheir native society evidently feared their crazies to the point of killingthem. Though the robots shut the force field down (via feeding ita shutdown code?), the Wall still remains around Halfworld, and presumablycan be reactivated by the remaining citizens of Halfworld if needed.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
Originally the logbook of the hospice starship Gideon,the ancient shrinks also used it to record their history on the futureHalfworld, and jot down their notes on what exactly ailed the Loonies andtheories on how they might be cured. The original (written) languagethe Bible was written in was all but forgotten until accidentally rediscoveredby Uncle Pyko, who eventually succeeded in stealing it and decipheringit. Pyko later convinced Rocket to feed it to the Head Robot, inorder to have the robots use the knowledge within to find a final curefor the Loonies, and stop the war between Jakes and Dyvyne. However,there is a good possibility that Pyko copied the Bible's contents intohis own computers for his own later reading. Also, it's extremelylikely that the robots also made their own copy of the Bible for theirown uses as well.
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-3
The ships used by the Shrinks to travel to and fromthe planet later named Halfworld. How many of them were used in thismission is unrevealed, though five are shown in the story. They couldfly in space and in a planet's atmosphere, and presumedly had FTL capabilitiesas well. Their known passenger and cargo list had the Shrinks themselves,their human patients, the robots (or at least parts to make them when theyreached their destination), and tons of animals to amuse the patients whilethey waited to be cured. Though it's not mentioned anyplace, theships would have had trained crew members running the ships who weren'tthe Shrinks. And presumably it would have been these same crew memberswho built the Galacian Wall, since the knowledge and know-how to do itwould have certainly been beyond the experience of doctors trained to workon the human mind and body.
--Rocket Raccoon#2 (Rocket Raccoon#2-3
The spaceship (named Ship, of course) the robotsstared on after retreating to their side of Halfworld. It took themseveral years (decades? centuries?) to complete, and was apparentlyseveral miles long. In addition to things like hyperspace capabilities,it also had life-support functions capable of supporting a few hundredanimals in addition to whatever life-support needs the robots would havehad (obviously not air and organic food, but rather electricity and repairservices and things like that).
--Incredible Hulk II#271 (Incredible Hulk II#271, Rocket Raccoon#1-4
The orbital space base of both Judson Jakes and LordDyvyne. Spacewheel was originally designed by Uncle Pyko (with theactual construction presumably done by the robots, since they'd be theonly ones with the know-how and materials to do it), who was then Jake'sChief Toysmith for his Inter-Stel Mechanics toy company. Sometimeafter the events of the Hulk issue, Lord Dyvyne took over Spacewheel underunrevealed circumstances and made it the headquarters of his Dyvynities,Inc. toy company, and had (again, presumably, by the robots) the stationoverhauled and re-designed into something closer to his aesthetic visions. While several hundred animals could have easily lived on the station, neitherJakes nor Dyvyne seemed to ever have enough people up there to fill itto even a quarter of its capacity. Jakes seemed to keep only UnclePyko and himself there, along with several dozen of his Killer Clown cyborgs/robots,while Dyvyne seemed to keep his Toysmith, several retainers, and his chimpanzeearmy (which seems to have been around fifty in all) housed there. And both allowed the Black Bunny Brigade to base there as well. Afterthe apparent deaths of both Jakes and Dyvyne, who currently runs the stationis unrevealed.
--(Judson Jakes version) Incredible Hulk II#271
--(Lord Dyvyne version) Rocket Raccoon#1 (Rocket Raccoon#1-3
When Rocket Raccoon asked the Head Robot for a deviceto finally cure the Loonies of their insanity (using the information storedin the Halfworld Bible), this helmet is what the Robot gave Rocket. Using electromagnetic feedback and a sophisticated computer program, thehelmet essentially reprogrammed the Loonies' minds, correcting their biologicalimbalances and teaching the wearers what sane behavior was like wheneverthe handles on either side of the helmet were turned. (I haven'tbeen trained as a psychologist or in any psychology fields, so I have noidea what exactly in the human head/body this thing would have to affectto gain the desired results, and therefore can't give a real good descriptionof what the helmets' are supposed to be doing.) Once donned bya crazy Loonie, the Wonder Toy could cure said Loonie in a matter of hours. Presumably the now-sane humans have kept the Toys around, just in caseone of them needs to use one. . . .
--Rocket Raccoon#3 (Rocket Raccoon#3-4
Located on the robot side of Halfworld and run bythe robots, it was frequented by Blackjack O'Hare and other members ofhis Black Bunny Brigade. O'Hare claimed that all the deals for allthe toys sold on Halfworld were negotiated in this cantina, but that seemedto have been a ruse for O'Hare to lure Rocket Raccoon, Wal Russ, and Lyllainto an ambush there. The three animals instead met Uncle Pyko there,and with his aid defeated the mercenary animals O'Hare had hired to killthem.
--Rocket Raccoon#3
images:
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan2-5
(History) Rocket Raccoon#2, p11, pan3
(Detail) Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan1
(Exodus) Rocket Raccoon#4, p22, pan4
(Sane Loonies) Rocket Raccoon#4, p22, pan1
Animals
(Main): Rocket Raccoon#3, p14, pan4
('Awful Eight'): Rocket Raccoon#3, p15, pan4
Rocket Raccoon#3, p18, pan1
(Stinker) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg11, pan7
Loonies/Humans
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#3, p9, pan2
(Good Humor Men) Rocket Raccoon#1, p9, pan4
(Keystone Quadrant Cops) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg5, pan4
(Shrinks): Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan4
Robots
(Main) Rocket Raccoon#3, p20, pan4
(Head Robot) Rocket Raccoon#3, p21, pan3
(Robohorse) Rocket Raccoon#4, p1, splash
(Robomower) Incredible Hulk II#271, pg2, pan5
Things/places
(Admissions Ward) Rocket Raccoon#1, p8, pan1 & 3
(Asylum) Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan3
(Cuckoo's Nest): Incredible Hulk II#271, pg11, pan5-6
(Galacian Wall): Rocket Raccoon#1, p11, pan5
detail Incredible Hulk II#271, p6, pan6
(Gideon/Halfworld Bible) Rocket Raccoon#3, p22, pan3
(Hospice ships): Rocket Raccoon#3, p13, pan1
(Spacewheel)
Judson Jakes version: Incredible Hulk II#271, pg12, pan1
Lord Dyvyne version: Rocket Raccoon#3,p8, pan1
(Wonder Toy) Rocket Raccoon#3, p23, pan6
(Loonies using Toy) Rocket Raccoon#4, p12,pan2
(Unnamed cantina): Rocket Raccoon#3, p10, pan5
Appearances:
Incredible Hulk II#271 (May, 1982) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Jim Novak (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Rocket Raccoon#1-4 (May-August, 1985) - by Bill Mantlo (writer), Mike Mignola (penciler), Al Gordon (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Annihilators#1/2-2/2 (May-June, 2011) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Timothy Green II (artist), Rachel Pinnelas & John Denning (assistant editors), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Annihilators#3/2-4/2 (July-August, 2011) - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Timothy Green II (artist), John Denning (assistant editor), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please letme know
First Posted: 01/17/2008
Last Updated: 06/05/2013
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Quill and the others gaped as he said those words
'Y...You're home?' Quill asked
'Didn't you say that you were the last of your kind?' Gamora questioned
'Just because his home planet is here does not mean that there are more like him, this planet just may be deserted' Drax countered
'Rocket...' Quill started, he wanted to ask if everything he knew about Rocket was true or not. Rocket wanted to say that Drax was right when s message from Halfworld buzzed through the Milano's comms. 'This is Captain Blackjack o'hare of the Halfworld Military, who are you and what do you want?'
Rocket face-palmed himself and made a mental not to screw Blackjack over once he was done here.
'It looks like i was wrong, it is not deserted...but have you lied to us Rocket?' Drax asked
Guilt and shame showed on Rocket's face and Quill noticed this, whatever the reason may be...he'd ask later. Now there was too much pressure on Rocket now, so he decided to step in
'Guys, guys...cut it out all right. Rocket's obviously under a lot of stress so leave him alone' Quill said
'I'll handle o'hare, just...please wait for me at the back' Rocket asked
Quill nodded and smiled as he lead the team out 'I trust you Rocket' was all he said when he left.
'Unidentified vessel please respond!' demanded o'hare
Rocket marched to the comm set and replied 'O'HARE! Good to hear your shit voice again...'
There was a brief pause before o'hare's voice came through again 'R...Rocket? Lieutenant is that you?!' Blackjack asked now getting excited
Blackjack O'hare X Rocket Raccoon Trap
'Yes it is O'hare...could ya let me and my friends land, our ship is in crap condition...'
'Yeah sure! By Halfworld Rocket! it's been too long my dear rival'
Rocket smirked at this and asked 'So...how are they?'
'Lylla and Ranger? They're fine, damn Lylla though...'
'What happened to her?' Rocket asked as he started to get worried
'She's worried about you, she missed you and she thinks about you everyday...dreaming about your return, say! Should I tell her?'
'Nah...I want it to be a surprise' Rocket said mischievously
Blackjack chuckled and he let The Milano through, Quill and the rest came on board the bridge. But as they did they noticed that they were getting smaller! And soon they were all about Rocket's height...except Groot .
'GAH! WHAT HAPPENED TO US?!' Quill squealed
'Don't worry...this is just what happens to outsiders when they enter Halfworld, it's only temporary. It'll wear off when we leave' Rocket explained.
Blackjack O'hare X Rocket Raccoon Toy
The Milano landed onto the Halfworld spaceport, Rocket turned to face his crew members and smirked as he looked at Drax. Rocket was taller than him
'Alright, just follow me' Rocket instructed, the crew followed Rocket out the Milano's door and their eyes widened as they saw the beauty of Halfworld. It was like a dream, perfectly trimmed grass, perfect amount of sunlight etc...
The spaceport was made of some sort of rare alloy, which was obviously common in Halfworld as Gamora states it and Rocket just nods. Then they come into the main terminal where their eyes marvel as they gaze upon a huge statue of three individuals carved out of stone, the one on the left was a female otter, the ones in the middle and the right were both raccoons, but something about the middle figure seemed familiar to Quill.
It was a perfectly done job as the statue was smooth. Rocket said he need to use the rest room so he left the other Guardians staring at the huge stone statue that was at best, half of the height of the spaceport. All three figures had their hands outstretched as if to give someone a hand to stand up, but what struck home the Guardians at their hearts in awe was that the word 'HOPE' was written capitals that was outstretched across all of their palms.
'Wait a minute...guys. The one in the middle...isn't that Rocket?' Quill asked
Drax and Gamora studied the middle figures features and their eyes widened, it was Rocket! Clearly in this world he was some sort of hero, although the identity of the female otter and the other raccoon eluded them.