Warning: contains spoilers for “Rocket Has a Green Lantern Ring Now,” appearing in Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman #1!
One MCU icon has jumped from Marvel to DC, becoming the newest Green Lantern. Marvel and DC are crossing over for the first time in 22 years, and the two publishers are pulling out all the stops in Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman #1, as a popular MCU hero joins the esteemed Green Lantern Corps, with mixed results.
“Rocket Has a Green Lantern Ring Now,” appearing in Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman #1, is written by Al Ewing and drawn by Dike Ruan. A part of a cultural exchange between the Guardians of the Universe and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket Raccoon becomes a Green Lantern.
However, Rocket has issues fitting in with the rigid Green Lantern Corps.
Marvel and DC Are Coming Together to Make Comics’ History Again
Two Decades Have Passed Since Marvel and DC Last Collaborated
The last time Marvel and DC’s icons met was in 2003’s JLA/Avengers miniseries. It marked the end of an era of collaboration between the two rivals, which had begun in earnest in the mid-1990s. The peak of this movement was 1995’s Marvel vs DC/DC vs Marvel, a four-issue mini that pitted the heroes of each universe against one another.
Yet now, with a change in the marketplace as well as shifts in editorial at both publishers, relations are thawing once again, leading to a new series of crossovers. This month’s Deadpool/Batman, published by Marvel, will be followed up in November by DC’s Batman/Deadpool. Each issue will contain backup stories featuring even more crossovers.
The Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Galaxy Are Incompatible
Rocket Raccoon’s Time as a Green Lantern Proves The Two Cosmic Teams Are at Heads With Each Other
Bringing together the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Galaxy unites two of comics’ most popular cosmic teams. However, as the story reveals, the two agencies have vastly different ways of conducting business: the Corps works inside the law and discourages lethal force. On the other hand, the Guardians traditionally operate on the fringes.
Rocket Racoon’s inclusion into the Green Lantern Corps proves the two teams are not compatible in terms of methods and ideology. Rocket kills Sinestro on his first day on the job, and his flaunting of the principles of law and order ultimately leads the Corps’ bosses to ask the Guardians to take the raccoon back.
Running parallel to Rocket’s tenure in the Green Lantern Corps is Hal Jordan joining the Guardians of the Galaxy. As seen in the story’s last panel, Parallax has once again reared its head, and taken possession of the Infinity Gauntlet to boot. Nova states that recruiting a “rebel” like Jordan was a disaster.
Rocket Raccoon Was a Flop as a Green Lantern
Rocket Raccoon May Shine in the MCU, But His Time as a Green Lantern Was Less Than Stellar
The story is largely played for laughs, but points to a fundamental difference between Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and DC’s Green Lantern Corps. Rocket may be an icon in the MCU, but as a Green Lantern he was a total washout, thanks to a difference in opinion with his superiors.
Marvel/DC: Deadpool/Batman #1 is on sale now from Marvel and DC Comics!