1st Appearance of Rocket Raccoon: Marvel Preview #7 Value

Rocket Raccoon first appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer 1976), in the backup story "Prince Wayfinder: The Sword in the Star", created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. There he is called "Rocky", a name taken from the 1968 Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon". The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982) revealed that Rocky was short for Rocket, and Mike Mignola drew his 1985 limited series (Wikipedia).

So there are two issues to know. Marvel Preview #7 is the earliest appearance; PriceCharting describes Hulk #271 as his first full appearance in comics. Marvel Preview was a magazine, so #7 is larger than a standard comic.

PriceCharting values for Marvel Preview #7 (1976), based on recorded sales, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $106.60
• CGC 4.0: $159.23
• CGC 6.0: $220.00
• CGC 8.0: $271.15
• CGC 9.2: $560.42
• CGC 9.8: $7,930.00

The 9.8 figure is a Heritage sale on July 9, 2026. PriceCharting also records a CGC 9.8 at $15,600 at Heritage on April 17, 2024, so the top-grade price roughly halved in two years, while mid grades currently sit in the low hundreds.

PriceCharting values for The Incredible Hulk #271 (1982), retrieved September 25, 2026: $84.92 ungraded, $80 in CGC 4.0, $100.42 in CGC 6.0, $125 in CGC 8.0, $178.96 in CGC 9.2 and $668.52 in CGC 9.8. Recent CGC 9.8 sales ranged from $205.50 (September 23, 2026) to $600 (August 21, 2026). PriceCharting tracks the newsstand edition ($100 ungraded) and a Jewelers edition ($113.13 ungraded) separately, so check which edition a listing is before comparing.

In the comics Rocket is a "Halfworlder raccoon mutate": he was genetically and cybernetically engineered on Halfworld, an abandoned colony where animals were changed into human-like caretakers for the mentally ill (Wikipedia). In the films, the High Evolutionary made him and held him in "Batch 89" with an otter named Lylla, a walrus called Teefs and a rabbit named Floor, as shown in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Wikipedia); Nerdist reports his test-subject designation was 89P13.

Bradley Cooper voices Rocket in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and Sean Gunn performs the motion capture (Wikipedia). Rocket also joined the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy comic relaunch and later helped lead the team.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC or CBCS can detect them.

Marvel Preview #7 is a magazine, so fit the whole cover in the frame rather than cropping it like a standard comic, then shoot the indicia and back cover. For Hulk #271, include the barcode box so the edition is clear. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market.