Rocket (real name Raquel Ervin) is a superheroine, partner and protégé of Icon. She became a member of the Team after her partner was inducted into the Justice League, and later graduated into the League herself.
Rocket is an African American woman with short spiky black hair. She wears a formfitting blue shirt that includes a partial hood that covers her cheeks and forehead. Over this, she wears brown coveralls and her belt, which is red and has three blue glowing circles on it. The belt, from which she draws her powers,[6] is kept in place by black straps on her thighs. She also wears black kneepads.[7] She has three silver hoop earrings on her right ear and two on her left ear.[8]
While at her own bridal shower, Raquel wore a light blue dress with puffed sleeves for both arms.[1]
History[]
Early life[]
Raquel is from Dakota City.[9] She was inspired by the other sidekicks to pick up a costume, and convinced Icon to do the same.[8]They became superheroes in May 2010.[10] She is a vegan.[11]
As part of a simulated training scenario of the Team, a simulation of Rocket prepared for battle along with Zatanna, Red Arrow, Garth and Tula against the invading aliens after Icon's "death".[7]
With all adults gone, Rocket had her hands full keeping Dakota City safe. She used her force field to lift a school bus to safety after it balanced precariously off the edge of a bridge.[13]
When Icon was considered for membership in the Justice League, Wonder Woman expressed the hope that one day Rocket could join, to bring more women into the League, an idea that both Black Canary and Hawkwoman approved of.[14]
Along with the Team in the Hall of Justice, Rocket watched her partner, Icon, be inducted into the Justice League. Rocket felt a bit left out, as she was the one who influenced Icon to become a hero. She should be outside congratulating him. During Red Arrow's induction, Rocket was surprised at his reaction—as if being a sidekick was inferior to being your own hero. She had always looked up to the sidekicks, and felt them as her inspiration. As Robin was about to explain the prior six months to her, he got an alert and Rocket left with them to help.[8]
Rocket was completely unfamiliar with the Team, or its recent history, and had to be briefed quickly about Cheshire and the suitcase she was carrying. They were tracking her airplane, but it turned out it crashed in a snowy valley.[8]
As the teens reached the scene, the group investigated the crashed plane. Rocket expressed concern as to why the Justice League had yet to investigate themselves, but was quickly answered by Zatanna. They were then ambushed by Cheshire, Riddler, Shimmer, Mammoth and other enemies. The two groups began to fight. Rocket was harmed by Apokoliptan weaponry but was rescued by Aqualad. After the Team won the battle and obtained the briefcase, Rocket watched as Zatanna silenced Riddler with her magic. She wanted to know if this was a normal day for them; Zatanna told her it pretty much was.[8]
Back at Mount Justice, Batman congratulated the Team on their job, and they left with the case. Rocket finally got to congratulate her mentor, and apologized for leaving. Icon remarked that they have both found a team in which they belong.
With the League gone, the Team discussed the ambush and the mole, which left Rocket perplexed. As the Team explained what the mole matter was, secrets by Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian began to unravel; leaving Rocket once again baffled.[8]
Since their secrets were out, the three had nothing to fear and the Team helped ambush Lex Luthor, Sportsmaster, and Queen Bee and their allies. When Lex Luthor, Mercy, and an unconscious Queen Bee attempted to escape in a helicopter, Rocket chased after them. However, Rocket was occupied and held back by missiles. Unfortunately, she was needed back in battle as instructed by Aqualad and was unable to follow. Eventually, the Team won the battle, leaving Rocket to happily agree that this is a normal day for the heroes.[8]
Batman revealed to the Team Red Arrow was the mole. They didn't believe it, and planned to find him themselves. After Batman left, Red Tornado mysteriously powered down. Half of the Team went looking for Roy, Robin, Rocket, Zatanna and Kid Flash stayed behind to examine Tornado. Robin discovered it was a hardware problem, and Zatanna proposed transferring his consciousness into the John Smith android. While they were doing that, Black Canary arrived in the Cave, and attacked them. Robin planted a gas pellet on her, and Rocket trapped her in a force bubble. She soon passed out. They took her, and Tornado, with them on the Super-Cycle. Red Tornado explained the entire League was under the Light's mind control.[16]
After combining with the rest of the Team and Red Arrow, the Team traveled to the Watchtower in the Bio-Ship. Red Tornado had shut down security, which allowed the Team to dock at the bottom of the station. Once inside, they set out to negate the effects of the mind control with cure-tech. Rocket trapped Captain Atom in a bubble, which distracted him long enough for Aqualad to tag him with a patch of cure-tech. They next ambushed the returning away team. Rocket planted a patch on her mentor's neck.
In the observation decks, the Team had to deal with the heavy hitters. After preventing Wonder Woman from using her lasso on Robin, Rocket trapped the Amazon in a force bubble. She could easily contain her, but because she had to keep up the bubble, she could not help in the rest of the fight.[16]
The Team had reconquered the satellite, and Vandal Savage and Klarion were forced to escape. As the clock struck New Year, Kid Flash and Artemis gave each other a kiss. In their wake, Miss Martian and Superboy, and Zatanna and Robin, also kissed. Rocket took the opportunity to give Aqualad a peck on the cheek too and happily stated that she was getting used to the Team.[16]
2011-2015[]
Rocket stayed with the Team for a while, but eventually joined the Justice League.[3] Her first briefing would be on December 1, 2015.[17]
Rocket joined the rest of the Team in grieving Aquagirl's death in the Cave. She attended Batman's debriefing, though she had not taken part in the fatal mission.[22]
Before heading to their first meeting, Rocket and Zatanna stopped by the Cave to wish Nightwing a happy birthday. Rocket gave him a more modest kiss than Zatanna, and before they left, Bumblebee insisted she showed the latest pictures of Amistad.[17]
In anticipation of her wedding, Raquel and the female members of the League and the Team held a bridal shower at a downtown café. She felt guilty about celebrating so soon after Artemis's death as Artemis was supposed to attend the party and even bought a present for Rocket. They decided to go ahead, and toasted to her memory.
The celebration was interrupted by Captain Cold, who planned to rob an armored truck full of cash that drove past the intersection. He encased the entire street, and the terrace where the heroines were, in ice. Rocket protected and freed them with a force bubble, and all together, after Zatanna used the spell to change into their respective costumes, they charged at the terrified villain.[1]
Rocket protected Doctor Fate from the Warworld's missiles with her force bubble, allowing Fate to focus entirely on defending Earth from Mongul's attacks.[25]
The Warworld May 26 post-12:35, UTCTime Zone
She continued to shield Fate as he conjured a massive magical barrier to partially block Mongul's saturation missile attack.[25]
The Warworld May 26, post-12:40UTC
Rocket and the other Leaguers looked on as the Warworld's weapons ceased fire following the Team's defeat of Mongul.[25]
Blue Beetle was ambushed by Batgirl and Impulse, an ambush meant to fail. Rocket and Zatanna stayed back, and waited until Blue Beetle had taken both of them out. Rocket used a force bubble to contain Blue Beetle, and Zatanna reinforced it so Blue Beetle could not find an escape. Zatanna then released Batgirl and Impulse.[27]
The Team took Blue Beetle to a Bialyan temple Batgirl had discovered months earlier. It was guarded by Devastation, Mammoth, Shimmer and the regular army, and Rocket had a hard time avoiding them because she had to focus on maintaining her bubble. When they reached a temple beneath the base, Rocket placed Blue on a dais in front of Zatanna, as she was going into a mystic trance. Green Beetle arrived, but the Team kept him busy, while Zatanna summoned Isis's powers. Rocket maintained her force bubble until Zatanna instructed her to let Blue go, and then flew off. Zatanna, with the power of Isis, prevented the Reach from controlling Blue Beetle's and Green Beetle's bodies. Rocket flew back to base with the Team as they debriefed Blue Beetle.[27]
When magnetic field disruptors planted by the Reach threatened the Earth, Rocket joined 39 other heroes of Earth in a briefing in Metropolis. The heroes would use a computer virus provided by Lex Luthor to safely disable the devices. The heroes were paired off with another into twenty squads: one member would run interference against Beetle-tech Drones guarding the disruptors, allowing the other to get close enough to plant the virus.[28]Rocket was assigned to Zeta Squad, and worked alongside Adam Strange.[29]
Within thirty minutes, all squads had succeeded in their mission.[28]
Raquel accompanied Zatanna and Megan to meet with Artemis. After casting a spell supposedly allowing Artemis to be with Wally West's spirit, Zatanna admitted to Raquel that she didn't really summon Wally's ghost and it was all a ruse to help Artemis cope with her grief.[34]
Raquel and Amistad arrived at the Carr home for a bon voyage party for Conner and M'gann. The party was interrupted by a call from Roy Harper, who reported that Bowhunter Security was hit by a group of meta felons, who abducted the new guy. Will revealed to the rest of the heroes at the party that his new employee was in fact a rehabilitated Clayface, now going by Harlan Matthews. After Kaldur'ahm realized that the kidnappers were Amanda Waller's Task Force X, and that they could not openly act against them due to the agreement he had made with Waller, Will noted that Bowhunter Security has no such agreement with Waller, and offered to take the gathered heroes on as temporary employees to rescue Harlan. Raquel, Kaldur, Artemis, Conner and M'gann accepted.[11]
The Bowhunter squad took the Bio-Ship to intercept the Manta-Flyer, shooting it down a few miles short of Belle Reve Penitentiary. The squad met Task Force X as they escaped form the Flyer, and soon engaged them in battle. Raquel trapped Tuppence Terror in a force bubble. After Task Force X was successfully defeated and Harlan freed, the group returned to Happy Harbor for the party. Raquel offered a toast to the happy couple.[11]
Raquel prepared to drop Amistad off at his father's before she left for a Justice League mission, where she would lead negotiations on behalf of the League with New Genesis and the Green Lantern Corps. She had some difficulty as he insisted on putting on a hat she could not find before leaving. After eventually finding the hat, they took the subway. Amistad was vocal about his dislike of a nearby woman's perfume, to Raquel's embarrassment. Amistad did not react well when they had to get off at a different stop than usual due to construction work.
They arrived at Noble's apartment. After Raquel double-checked he had the Justice League codes to contact her, he asked if she would be back in time for a school meeting about Amistad's IEP. She wouldn't, but she also didn't see the point in the meeting, feeling the school just didn't get Amistad, but Noble reminded her that specialists had diagnosed him with autism and they needed to arrange for the help he needs. Raquel dismissed him, saying she was running late, and said goodbye to Amistad.[21]
Aboard the Javelin, Raquel was lost in thought until Jay Garrick and Forager came in. Rocket asked if Forager had any last-minute advice for navigating New Genesis, but Forager admitted he had not been home in a while and had never visited Supertown. They received a comm from Orion, who welcomed them.[21]
After setting down in Supertown, the League delegation were introduced to Lightray, Highfather, Highmother and Orion. Rocket was taken aback by Orion's epithet "dog of war". They were then taken to their quarters to await the arrival of the Green Lantern's representatives. En route, Motherbox alerted Orion to Rocket's belt. Orion wanted to confiscate the unfamiliar tech, but Highmother convinced him otherwise. Orion was then alerted to a theft in the secure warehouse. Rocket volunteered to join Orion, who reluctantly agreed. They boom tubed to the warehouse just in time to see the thief, a Bug, roll off of Supertown. They raced after her, but she landed in a lake. Unable to scan for her, Rocket took them into the water in a force-bubble, but Orion reacted poorly to the confinement and demanded to be set free.
Back at Supertown, the Leaguers and the New Gods looked at security footage of the thief, who had taken a Ruction Cell, a dangerous piece of obsolete tech. Forager determined she was a female of the Mountain Hive.[21]
Rocket, Flash, Forager, Orion and Lightray went to the hive. The Bugs initially pretended to know nothing about the Cell, but Forager was able to convince the thief of the danger. However, two of the hive's larvae had run off with Cell. They were eventually able to find them, as they were discharging the Cell with bolts of explosive energy. Rocket and Orion were first on the scene, when the device began to malfunction. Orion was hit by a bolt and became enraged, attacking the larvae. Rocket put a force-bubble around the Cell, and then had to put one around the out-of-control Orion as he charged at her. Lightray pleaded with Rocket to release Orion, as he was claustrophobic, when the Cell let out a huge burst of energy, breaking the force-bubble and knocking everyone back, causing Rocket to release Orion. Lightray and Motherbox were able to calm Orion, and the cell became dormant after the burst.
Back at Supertown, Rocket overheard Orion talking about his outburst with Highmother, calling it an inheritance from his biological father. Rocket commended Forager and Jay on their jobs well done, but was not pleased she froze up and was worried about negotiating opposite Orion the next day.[21]
Orion officially welcomed Rocket and Flash to the summit. Vykin arrived as New Genesis's other representative, to Rocket's delight. Vykin was surprised she felt so uncomfortable with Orion and urged her to get to know him better.
After Tomar-Re and Kilowog arrived to represent the Green Lantern Corps, the conference began. Rocket asked what New Genesis planned to do about Apokolips's interference on Earth, and was disappointed they would do nothing. Vykin explained that the truce between Apokolips and New Genesis prevented them from taking overt action. Instead, they wanted a neutral party, with the Green Lantern Corps to mediate. Rocket also asked both parties for help stopping off-world meta-human trafficking, but the Lanterns could not do more as they had a whole galaxy to police. Rocket was interrupted by her phone before she could argue further.
She stepped outside to take the call. It was from Noble, who had just come out of the meeting with Amistad's school. Raquel was initially irritated to be interrupted about something so mundane. Noble explained that the school had proposed a one-on-one aide for Amistad in the classroom. Raquel worried Amistad would be stigmatized, Noble argued that Amistad getting the help he needed was more important, and Raquel agreed to consider it. Noble wanted more, but Raquel was distracted by the failing negotiations. Noble assured her that she would deal with it as she always did, but an explosion caused Rocket to end the call.
She rushed outside to see Metron being pursued and fired upon by Razer, with the city taking considerable collateral damage. A pair of statues were destroyed and the debris fell on the female Forager. Razer realized his mistake, and ended up regaining his Blue power ring while retaining his Red one. He used the Blue ring to heal Forager, and then repaired the statues, before leaving.
Later, Raquel attended a small celebration for Flash's 102nd birthday.[36]
Rocket approached who she thought was Orion, but was in fact Ma'alefa'ak posing as him, hoping to get a fresh start. Despite her apology for her poor reaction to the Ruction Cell incident, it was clear to the Martian that Rocket did not trust Orion and was just making the best of a bad situation. "Orion" agreed to start over.
Later, the conference resumed, and continued to go poorly. Orion had no idea why Rocket might have thought otherwise, and complained that the League had not taken the New Gods' request to have Halo and Cyborg stay with them seriously. Rocket insisted they were better off with their family, and to her and Vykin's surprise, Orion relented. The meeting was then interrupted by Bear, who wished to see his old friends Rocket and Forager, express his condolences over Superboy's death, and discuss the rumors he had heard about Forager being romantically involved with another Forager. Orion became frustrated at what he viewed as irrelevant distractions, which angered Rocket who did not think he should be able to decide what mattered. They were interrupted once more by the arrival of Metron, who boom tubed in with a dire warning of galactic peril.[37]
Mobius Dimension August 28, 17:07UTC
Metron returned to the Vault with Orion, Rocket and Tomar-Re, but the intruders and the Projector were gone. Metron was able to trace the tear in space-time made by the intruder's escape. Metron refused pleas to explain the situation, citing lack of time.[38]
New Genesis August 28, post-17:09UTC
The group boom tubed to the location to find a damaged, abandoned Time-Sphere. Metron reasoned this meant Lor would try to use the Projector immediately, meaning they must quickly defend potential power sources. Metron continued to explain himself in only cryptic terms.[38]
Metron called a meeting with Orion, Rocket, Flash, the Foragers, Kilowog, Tomar-Re and the Forever People. After he (finally) finished explaining the threat posed by Lor-Zod and the Phantom Zone Projector, he explained that Highfather had the Divine Guard protecting power sources on Supertown, while they would have to split up and defend the two potential sources on New Genesis's surface. Rocket went with Orion, Flash, Tomar-Re and the Foragers.[38]
They arrived and quickly found they were at the right location. With Motherbox not working due to the Source energy from the lake, Rocket worried about Orion keeping control, but he assured her he could handle the challenge. They were spotted and Ma'alefa'ak brain blasted them, knocking them from the sky. Tomar-Re caught everyone with a construct, and they renewed their approach. Ma'alefa'ak engaged Rocket and Orion in a psychic battle. He had them relive the Ruction Cell fight, where Orion lost control and Rocket locked him in a force bubble, but this time "Lightray" tried to convince Rocket to keep Orion trapped. Rocket ultimately chose to free Orion, realizing that his attempts to fight his darkness made him great. This caused Orion to snap out of Ma'alefa'ak's trance and blast the Martian with his flying harness.
Rocket and Orion then attacked Lor-Zod, with Rocket trapping the other two in a force bubble, where Orion pummelled Lor. Rocket caught sight of two energy blasts heading toward the Projector, which was then destroyed. Lor broke free of the bubble and launched himself at the camouflagedBio-Ship responsible, which then sped away. With the battle over, Rocket checked on Orion, who noted Tomar-Re's absence. They found the Green Lantern dead.[38]
As the Justice League contingent prepared to leave, Rocket said goodbye to Orion, telling him she was glad she met him. He reciprocated the feeling, and thanked her for "seeing him".
On the trip back on the Javelin, Rocket reflected on her experiences with Orion and what Noble had told her.[38]
Dick, Zatanna and Artemis came to Raquel's apartment to discuss her recent mission on New Genesis, as part of their investigation into Kid Flash and Superboy's disappearances. After accessing Raquel's memories, the group was convinced Conner was in the Phantom Zone. Raquel was dubious of some of Dick's leaps of logic, but went along with the group.[19]
Rocket and Nightwing Zeta'ed to see Kaldur. After confirming Aquaman was back on duty, Nightwing informed him of his and Zatanna's investigation into Conner's whereabouts.
They took him to the warehouse and showed him Nightwing's cork board filled with evidence and theories. Kaldur offered his help.[19]
At the Tower of Fate, the group anchored Zatanna's spell to summon Klarion. Zatanna had hoped to compel him to bring Conner out of the Phantom Zone, but Klarion was more willing to enter the Tower than expected and fought them using twisted versions of their own powers, trapping Rocket in a shrinking magic bubble. Zatanna was able to force Klarion to honor his debt to her, but he did so only by sparing their lives. Raquel asked if they had a Plan B, which Zatanna did, if Dick could find a certain school bus.[19]
Nightwing traced the bus to a scrapyard. They found the bus had been compacted into a cube. Zatanna summoned some Trogowogs to rebuild the bus, and then cast a spell to create a portal in the bus door. The squad donned space-belts and entered the portal.[39]
The group found Superboy at Fort Krypton, but were ambushed by Dru-Zod and his followers after they approached him. Zod attempted to persuade and, later, force the group to take him out of the Zone. Superboy was unwilling to go with them due to his Zone-Sickness. Nightwing's squad was outmatched by Zod's forces. The group was able to escape thanks to a glamour spell.
Soon after, a boom tube opened up. Zod decided to go through with Superboy and two others, leaving the rest behind until he knew it was safe. Nightwing's team observed from a nearby rock and determined that no more Kryptonians should be allowed to exit.[15]
Faora Hu-Ul returned through the boom tube to gather Zod's army, but the tube closed shortly after. Rocket and the squad prepared to leave, when a new boom tube opened. Hidden with a glamour, the group moved toward the boom tube, but the tube warped the glamour, revealing them to the Kryptonians. They fought them off, using the narrow opening of the boom tube to their advantage. After Nightwing went through the tube to see where it went, the rest were faced with a Devourer summoned by the rage of the Kryptonians. The Devourer forced them back into the tube, but was too big to follow them. Faora attempted to get through the tube, using the Zone's intangibility to pass through the Devourer, but was stopped by the team midway, where their usual powers and abilities were reinstated.
The group planned to hold the tube from this position, but they ended up under attack from both ends after Lor-Zod came back through from the Earth end of the tube. Rocket created a force bubble to protect them and block the tube. The boom tube began to destabilize due to being held open so long, and the team's attackers fled. Zatanna created a portal to take them back to the school bus. Rocket was the last to leave, and didn't make it through in time.[40]
Protected by her force bubble, she emerged in the Infinity Vault, where Metron offered her the use of the repaired Time-Sphere, in gratitude for her earlier help and as part of an experiment. He pre-set the coordinates for her.
Rocket arrived at Planet Circle in the midst of a battle between Dru-Zod forces and various heroes. Rocket trapped Faora Hu-Ul in a force bubble and dropped her into a boom tube to the Phantom Zone. Ultimately, Zod's group was defeated, with each member either forced to flee or sent into the Zone. Lor-Zod was able to escape by charging into Rocket's Time-Sphere.[41]
Raquel was a bridesmaid at Conner and M'gann's wedding. Before the ceremony she talked with other Leaguers about a plan to release the Phantom Zone prisoners on Trombus under observation. She also told Orion about how she survived the collapsing boom tube. She regretted Lor-Zod escaping in the Sphere.[41]
Flight: Rocket is able to fly, encompassed by a purple aura.[12]
Force-bubble: Rocket can create blue bubbles of kinetic energy,[13] that grow stronger if kinetic force is exerted on them.[16]The bubble can absorb unlimited amounts of kinetic energy,[42] but is not as compatible with other energies, such as Radion[21] or thermal energy.[38] Bubbles can be used as a protective shield,[8] to contain a target,[16] or as a projectile,[33] and can be used to support objects and move them by changing its size.[13] Rocket is able to produce at least two bubbles at once.[21]
Life support: The belt is able to protect Rocket from the vacuum of space and provides breathable atmosphere for her[25] and anyone inside a force bubble.[19]
Rocket, or Raquel Ervin, is a hero originally from Milestone Media. She is also the first comic book heroine who is a single teenage mother. In the comics, Rocket held liberal views on economic and social issues, which resulted in her often clashing with her conservative partner, Icon. Under her influence, Icon eventually began re-evaluating his views. Following the "Final Crisis" storyline, the Milestone universe merged with the mainstream DC Universe. After the company's wide relaunch, "The New 52", her status in or if she ever existed in the DC Universe is unknown.