One of the first, and certainly one of the foremost, characters of the Milestone Comics imprint from the 1990s, Rocket flew to cosmic heights as the sidekick of Icon. But Raquel Ervin was much more than a simple sidekick - she was the heart and soul of the original Icon comic.

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Though the Milestone imprint shuttered in 1997, the characters merged with the DC Universe in 2010. Rocket has made a few appearances since then, but this groundbreaking character deserves a bigger showcase. Here are ten things fans should know about Milestone Comics hero Rocket.

10 Blast Off

Rocket first appeared in Icon #1 in 1993, the creation of Milestone Comics founders Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, and Mark Bright. The impetus of the imprint was to showcase more diverse superheroes than were typically featured at the time (and in some measure, today).

Rocket broke a lot of new ground as a young woman of color and as a poor person just looking for an opportunity to make her life better, a family member who lived with her mother and grandmother who lives in the projects. There were few characters then and now like Rocket.

9 Breaking and Entering

Rocket's life turns upside down when her boyfriend cajoles her into joining him in breaking and entering a ritzy mansion in Dakota (the eponymous city of the Dakotaverse). But Rocket gets far more than she bargained for. She discovers the owner of the home, Augustus Freeman IV, a wealthy and erudite lawyer.

More than that, he's an alien who came to Earth and has superpowers akin to Superman. Except he's not active - it takes a passionate Rocket to convince to take up the cause and let her tag along.

8 Single Mother

Rocket learns she is pregnant

One of the most unique qualities of the Icon comic book was its focus on Raquel and her home life. One major way the book depicted the reality of a fifteen-year-old young woman right from the jump was that she became a single mother.

This was so unusual that Rocket was the first single mother in all of comics and remains mostly unique in that category even today. In the past, comics tended to 'retire' female characters who became pregnant, such as the best-forgotten fiasco involving Carol Danvers from Avengers #200.

7 Kinetic Powers

Rocket has no powers of her own, unlike a lot of her fellow citizens of Dakota like Static, who gained their superhuman abilities in the 'Big Bang.' Her talents come courtesy of a piece of alien technology from Icon. The Inertia Winder creates an inertia field that absorbs, stores, and redirects kinetic energy.

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With this power, Rocket can do a host of things. She can fly, project kinetic energy shields and even blasts, and worst of all for any bad guys, she can enclose others in a kinetic dampening field that basically sucks them dry of their kinetic energy and gives it to her.

6 It's Not Like Dusting Crops

Having a device that absorbs and stores kinetic energy in your belt buckle is pretty cool unless the situation doesn't have anything to do with kinetic energy. One of the major drawbacks of the Inertia Winder is that Rocket has no defense against attacks that have no kinetic force in them.

One of these modes of attack is electrical, which turns out to be a fairly common power among people in just about any comic book universe (and Rocket has been in a couple of them now).

5 Political Differences

Like with Rocket's homelife, the character and the Icon comic book didn't shy away from political subject matter. A political clash was baked right into the premise by making Raquel a liberal young woman often at odds with the conservative values and mindset of Icon.

Ostensibly the hero of the story, Icon nevertheless took a hands-off approach and never engaged with social and political concerns, of which there were many in Dakota. Rocket couldn't imagine not being involved, and her compassion motivated him to take a stand.

4 Young Justice

Though Milestone Comics closed its doors after a brief four-year run in 1997, Rocket would eventually return. Unfortunately, she didn't appear in the Static Shock animated series that featured Virgil Hawkins from 2000 to 2004 on the Kids WB network.

However, she did make it into the Young Justice animated series. Rocket made a few cameos before becoming a full-fledged member of the team at the end of the first season. She has a slightly updated costume, but the basics are there, along with her signature purple kinetic field.

3 Static Attraction

In the original Milestone Comics run, Raquel has a brief, not quite developed connection to fellow hero Static. It seems the two might have gotten together had the imprint gone on longer than it did. But there was a key moment that showed what might have been (and still could be).

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In the 1994 Worlds Collide crossover that first brought the Milestone and DC characters together, a major battle sidelines the two biggest powerhouses, Icon and Superman. It's down to Static, who isn't feeling that confident. With a pep talk - and a friendly kiss - Rocket gives Static all the motivation he needs.

2 Rocket To Another Universe

Rocket crossed over with DC in Worlds Collide and became part of Young Justice in the animated realm, but she became part of the DC Universe properly in 2010. With the Milestone Forever event, the Dakotaverse ceased to be and Rocket and Icon were always part of DC.

She first appears in Justice League of America #30 (in which she upbraids Batman) and makes a few appearances here and there afterward. Recently, Denys Cowan teased the Milestone characters might be making a more substantial return.

1 The MC

With the heavy focus on Rocket and her life beyond the boundaries of typical superhero derring-do, it was an open question whether the Icon comic book was really her story or Augustus Freeman's. The creators themselves even put the question to fans in the first issue, asking for reader comments.

A letter printed in issue #9 suggested it was both, but by the time it was all said and done, most agreed it was Rocket. Writer Dwayne McDuffie always thought so, intending for her to eventually become Icon herself.

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