Rocket Raccoon's first appearance was in 1976. (No matter what the AMC show Comic Book Men believes.) I would care about Jax even if George hadn't pressured Marvel to drop him from the book. I guess he was cool with Hedji, the porcupine alien who could shoot quills from his body, or it didn't matter since Hedji was killed off.

That Jaxxon was too out there for the man who gave us Jar Jar makes me love him even more. ;)

Rocket Rabbit might be a subtle reference to the cartoon where Bugs was shot in a rocket to the moon and encountered Marvin the Martian for the first time.