One of the characters that Mantlo is known for is that he co-created Rocket Raccoon, who has become a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy team in recent years. Rocket is also one of the featured team-members in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie that just came out this weekend.
His brother Michael Mantlo shared this weekend that Bill was treated to a private screening of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and that he really enjoyed the movie:
*****WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY FOR BILL MANTLO*****! Marvel hooked Bill up with a PRIVATE VIEWING of "Guardians Of The Galaxy", and my wife Liz and my beloved cousin Jean assisted Bill throughout, enabling him to sit back, relax and relish in the AWESOMENESS of what is going to be, in my humble opinion, Marvel's GREATEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM EVER! Bill thoroughly enjoyed it, giving it his HIGHEST COMPLIMENT (the BIG "THUMB'S UP!"), and when the credits rolled, his face was locked into the HUGEST SMILE I HAVE EVER SEEN HIM WEAR (along with one or two tears of joy)! This was the GREATEST DAY OF THE LAST 22 YEARS for me, our family, and most importantly, BILL MANTLO!If you pay attention to the movie credits (And seriously, who leaves the credits during one of the Marvel Comics movies? There is always a nugget of something special at the end!), you will notice that Mantlo received credit for creating Rocket Raccoon:
As noted above, Bill Mantlo gave "Guardians of the Galaxy" a hearty thumbs up. I have to say that I agree with that assessment.