Groot may be a baby again, but his personality is anything but small, nor is the danger in this brand new series. Is it good?
Writer: Christopher Hastings
Artist: Flaviano Armentaro
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Guardians always have a lot to handle, but throwing a baby Groot into the mix is making things even harder on all of them. He’s adorable, but also a very rambunctious baby, and impulsive to boot. When a weird thing appears in space, Groot leads them right into it, and when they pop out the other side, he accidentally pops himself right out of the ship! Now Groot is stranded on a strange planet, in a strange universe, all alone.
Is It Good?
Baby Groot absolutely stole every scene he was in in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – James Gunn knew exactly what he was doing when he saw how folks responded to dancing baby Groot at the end of the first movie. So Marvel releasing a comic starring baby Groot could have been a throwaway book with some cute drawings to capitalize on that popularity. But this book is anything but a throwaway–this book is smart, funny, and yes, very adorable.
One of the smartest things about this book is the way they melded the movie verse and the comics verse. The design and story take elements from both worlds, making the characters and story approachable for each audience. Hastings made a great choice in showing baby Groot’s impulsiveness from the movie, and starting the story on the ship with the full Guardians team, before sending him off to a brand new planet on his own. I also loved all the moments each team member had with Groot, especially Rocket’s:
Not only does this pick up from themes from the movie, but it’s also a great character moment. Hastings and Flaviano do a great job pacing the issue, and this is a nice downbeat before the action picks back up.
This panel is also showcases artist Flaviano’s excellent work balancing the movie look and feel with the comics versions of the characters, while letting his own personal style come through. I loved the different textures he used, giving each panel depth. And holy moly, is his Groot adorable. He owns from it from the dang credits page:
I cannot even, y’all.
Look at the bravado on that precious little twig. Dying. Colorist Marcio Menyz does some beautiful work in this issue, really making panels pop. The way his colors plays with and enhances the textures that Flaviano created are truly outstanding and really elevate this issue to something special. I loved the energy from the spaceship, it almost looks like brushstrokes:
I found myself slowing down to examine almost every panel. My one tiny nitpick is that some of the darker colors trended a little muddy and brownish, but that might just be a subjective thing on my part.
This is a huge win of a first issue, setting a great tone for the series and has got me very excited for where it’s gonna go.
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