Groot #1

By Jeff Loveness and Brian Kesinger

There’s a lot of fighting and dark times in current Marvel Comics. Secret Wars has been incredible, but sometimes you need a break from the doom and gloom. That’s why we have fun books like Howard The Duck, Rocket Raccoon and Squirrel Girl. They’re cute, goofy, fun and most importantly, well-written. Groot is just as great as these other titles and is making a case for your attention.

The story plays up the Groot/Rocket relationship previously established in Rocket’s solo series. Instead of viewing Groot as a sidekick, Rocket Raccoon and now Groot choose to display their friendship. The story starts as a road trip with two friends. Naturally, things get a little wild and that’s when we see the buddy comedy stuff flying off the page. Their relationship is very strong, allowing for more fluid jokes and gags from Jeff Loveness. Rocket and Groot find themselves in some pretty goofy situations, including landing on a dying planet and stealing a ship from a baby obviously meant to be a Superman parody. It’s all delivered with a biting charm that has shown up in a lot of post-Hawkguy Marvel titles.

The art has a subtle genius. Brian Kesinger is primarily known for his work for Disney. His love for all things steampunk may seem like a bad fit for a space adventure with a raccoon and tree, but man does this dude adapt and just nail it. Rocket and the majority of the cast have an almost classic Disney look, which just makes me long for an animated Rocket/Groot movie. Groot is painfully adorable. This artwork will melt the heart and leave you smiling.

Groot just goes to show how well Marvel is handling properties that aren’t X-Men and Fantastic Four. This title has two wonderful creators that know how to make something truly special.

Seriously, Marvel….can we get that movie?