Written by: Jeff Loveness
Art by: Brian Kesinger
Publisher: Marvel
Groot’s a talking tree. I love Groot, we love Groot. You will love this book. That’s all there is to it.
Jeff Loveness and Brian Kesigner plant a beautiful, friendly, and respectful seed in the Cartoon-Cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. We need more books like this.
Groot #1 hearkens back to a golden renaissance of all-ages media, where media was simultaneously combined with the sensibilities of Jim Henson and Ralph Bakshi. Very much so, Groot #1 is a wonderful testament to this sort of tone, the familiar and strange, the cosmic and the cute, and most importantly, the friendly and the wondrous. As a sister title to Skottie Young’s Rocket Raccoon series, Groot #1 justifies it’s existence as a solo title very early on by hitting the ground running, sure of itself and it’s ability to attract readers from any and all walks of life.
This issue conjures up a very specific image in my head. That of a parent and child, reading this book under a spaceship-emblazed night-light while simultaneously star-gazing at the wonder of what might be, and if that “might be” may consist of a three-word phrase spouting tree and his best friend in the whole galaxy, a talking raccoon.
The warm, friendly feeling of this book is brought alive by the electrical-charge combination of Loveness and Kesigner. Kesigner’s pencils gives the book a feeling very akin to that of a Pixar movie (hence the warm family friendly feels) combined with the witty banter of Loveness’ script. This book walks the line perfectly between appealing to both young and old while never ostracizing both.
I am glad books like this exist. Eight year old me would of adored this, but I am proud to say twenty-year old me feels the exact same way. Buy it.
