CREDIT: Marvel
Rating: 4.5/5 – Without Saying Much, Groot Says so Much!
By ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
When Marvel first announced a Groot series, I had some serious doubts. How do you construct a series fans would want to read about a character who can only speak one line? With a Starlord book, a Rocker Raccoon title, a Team-Up book and now a Groot series, the surprising announcement felt as though Marvel had pushed their capitalizing on the popularity of the Guardians characters too far. My curiosity of how they’d pull it off made me purchase the fist couple issues and boy I’m so glad I did! Groot is a fun and feel good book that will seem as though it can’t be that good, but will surprise you in it’s charming and clever storytelling in both its writing and art.
Since Groot can only speak one line, you need an artist that can render emotion and feeling on his face. Taking that one step further with Groot, those emotions have to be drawn on a tree. Artist Brian Kesinger accomplishes this brilliantly. It helps that Kesinger’s current job is with the Walt Disney animation studios as you can see the quality of his work in each panel. In this second issue, Kesinger’s drawing of the first meeting between Rocket and Groot is both memorable and touching, with a few panels that will leave you smiling. The colors are bright, but never obnoxious and the thick panel borders that divide the page gives each panel an almost animation-cel like feel.
Writer Jeff Loveness writes such a great stand alone story that walks us through the first meeting between Groot and Rocket. It’d be a a shame if more fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy aren’t reading this title as this is such a memorable moment, and it’s done so well. Loveness is able to write such a great story without a whole lot of dialogue, and the possibilities of future stories using creative ways to push the dialogue presents a lot of opportunity. If you’re a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy but we’re avoiding this book, don’t. Two issues in and this may be my favorite book in the Guardians family of titles, and unlike Groot, that’s saying a lot!
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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