When the Guardians of the Galaxy get caught in a wormhole, a smaller-than-normal Groot is separated billions of light-years away from the team. Falling to a planet below, Groot discovers he is on an entirely alien and unknown world full of strange creatures and societies. Seriously underdeveloped and with nobody who can understand him, Groot will need to make the journey to the center of this world and find the way back to his family!

Take the hilarious, fresh, and over the top I Hate Fairyland and mix in Baby Groot and you have I Am Groot, the new series that feels like it takes a one-note joke and attempts to run with it.

Written by Christopher Hastings I Am Groot #1 is cute and fun and not a whole lot else. If you like Baby Groot, you’ll like the issue. If you’re tired of him already, then you won’t. It really is that simple.

The story sees Groot up to no good as a child, pressing buttons he’s not supposed to (sound familiar?) and getting himself launched into a weird dimension where he’ll go on a journey with weird twisted creatures in a strange land (hence the I Hate Fairyland comparison).

With the fact our main character can only say three words, a lot of the story is left to artist Flaviano whose colors with Marcio Menyz breathe some impressive life into the comic. Everything is very expressive and again reminiscent of Skottie Young’s work (again with the comparison). That’s not a bad thing as I love Young’s work. Everything is over the top with a lot of the emotions and “words” of Groot expressed through his body language and eyes. The fact they’re able to “say” so much through that is actually impressive and the art is the draw of the book enhancing the cute tone of it all.

I Am Groot doesn’t break ground instead delivering a (too) familiar story with a character I’m already worn out by. It’s cute though and definitely a comic geared towards Groot fans or the younger set getting into comics. It’s one that might work as a digest or graphic novel, but the first issue is enough that I want to see where it all goes and if we can be delivered more than just three words over and over.

Story: Christopher Hastings Art: Flaviano Colors: Marcio Menyz Cover Art: Marco D’Alfonso
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.50 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read