By Josh dikkey
LOS ANGELES — Come to think of it, how did Groot and Rocket Racc00n meet and become a team?
These questions and more are about to be answered, gentle reader of tree-based paper comics (and tree-friendly digital ones), because Marvel is giving Groot his own standalone comic-book.
SEE ALSO: Baby Groot — Officially Licensed! — Will Dance Under Your Christmas Tree
Following the astonishing success of "Rocket Racc00n," whose issue #1 was the bestselling comic last July, a record-setting month for comic-book publishing, Marvel Comics is set to publish his partner in pulp's very own ongoing series, which will find the two briefly separated — but also explain how they came together in the first place.
For starters, the cover:
And Marvel's official logline:
When Rocket and Groot are on an intergalactic roadtrip and calamity strikes, the two get separated — and for the first time in years, Groot’s on his own! Written by comedic ace Jeff Loveness ("Jimmy Kimmel Live!") and drawn by Marvel Comics newcomer Brian Kesinger (Disney Animation), get a front row seat for EXPLOSIONS, SPACE SHARKS, ALIENS, AND INTERGALACTIC HITCHIKING (YEAH, BABY! YOU READ THAT RIGHT)! Whatever may be coming Groot’s way, one thing’s for sure — it’s going to be a GROOT adventure!
Loveness, a versatile comedy writer whom Marvel has tapped for such previous works as "Death of Wolverine: Life After Logan" and other special titles, spoke with Mashable about tackling a character who is widely beloved — if not terribly verbose.
"It's a challenge, and also part of the fun," he said. "Being a comedy writer on TV, you make your living on words and turns of phrase and jokes. So with Groot you've gotta dig deep and find a lot of physical comedy."
To prep, Loveness said he dove into characters who operate in the same way, like Charlie Chaplin in City Lights and Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. Groot has been around the Marvel comic universe for years, and in a few different forms, including as a classic movie-monster type from Marvel's "Tales to Astonish" in the early '60s.
But Guardians of the Galaxy cemented Groot in the zeitgeist last summer as a gentle — if formidable — character who, despite his limited vocabulary, can be quite expressive.
"That brings up so many opportunities for comedy, but it also brings in that human aspect of feeling lonely and isolated from the world around you. If you lose your translator, you're on your own out there."
Loveness says he has sent in issue #1 and is working on #2 for the series, and has the entire arc planned out. And yes, somewhere along the way, we will learn for the first time — in comics, movies, or otherwise — how the talking tree and the murderous racc00n came to meet and be a team.
Link: http://mashable.com/2015/03/07/groot-comic-book-marvel/