i-am-groot-header

I’ve been a huge fan of Christopher Hastings since his webcomic ‘Dr. McNinja’ so am thrilled to see what he has to say about his solo series ‘I Am Groot.’ In the book we’ll see a tiny Groot, apparently inspired by the upcoming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2’, stranded without his friends on a world he’s never seen with dangers at every turn. Clearly, this is going to be a dangerous world because if it wasn’t how could anyone not just want to help this little guy out?

When putting together a Groot book, there is a lot of fun things to keep in mind and according to Hastings one major challenge:

“Well the initial draw is that he is hilarious and adorable. That “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” trailer is filled with amazing stuff I can’t wait to see, but the best part is Rocket trying to get Groot not to blow them all up. I’m really excited to put that little guy in all kinds of bad situations and see how he makes them worse.

The main challenge is, of course, Groot’s limited language. I’m trying to approach the story in a very specific way to make sure it’s not a hindrance, but actually part of what makes it fun.”

How does the book start off and what is Groot’s state of mind as he begins this journey on his own in a smaller body?

“He’s scared at first. He’s basically a toddler who’s been separated from his family and is immediately introduced to the strange new terrors of this unknown part of the universe. But that very quickly changes to an impulsive curiosity, driving him deeper and deeper into this weird land.”

I love the idea from where he is pulling his inspiration from as well!

“I’m a big fan of stories where little kids have to navigate a weird fantasy land as some sort of metaphor for what’s going on in their normal life. In this case, I’m specifically thinking of “Labyrinth,” “The Neverending Story,” and “Return to Oz.” I’m also pulling a lot from the dreamier Zelda games—“Link’s Awakening” and “Majora’s Mask.” There’s a lot of story in those games, despite the fact that Link can’t even say, “I am Link.” We’ve got a massive advantage there with [I AM GROOT].”

Interestingly enough, this planet might end up having some huge surprises:

“There’s an old secret to this planet that’s been completely forgotten but leaves little hints scattered about. Early characters that Groot [meets] are scavengers, just trying to survive with bits and pieces of abandoned technology and infrastructure. It’s not a great situation, but it’s one they’ve learned to be comfortable with. And Groot’s just going to mess all that up in his quest to return to the Guardians.”

I love Hasting’s work and am curious as to if we’ll be given a reason on why Groot is more toddler than not outside of his size. We’ve seen the character be very complex and well developed for only being able to say three words, so it’ll be interesting to see this play out.

Are you looking forward to ‘I Am Groot’? What are your thoughts on a smaller Groot trying to navigate an alien world? Share your thoughts below True Believers!

‘I Am Groot’ #1 will be available on May 24th, 2017!

Source: Marvel

horizontal line

Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!