Tales To Astonish #13

I am Groot #Groot (I am Groot)
I am Groot Stan Lee
I am Groot Jack Kirby

I am Groot. I am Groot?

I am Groot.

I am Groot, I am Groot.

I am Groot.

I am Groot, I am Groot.

I am Groot, I am Groot… I am Groot.

I am Groot (I am Groot), I am Groot I AM GROOT.

I am Groot…

… I am Groot. I am Groot?

I am Groot, Groot, I am Groot.

I am Groot, I am Groot.

Am I Groot?

I am Groot, I am Groot…

… I am Groot. I am Groot, I am Groot?

I am Groot, I am Groot.

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I am Groot: I am / Groot
I am Groot.

I am Groot: I am Grood / I am Groot
I am Groot!!!

Am I Groot?  I / am Groot
I am Groot.

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Tales To Astonish #13 (1960)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

If you were crazy enough to follow, here’s the ACTUAL review.
You didn’t think I’d to it only in joke form, right?

We begin with a couple witnessing a mysterious light coming down to Earth.

The one noticing it is our protagonist, and a few days later he’s warned about trees disappearing.

This looks like a perfectly healthy marriage.

Back at the forest, the biologist discovers a huge tree alien absorbing wood.

Usually in these kind of stories, people don’t initially believe the protagonist… but not here.

If you’re only familiar with the modern version of Groot (and you didn’t pay attention to the cover), you might be shocked to find out HE CAN TALK NORMALLY.

His plan is to kidnap humans and take them to his planet…

…to be used by his world’s scientists. Wait, used for what exactly?

The biologist, however, has figured out Groot’s weakness.

You might think it’s just fire, but the story is not THAT predictable.

Yes why aren’t you joining the other guys in their incredibly helpful activity of using weapons that don’t do any damage?

The joke’s on her, because he really did figure out Groot’s weakness…

…termites. Because I guess Groot couldn’t sense any kind of insect was present in the trees he was controlling, or the wood he was absorbing?

And as we all know, saving the world from an alien invasion solves all the problems of a marriage.

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Historical significance: 0 / I
This would be completely ignored until 2007, after which Groot would be made a completely different character.

Silver Age-ness: 6 / Am
Fairly typical for the “monster age” of pre-Marvel.

Does it stand the test of time? 2 / Groot
What isn’t typical is the quality of the story, which is way lower than what Lee & Kirby typically bring to these early stories. There’s no clever twist at the end, plus even the Kirby spectacle is nothing special.

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How close is this to the modern character? I am Groot?
Groot would not show up again until Hulk Annual #5 in 1976, along with other pre-Marvel monsters.

He gets smashed.

In 2005 he shows up in both the special “Marvel Monsters” and the “Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos” series, once again together with other monsters.

Groot’s claim to fame was getting involved with Marvel’s cosmic franchises, appearing in the “Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord” miniseries in 2007 written by Keith Giffen.

This is the precursor miniseries to the complete overhaul of the Guardians of the Galaxy… but it’s of interest that Groot is still talking normally.
He doesn’t talk A LOT in this miniseries, so I misremembered that his speech changed here.

But that actually became an intrinsic part of Groot’s character in the OTHER precursor series to the new Guardians Of The Galaxy series: Annihilation Conquest, written by Abnett & Lanning (who we will meet in the Legion Reboot… A LOT).

This would later be explained as being a language that anyone can potentially learn.
The “I am Groot” gimmick can get old if it’s overused, which is probably why it seems to come and go; he goes through phases when he can talk normally.

Because of the success of the 2008 version of the Guardians Of The Galaxy and ESPECIALLY its 2014 movie, Groot turned into a beloved and ubiquitous character.
He was clearly intended to be the same character of the 1960 story, at least 2011’s series Annihilators retroactively made him a distinct member of the same species, with the original one being referred to as King Groot.

Something made more clear in 2015’s Groot series, which emphasized that “our” Groot is different from his more belligerent series that roamed the universe to kidnap people.

To the best of my knowledge, the original “King Groot” has not been seen since the heroic Groot debuted. According to 2022’s “Marvels #8” he didn’t die at the end of the original story, but his actions are what made the Shi’ar notice Earth.

Groot certainly managed to find himself a niche that no other Marvel superhero is able to fulfill… part mascot, part weird alien, and part hero.