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Groot Reading Order

A well-known member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot didn’t start out as a hero, but as a villainous alien intent on capturing humans for experimentation. He first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November 1960), created by writer Stan Lee, artist Jack Kirby and scripter Larry Lieber. Of course, this is not the Groot we know today.

In 2006, he was reimagined as a heroic character in Annihilation: Conquest – Star-Lord #1 (2007), written by Keith Giffen. Hailing from the planet X, a world characterised by sentient plant life, Groot belongs to the Flora Colossus species. Distinguished by his arboreal physiology and limited verbal expression, he primarily communicates through tone, inflection, and context, which is understood by those familiar with him, such as his friend Rocket Raccoon. Despite his linguistic limitations, Groot exhibits considerable emotional depth and intelligence, as well as formidable strength and regenerative capabilities. He often serves as both protector and moral anchor within his narrative contexts.

Throughout his cosmic adventures, Groot has demonstrated several unique abilities, including regenerative healing, size manipulation, limited photokinesis, and the power to grow and control plant matter. He has died and regenerated multiple times, with each incarnation sometimes being treated as a rebirth or a new version of the character. The cinematic version, voiced by Vin Diesel, introduced in 2014 in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie directed by James Gunn, made that element quite popular with “Baby Groot” and later “Teen Groot.”

In solo or with his friends, Groot certainly went through epic adventures in space during the last two decades. So, let’s follow the guide!

Groot Comics Collection

Before going into details about his time as a Guardian, Groot’s original first comic book appearance as an obscure Silver Age monster in the pages of Tales to Astonish #13 can be found in the following collected edition (with Rocket Raccoon’s first appearances).

  • Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection
    Collects The Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket Raccoon (vol. 1) #1–4, and material from Marvel Preview #7, Annihilators #1–4, Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4, Tales to Astonish (vol. 1) #13.

In 2006, spinning out of the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest crossover events, the Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord series reintroduced Groot as one of Star-Lord’s resistance fighters against the Ultron-led Phalanx. At that time, Groot was still very talkative with a large vocabulary, but this changed after being regrown in Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s classic comic book run on Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2, in 2008). In this version of the team, Groot is alongside Rocket Raccoon, Peter Quill (Star-Lord), Phyla-Vell, Gamora, Adam Warlock, Mantis, Drax the Destroyer, and more.

While the Guardians of the Galaxy disbanded at the end of the Thanos Imperative, Groot’s comics adventures with Rocket Raccoon didn’t stop there. The duo got a backup story in the Annihilators and Annihilators: Earthfall miniseries, which has been collected in the Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection.

In 2013, with the release of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie announced for the following year, Marvel Comics decided to relaunch the team with Brian Michael Bendis as the main writer. Groot, Rocket, Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax first reappeared in Avengers Assemble (#7-8) alongside the Avengers to face off against Thanos, before going on their new cosmic adventures.

  • Guardians Of The Galaxy By Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol. 1
    Collects Avengers Assemble (2012) #1-8, Guardians Of The Galaxy (2013) #0.1 and #1-27, Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual (2014) #1, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers, All-New X-Men (2012) #22-24, Guardians of Knowhere #1-4, Guardians Team-Up #1-2 and material from Free Ccomic Book Day 2014 (Guardians Of The Galaxy).

After the Original Sin crossover, tied to Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #20, Rocket Raccoon and Groot went on their solo adventures from writer Skottie Young and artist Filipe Andrade. Not solo per se, as they are together in the Rocket Raccoon series, trying to save Rocket’s life as he is framed for murder, but Groot got his first solo comic book when he and Rocket got separated during an intergalactic road trip. And for the first time in years, Groot’s on his own in this 6-part miniseries by Jeff Loveness and Brian Kesinger.

You can read the Rocket Raccoon comic series between Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #20 and #21, while the Groot comics can be read once the GotG series ends. 

This era concluded with the 2015 massive universe-defining event known as Secret Wars. In the first issue of the Secret Wars miniseries, Rocket and Groot are killed. But they came back…

We are entering the All-New, All-Different Marvel era. The Guardians Of The Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol. 2 is not available for now. Instead, we are looking at the classic trade paperback collection.

In this new Guardians of the Galaxy story, Peter Quill has left the team to become emperor of the Spartax, making Rocket Raccoon the new team leader. Groot remains at his side. The team also includes Drax, Venom, Kitty Pryde, and Ben Grimm. However, before that, there is another Rocket Raccoon & Groot series from Skottie Young and Filipe Andrade. This time, Rocket undergoes a transformation, and Groot must battle to help him remember who he truly is.

Brian Michael Bendis left the Guardians of the Galaxy in the hands of Gerry Duggan, who launched the All New Guardians of the Galaxy comic series during the Secret Empire crossover event (this run led to the Infinity Wars event). This time, we’ve got a baby Groot in the team next to Star-Lord, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora.

Groot also got a solo miniseries, simply titled “I Am Groot,” from writer Christopher Hastings and artist Flaviano Armentaro. In it, the little Groot is separated from the team, following an incident with a wormhole, and ends up on an alien planet full of creatures who can’t understand him.

After Gerry Duggan, Donny Cates took over the Guardians of the Galaxy with artists Geoff Shaw and Cory Smith. It’s not the usual team. That said, Groot is still here, but he talks like everybody (no “I Am Groot” here). When Al Ewing and artist Juan Cabal took over, they kept things going, and, while using him less, Groot stayed as he was for a year of comics before going back to his old self for the last arc of the run (still not doing a lot, though).

Writer Dan Abnett and artist Damian Couceiro produced in 2023 a 4-issue miniseries titled Groot that took us back to a time before Groot was a Guardian of the Galaxy. On his planet, he had a life of peace until invaders attacked, and he had to team up with a Kree soldier by the name of Mar-Vell.

Jackson Lanzing and artist Collin Kelly relaunched the Guardians of the Galaxy comics in 2023 with a twist. They made it into a Western in which the guardians are no more. A year has passed, and now they’re outlaws who have been hired to fight a new enemy: Groot! 

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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