This amazing gingerbread sculpture of Groot was made by Caroline Eriksson.
Welcome to Super Blog Team Up!
Since Between The Pages Blog is a pop culture cake blog, we’re spending this team up having yummy cakes, cookies and cupcakes with everyone’s favorite walking and talking tree – Groot!
The theme of this Super Blog Team Up is replacement heroes, i.e. where one hero takes on an identity that was previously used by another hero. I thought it would be really cool to ask – what if both the original hero and replacement were the same character? This post will trace the growth of Groot from his roots as “the Monster from Planet X” to the becoming the most beloved Guardian of the Galaxy.
This idea came from the wonderful podcast Batman Family Reunion. During one episode, Shawn M. (is for Man-Bat) Myers, one of the two cohosts, told a story about a family member being puzzled that Shawn’s large comic book collection included so few of the early appearance of Groot. Before you get halfway through this post, you’ll understand why this is humorous.
This wonderful Groot Birthday Cake was made by Copcake Cakery.
Groot has appeared in somewhere around one hundred comic books, so I thought the best way to look at the growth of Groot was to focus on four key comic books.
- Tales of Suspense #13 – The first appearance of Groot
- Incredible Hulk King-Size Annual #5 – Groot joins the Marvel universe.
- Annihilation: Conquest Starlord #1 – Groot and Rocket Racoon become a team
- Guardians of the Galaxy #1 – First appearance of the current day Guardians of the Galaxy.
This marvelous Baby Groot Cake Topper was made by Sugar & Spice Cakes.
Groot’s First Appearance
Groot’s first appearance was in November of 1960. To give you an idea of where this is in Marvel Comics history, Spider-Man’s 1st appearance wasn’t until August 1962. So Groot predates 99% of the the Marvel Universe including Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, The Avengers, the X-Men and Iron Man. Who’s been around longer than Groot? Captain America, Bucky, The Red Skull and Namor.
Sometime around the end of World War II, people began losing interest in super hero comic books. So, publishers switched to publishing war, horror, science fiction, romance, teen humor and funny animals comic books. It was during this time that Groot first appeared. Strange Tales was a science fiction / monster comic book. The 13th issue featured the following stories – I Found The Abominable Snowman!, My Friend Is … Not Quite Human!, I Found The Hidden World!, Special Sale (a 2 page text story) and I Challenged … Groot The Monster From Planet X!
This story doesn’t have creator credits. Wikipedia credits Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby as Groot’s co-creators.
In his first story, Groot, the Monster from Planet X, lands in a forest. He animates everything wooden around him and make them move towards him. He then absorb them. The more trees he eats, the larger he gets. When he is “at least fifty feet tall”, he heads into town and announces “Earthlings — Hear me! I am Groot, Monarch of Planet X! I come to take an earth village — your village, back to my planet! We want to study you, to experiment on you!”. The villagers try to burn Groot. When that fails, Groot animates all of the trees in the village and they begin moving and covering the village in roots. A scientist finally defeats and kills Groot with a bunch of termites.
Groot Joins The Marvel Universe
Groot doesn’t appear again for 16 years! Len Wein and Chris Claremont come up with the idea of doing a Hulk comic book where he battles six monsters from Marvel’s old monster comics. In Incredible Hulk King-Sized Annual #5, the Hulk battles Xemnu the living titan, the creature called Goom, Taboo the terrible, Diablo Monster from Dimension X, the electrifying Blip and Groot Master of Plants.
This page was penciled by “Our Pal” Sal Buscema and inked by Jack Abel.
Groot has tree branches wrap around the Hulk’s arms and legs to immobilize him and wrap around his neck to strangle him. But the Hulk is too strong and breaks free. After this, the Hulk and Groot get into a fist fight, but Hulk literally pulls the ground out from under Groot. Groot retaliates by firing thorns that are invincible and needle sharp at the Hulk. The Hulk picks up a bolder and uses it to deflect the thorns. The Hulk then uses the remains of the bolder to beat on Groot until nothing but a stump is left. Groot’s first appearance predated the modern Marvel universe, so this Hulk story is crucial because it makes Groot part of that universe.
Groot Meets Rocket Racoon
This terrific Rocket Racoon and Groot Pumpkin Carving were made by Alex Wer – The Pumpkin Geek.
Marvel Comics has a lot of characters who call outer space home. Around 2005, Marvel realized that they weren’t doing enough with these characters and decided to do a massive crossover with them. It was called Annihilation. One of the characters in this crossover was Peter Quill – aka Starlord. Annihilation was so popular Marvel published a sequel called Annihilation: Conquest.
Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord was a four issue mini-series. In the first issue, Peter Quill is put in charge of a misfit team where everyone is considered expendable. Peter compares them to the Dirty Dozen.
This dirty dozen consists of Starlord, Bug (from the Micronauts), Deathcry, Mantis, Captain Universe, Rocket Racoon and Groot.
This stunning Star-Lord Cake was made by Ant Roman from Nerdache Cakes.
Starlord meets Groot
That AMAZING image of Groot was penciled by Timothy Green II, inked by Victor Olazaba and colored by Nathan Fairbairn.
This issue contains the key moment in the history of Rocket Racoon and Groot.
Each member of Starlord’s team is being evaluated with weapons. After the tests, Peter is reviewing the results. He is puzzled because “The Racoon … showed a mark degree of expertise in the handling of heavy ordnance.”. “He’s what two? Two-and-a-half feet tall? What’s he going to do, drag the gun around on a little cart?”.
Captain Chan-Dar replies “Apparently, he has formed a bond with Groot, who will act as a heavy ordnance transport.” To which, Peter replies “A racoon and a tree…charming.”
This is the first time that Rocket Racoon and Groot meet and it is also when they become a team.
This absolutely amazing Rocket Racoon and Groot Cake was made by Inspired Cakes – by Amy.
The Guardians of the Galaxy
These adorable Guardians Of The Galaxy Cupcakes were made by Koalipops.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1
The Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared in 1969, while Star Trek: The Original Series was still on the air. Like almost all science fiction in the 60s, it took place in the future.
An new Guardians of The Galaxy comic book series spun out of Annihilation: Conquest and took place during the present day instead of the future.
Guardians of the Galaxy Cookies
These gorgeous Guardians of the Galaxy Cookies were made by Sugar Coma Cookies.
Initially the Guardians of the Galaxy consist of Star-Lord (sometime during Annihilation: Conquest, the dash was added to his name), Quasar (Phyla-Vell – a replacement hero), Gamora, Adam Warlock, Drax and Rocket Racoon. The only reason Groot isn’t on the initial team is because he was severely injured during Annihilation: Conquest and is still growing back to full size. He is in the first issue, but he is tiny.
This comic book series was inspiration for the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
Who needs a Christmas Tree when you can decorate Groot? This great Groot Christmas Cake was made by Couture Di Sucre – Cakes.
I hope you enjoyed this post and come back next week. I’ll be featuring an awesome Mario Meets Pokémon Cake. For more awesome stories about replacement heroes, check out these great blogs and podcasts.
Super-Hero Satellite: The Reign Of The Supermen
Asterisk 51: Not-So-Giant-Size X-Men
The Telltale Mind: Replacement Heroes – When Marcus Johnson Finally Became Nick Fury
Dave’s Comics Heroes Blog: Blue Beetle (Secret Origins of Ted Kord)
