Wisdom for life from Groot Comic, issue 6

Back in 2014 (was it that long ago?) I watched Guardians of the Galaxy and fell in love with it. As a film it's just a roller coaster of action, witty dialogue, special effects and has a great soundtrack to match.

The past eighteen months have seen the number of GotG toys in our house rocket (pun intended), as evidenced by this photo:

GotG Disney Infinity figures

It's hard to pick a favourite Guardian. But if I had to, I'd say my favourite character in the film was Rocket Raccoon. Cathy's favourite character was Groot, who is a talking tree of few words. Specifically "I am Groot." (Incredibly Vin Diesel who voiced Groot recorded all the lines of "I am Groot" in the film separately, in English and in all the other languages it was released in as well.)

GotG has also got me into buying comics. Not just the Guardians of the Galaxy title, which is back after a months-long hiatus, but the spin-offs as well. A six-issue run of Groot comic has just finished. I started buying it for Cathy, but I really enjoyed it as well.

In issue six, we get Groot's back story (although that has been in several of the other comics and there are many different versions of the tale), in which Groot is exiled from his home planet of fellow groots, for showing compassion towards a human child kidnapped by the groots for research purposes. Groot travels to Earth to meet the child he freed because he wants her to know that he still thinks about her. Along the way, he muses on some of the things he wants to tell her - that his exile wasn't dreadful, that through it he became a Guardian, that he wants to thank her for being the catalyst of his rebellion.

Comic books are generally dismissed as fairly meaningless. But this particular issue was quite emotional. It got me, I must admit. I had a lump in my throat at the end and was a bit blinky.

I'd freely admit I'm not a fast learner. It has taken me many years to learn some simple things in life. But one thing I have learned (the hard way) is to be open to wisdom wherever you find it. These panels seemed to me to be true and life-affirming and worthwhile lessons to dwell on. You will need to click on them to read them.

Groot Issue #6

Final panel of Groot #6

I love that last line. "Life is not about the shadow you cast on your enemies, but the shade you provide for your friends."