All New Guardians of the Galaxy #9

SHATTERED

Written by Gerry Duggan

Penciled by Mike Hawthorne
Cover by Aaron Kuder
Published Sept 6 2017

   Groot and Rocket land on Stohlad to visit a shady market, seeking info from a vendor about the layout of a Citopian bank vault. Shortly after their conversation, the pressure changes. A cloaked figure teleports in, killing the shopkeeper and subsequently getting shot at by Rocket. The reaper swings his sickle at the raccoon but Groot takes a blade in the arm to protect him. In the ruckus, Rocket is knocked unconscious. 

Time for a nap!

   The tree fights back and with his companion by the tail, makes his escape to the waiting vehicle. He places Rocket back in the ship, and as he wakes up, Groot tells him "You are Groot". He couldn't move. Rooted into the ground, he engages Rocket's autopilot and the ship hovers above. Watching as his best friend dies with a smile on his face, he shoots into outer space in tears.

This page kinda had me like "dang..."

   Meanwhile back on the planet, the cloaked figure picks up what's left of the shredded Groot. He's known as the gardener, and as he painfully grinds the flora into pieces, he teleports away. On Rocket's ship, he pounds the console until he notices the tiny splinter. A wilting shard of his friend remains. He lands the ship and runs past Quill, finding a planter and some dirt. With tweezers, he plants what's left of Groot with a promise to nurse him to health as well as for revenge for hurting him so badly.

Oh we'll get you back, robe man.

   The issue ends zooming into rockets eye and into a tiny camera lens. The spineless urchin Mojo addresses the viewers of his twisted Mojoverse, lauding the most recent program he's been able to offer. He tells the audience he'll be right back after these messages, and with that we're left to be continued.

YES! Old School! WHERE'S LONGSHOT?!

   Finally it's revealed as to what happened to Groot - to make him so tiny. While it's a little different than what was portrayed in the movie, it was still pretty good - opening the door for several tiny evil Groots to make their appearance... as well as the return of one of my favorite Marvel villains of all time - Mojo. This was a pretty awesome book - art was crisp as we see Gerry Duggan unite with his longtime Deadpool partner Make Hawthorne. And a good continued setup for the series to return to it's original numbering. I give this one a 10/10.

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