First Appearance of Groot: Tales to Astonish #13 Value

Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13, cover-dated November 1960, created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby (Wikipedia). He was not a hero. The 1960 Groot is an extraterrestrial tree monster from Planet X who comes to Earth to capture humans and study them, and he is seemingly destroyed by termites set on him by a character named Leslie Evans.

He came back in The Incredible Hulk Annual #5 (October 1976) alongside five other monsters from Marvel's old anthology comics (Wikipedia).

PriceCharting values by CGC grade, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $943.13
• 2.0: $1,500.00
• 3.0: $1,756.75
• 4.0: $2,258.73
• 5.0: $2,822.88
• 6.0: $3,840.00
• 7.0: $7,965.66
• 8.0: $9,783.15
• 9.2: $19,899.00

PriceCharting shows raw copies selling about once a month and a 9.2 about once a year, so the high-grade figures can shift on one sale. The price doubles between 6.0 and 7.0, which is the step where condition matters most for this book. Nothing sold at 9.0, 9.4 or 9.6 in PriceCharting's data.

The Groot fans know is a different individual. In Annihilation: Conquest – Star-Lord #1 (2007), a Groot earns his freedom by joining Star-Lord's strike force, where he and Rocket Raccoon form their bond, and he then joins the new Guardians of the Galaxy in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #1, July 2008 (Wikipedia). Wikipedia describes his species as Flora colossus, from Planet X, the capital of the branch worlds.

For collectors this means the monster book from 1960 is the first appearance, while the 2007 and 2008 books are where the heroic version starts.

Groot's first movie is Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), where Vin Diesel voices him (Wikipedia). In that film he is the full-grown Groot, which is why he is so big. He sacrifices himself at the end, but Rocket keeps a cutting and it regrows. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) therefore has the small Baby Groot, whom Wikipedia describes as the first Groot's reborn offspring. A teenage Groot appears in later films, and the I Am Groot shorts were released in 2022 and 2023.

Why does he only say "I am Groot"? Wikipedia explains that his species' physiology makes their speech sound like that one phrase, while the meaning changes with inflection and context.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Tales to Astonish was an anthology title, so make sure the issue number is readable; a neighboring issue is worth far less. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market, and a grade that trades about once a year can move a lot on a single sale.