While The Guardians of the Galaxy were never really big in the comics, the Marvel Cinematic Universe took a gamble and it worked out. But who are The Guardians of the Galaxy?
The Guardians of the Galaxy comic book origins
The Guardians of the Galaxy are a team initially meant to be set against the Cold War background with the Guardians acting as guerillas against communism. Instead, the comic turned out to be a series about protecting the Galaxy.
And since its first incarnation the Guardians of the Galaxy have stolen my heart. And this article pretty much will tell you why I love them.
The background is set in the 31st century when travel at lightspeed has been invented and humans explore the galaxy and end up on different planets with or without life.
Humans also discover the marvels of genetic engineering and thus some of our heroes are genetically modified humans designed to withstand the harshest planetary conditions. Such as the gravity of Jupiter or the temperatures on Pluto.
The original Guardians of the Galaxy team consisted of the following members:
- Vance Astrovik – A human who had been in stasis for a millennium. His containment suit is what kept him alive during that time. Vance is one of the founding members of The Guardians of the Galaxy. Vance is a tactician and has psychokinetic abilities.
- Charlie-27 – A soldier who is genetically engineered to withstand the atmosphere and gravity of Jupiter. This makes him incredibly durable and super strong.
- Martinex – From the planet Pluto. He is a scientist with deep knowledge of various topics including physics and engineering. His powers are that he can shoot beams from his hands that are either cold (left hand) or hot (right hand). His body is covered in a crystalline substance.
- Yondu – A hunter from Centauri IV who has empathic abilities and can control the arrows from his bow and arrow using a special tone only some of his species can produce. A skilled hand-to-hand combatant and amazing at tracking.
- Starhawk / Aleta – A husband and wife who were merged together and whoever was dominant took over the body changing appearance and attitude. Starhawk was more pacifistic while Aleta was more militant and aggressive.
- Nikki – A genetically engineered lady from Mercury whose special power is that can see in dark and light. She can change her body temperature as well. She is an excellent marksman and trained in hand-to-hand combat. Her hair is literally on fire.
We see some of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Except that they are called the Ravagers.
Most of the time in the first iteration of the comic, the Guardians of the Galaxy fight off the Badoon who are not very interested in being friendly to the galaxy. In fact, they are trying to conquer the Earth’s solar system one planet at a time but were stopped by the Guardians in time before that could ever happen.
The Guardians of the Galaxy publication history
The original team was created back in 1969 and appeared first in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in 1969. The team was supposed to be a guerrilla warfare team against the Cold War background. Instead, the comic book turned into a space opera. Basically, a Star Wars comic before the movies were even in the planning.
The way the comic came to life was as follows, as stated by the legendary Roy Thomas in an interview with Back Issue!:
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ started out as an idea of mine: about super-guerrillas fighting against Russians and Red Chinese who had taken over and divided the USA. I got a sort of general approval out of [editor-in-chief] Stan [Lee] (I think), and gave the idea to Arnold Drake since I had not time to write and research it. Arnold went in for a conference with Stan, and Stan (maybe Arnold, too) decided to change it to an interplanetary situation. All the characters and situations in Guardians were created by Arnold and/or Stan
The first appearance was very successful but the team wouldn’t be featured for another 5 years. By that time, the team added 2 more members.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2008
The team of Guardians of the Galaxy 2008 is the team that you may be more familiar with. The team consists of Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Mantis, Peter Quill, and Gamorra. But also the likes of Adam Warlock, Moondragon, and Cosmo the Space dog.
This team like the 1969 counterpart also fights the same enemy, the Badoon. A reimagined space race whose only purpose in life is to take over the solar system.
This is also the team that serves as the main inspiration for the movies. The team goes through various adventures with classic comics such as the Phalanx, The War of Kings, and The Thanos Imperative.
In this comic book storyline, Peter Quill leaves the team along with Gamorra and is replaced by Kitty Pryde and The Thing.
Peter Quill later has his own comic book limited series but quickly rejoins the team.
The Guardians of the Galaxy in the MCU
The Guardians of the Galaxy feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movies are meant to be a trilogy and the new movie, The Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3, is to premiere in May 2023.
The Guardians of the Galaxy play a pivotal role in the 2nd phase of the Marvel movies. They play a pivotal role in defeating Thanos in their own movies and in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. For instance, without The Guardians, Thor wouldn’t have been found floating in space in Infinity War. And without that, Thor wouldn’t ever have had a new axe forged with the help of Groot, who creates the axe handle made from his tree body. The axe is called Stormbreaker of course.
Or without Rocket, the infinity stones wouldn’t have ever been reassembled when the Avengers travel through time to collect the stones and undo the damage done by Thanos, who wiped out half the universe.
After that Thor joins their team and dubs the team The Asgardians of the Galaxy. His membership didn’t last very long as Thor is lovesick after the loss of his hammer, Mjolnir.
The 3rd movie is coming out in May 2023 and it will mark the end of the Guardians of The Galaxy as we know it. Director James Gunn is now head of the movie division of DC Comics. And the contracts of the actors will expire after this movie. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, has already indicated that he is honored to have played the role but it is time to move on as he didn’t like the number of hours in the make-up chair.
The official synopsis of the movie is as follows:
The Guardians of the Galaxy are adjusting to life on Knowhere when parts of Rocket’s past resurface. In order to protect him, Peter Quill must lead the Guardians on a dangerous mission that could lead to the team dissolving.
Recommended reading order for the comicbooks
In the past 54 years, The Guardians of the Galaxy have gone through various incarnations. From the founding of the team that featured classic heroes like Yondu and Martinex to the team that features in the film to the comic book characters. Here are the comics I recommend reading.
Why I don’t recommend the first series from the 1960s and 1970s
While I love Volume 1 of the Guardians of the Galaxy with the founding members as described above, the comics themselves haven’t exactly withstood the test of time. They are very densely written and I would regard the 1960s and early 1970s comics an acquired taste. If you can get through the density of `1960s / 1970s writing then I wish you all the fun you could possibly have.
Annihilation: Conquest 2007 – 2008
If you are more interested in reading more modern comics then I would heartily recommend reading Annihilation. This is how the Guardians of the Galaxy came together. When the Phalanx attack the Galaxy under the leadership of Ultron, heroes from across the galaxy unite to face the threat that could leave gross devastation if they lose. With the help of Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Star-Lord, Gamorra, and Rocket Raccoon, who together form The Guardians of the Galaxy and the help of other heroes such as Nova, they take down the Phalanx in a joint effort and save the galaxy who is forever in their debt.
The comic ran from August 2007 until 2008 and is a sequel to Annihilation from 2006.
This is also the team that is used for the Marvel Cinematic Universe which went on to become box office hits with each of the movies hitting 1 billion dollars worldwide.
Cosmic Avengers 2013
Cosmic Avengers was my favorite comic back then. The story features the very origins of Peter Quill, who at the time doesn’t realize what he is yet. His father crashed his spaceship on earth and is found half-dead by Meredith Quill.
One night when Peter comes home after school after a fight, the enemies of Peter’s dad attack Meredith and she dies. Peter manages to kill 2 of the invaders, the Badoon, with a double-barrel shotgun before he finds his father’s guns. They seem to react to him as if they have some sort of genetic imprint. So Quill is now off to find his father and along the way meets allies with whom he will form The Guardians of the Galaxy.
The allies are Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and the Invincible Iron Man. While the Badoon invades Earth, the Guardians are fighting miles away with the fate of the earth hanging in the balance.
The book is written by comic book legend Brian Michael Bendis and the origins of Peter Quill were used for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. This is by far one of the best comic book reads of the 2010 – 2020 decade. High-quality writing accompanied by incredible art that is vibrantly colored. A must-read for everyone who loves comics!
What to expect from the final movie of the Guardians
The Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3 will be the last one of the franchise. As mentioned before, the director has moved on to bigger and better things. And the actors have indicated that they aren’t interested in coming back either. At least Dave Bautista has. And I agree, it is time for either new members or just leave it as a trilogy.
However, since this is going to be the last movie, I personally can’t wait to see it. The movie will focus heavily on the origins of Rocket Raccoon and the people who are behind the creation of the most loveable raccoon in the world. Until he asks for your cybernetic eye or prosthetic leg of course…
The movie will be released in May 2023 and I would literally camp outside the cinema’s doors to get tickets for premiere day. It’s a good thing tickets are on sale online these days…
