Your Guide to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!

When I first heard that Marvel was planning on making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie, my first reaction was the same as many: “What is Guardians of the Galaxy?” I soon found out that it was a comic book that had only been launched in 2008. Intrigued, I tried to look more into the history, and was just about overwhelmed by what I found.

The problem with Guardians of the Galaxy is that it is not just a simple comic book series with a singular history, like Spider-Man. Rather, like the Avengers, it pulls together various characters from throughout Marvel’s history, in this case, characters that occupy the cosmic side of the universe, the interplanetary, space-saga stories. Yet, unlike the Avengers, these are not popular characters who carried their own title, but rather, more obscure figures from around the universe, who often debuted in other titles.  In addition, the film in question features several villains also culled from their own spheres of the Marvel Universe. Looking into the history of one of these character leads into looking into another, and another. It is diving into a tremendous pool of stories in a process that seems to never ends (i.e., a universe).

In addition, it has been incredibly difficult to find a history on these characters from a real-world perspective. By that I mean not simply a telling of the events of the character’s life, but a breakdown of their careers as the audience experienced it, as revealed through the issues they appeared in, and when (Ahis is something sorely missing for much of comics). After a long, long time of researching all of this, I have finally compile a record that sums up the history of these characters and events leading into the series itself, so that one may pick up the first issue, or watch the film, with adequate knowledge.

Besides the Guardians themselves, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon, other Marvel Comics characters featured in the film are the villains Thanos, Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer (and their race, the Kree), Nebula, and The Collector, as well as the hero Yondu, and the organization called the Nova Corps. Whether these at all factor into the Guardians series, or are simply adapted into the movie, I have included their comics history here, for those who wish to know the history of what they’re see onscreen.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into the history of the Guardians of the Galaxy!

 
1960: Groot

Tales to Astonish #13 (Nov. 1960), by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby,  introduced the character of Groot. Debuting before even the Fantastic Four, this may technically make him the first Marvel Comics Silver Age character.
In the story, Groot is a wood-based alien who falls to Earth and grows larger by absorbing wooden objects into himself. He arrives at a community and tells the people there that he is the monarch of Planet X, and that he has come to take a small human community back to his home world to study. Able to control trees and plants, he plans on using them to create a massive net to allow him to carry the town into space. The townspeople have no luck in defeating him until a scientist unleashes a makeshift army of termites at him, destroying him.
This story was fairly isolated, but never forgotten, and was eventually made a part of the Marvel Universe. Replicas of the various creatures featured in Tales to Astonish, including Groot , would be produced to menace the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk Annual #5 (Nov. 1976). Peter Parker would later have a dream featuring Groot in Sensational Spider-Man #1 (Jul. 1997). 

1966: The Collector

The Avengers #28 (May 1966) by Stan Lee &  Don Heck, introduced the villain The Collector, a mysterious little man who enjoyed collecting unique objects from all existence. In his first apperance, he was interested in The Wasp as a unique individual. He appeared as a recurring character ever since, and would ultimately be revealed as one of the eons-old cosmic beings of the universe.

1967: The Kree, Ronan, & Captain Marvel

Fantastic Four #64-65 (Jul.-Aug. 1967) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the Kree. When the Fantastic Four find and accidentally reactivate one of this ancient race’s ancient robotic sentries, they are forced to combat and destroy it. In the following issue, the Kree, a militaristic race, become interested in Earth once again, and send an accuser (their form of a law-enforcement individual) called Ronan to put them on trial. The Kree, and Ronan, continued to be mostly villainous presences for a long time.


This introduction preceded the debut of the new superhero, Captain Marvel, essentially a Kree soldier left on Earth, four months later, in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 by Roy Thomas & Gene Colan. He is pictured here in his first appearance and his later, better, costume.

1967: “Him”
                Fantanstic Four #66-67 (Sept.-Oct. 1967), also by Lee and Kirby, introduced “Him,” a superpowered human being created by the genetic experimentation of a corrupt group of scientists called “The Enclave. In the end, the being destroys his creators and escapes. He would later have a run-in with Thor in Thor #165-166 (Jun.-Jul. 1969) before being more expanded on as a character.

1968: Annihilus
The character of Annihilus first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (Nov. 1968) by Lee and Kirby. Essentially, he is an alien warlord from the Negative Zone (the alternate dimension that Reed Richards discovered) who continually tries to break into our own and conquer.

1969: The Original Guardians of the Galaxy

The first team called “Guardians of the Galaxy” debuted in The Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (Jan. 1969) by Arnold Drake & Gene Colan. The team would make sporadic appearances in various comics over the next couple of decades, not getting their own series until the 1990s. Although the stories apparently took place in the future of a universe separate from the main Marvel one, the characters would still occasionally cross over with our favorite Marvel heroes, and eventually, the new Guardians
The story followed a 20^th century astronaut named Vance Astro, who spends a thousand years in suspended animation while traveling to the Alpha Centauri system. Once there, he unites with a group of aliens, each the last of their kind, in a struggle against an evil alien force called The Badoon, who wish to conquer, of all places, Earth.
Frankly, the details of the team members aren’t important. One member of the team, however, the blue-skinned alien Yondu, will appear in the upcoming Guardians film.

1972: Adam Warlock

The character of “Him” was revived, and given the new name of Adam Warlcok, in Marvel Premiere #1 (Apr. 1972) by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, which then spun off into the series The Power of Warlock, Essentially, the character encounters the cosmic being know as the High Evolutionary, who entrusted him with the powerful object called the “Soul Gem” as he continued to have adventures in outer space. The series ran only eight issues from Aug. 1972-Oct. 1973.

1973-1974: The Thanos War

From February 1973 to July 1974 took place a massive storyline by writer-artist Jim Starlin with writer Mike Friedrich, that would introduce Thanos to the Marvel Universe. In Iron Man #55 we are introduced to Saturn’s moon Titan, which actually has an advanced, idyllic civilization living beneath the visible surface. The ruler of this civilization is called Mentor, and he fights a war against his own son, Thanos, who seeks to usurp power with an army of mercenaries pulled from around the galaxy. Mentor appeals for help to the cosmic being known as Kronos, who creates, from the ground itself, Drax the Destroyer, a powerful being whose sole purpose is to defeat Thanos. Their battle brings them to Earth, where Drax enlists the help of Iron Man, before continuing the war on Titan.


This storyline would then mainly take place over nine issues of Captain Marvel, #25-33, and spill over into Daredevil #104-107, Marvel Feature #12, and The Avengers #125.
                In the main story, Thanos has since succeeded in conquering Titan. Now, his forces attack Captain Marvel, and ultimately kidnap his sidekick Rick Jones to learn the location of the Cosmic Cube (the cube, Rick’s knowledge of its location, and his relationship with Captain Marvel, are all their own story). Thanos goes on a quest and finds the cube.
                Over the course of this story, a greater history is revealed. Kronos, as it turns out, is the actual Kronos (or Cronus) of Greek myth. But contrary to mythology, he was a peace-loving man and scientist. In addition to the gods of myth, he he had another son, A'Lars. One day one of his experiments went wrong, which transformed him into the cosmic being we now see. The throne of Olympus was then taken by his more savage son Zeus, who banished his peace-loving brother A'Lars the to the stars. He ended up arriving on the moon Titan, which civil war had torn apart. There, he met the lone survivor, a woman named Sui-San, whom he married. Together, they formed a new civilization on Titan, and had two sons, Eros and Thanos, and A'Lars became known as Mentor.

A related story in Daredevil also introduces Moon Dragon (previously shown as an apparently misunderstood "villain" called Madame MacEvil in Iron Man #54), a woman born on Earth as Heather Douglas, but raised on Titan. It is shown that her family was killed in a car accident as a little girl, and she was taken by a benevolent visitor from Titan, and there she has developed great mental powers. After the events of Daredevil, she allies up with Captain Marvel, Drax, and even the Avengers, to defeat Thanos. Later, it is revealed that the mind of Moon Dragon’s father, Arthur Douglas, was persevered by Kronos, and ultimately formed into none other than Drax.
In the end, Thanos gains the cosmic cube, and uses its power to become one with the universe. However, by smashing the cube itself, Captain Marvel apparently manages to kill Thanos. Despite now remembering his previous life, Drax now feels his purpose is finished, and leaves to wander the stars.
 
1975-1976: The Magus Saga
The character of Adam Warlock would be revived in a large storyline that also brought back Thanos and introduced Gamora.
                This storyline, by Jim Starlin, ran from Feb. 1975 to Jan. 1976, beginning with in Strange Tales #178-181, and continuing in the renewed Warlock #9-11. In it, Adam encounters a tyrannical religious organization known as the Church of Universal Truth, headed by a being named Magus, who is actually a version of Adam from the future. Adam’s sidekick, the alien troll named Pip, encounters a beautiful green woman who is seeking Adam Warlock, the one who can defeat Magus. From one person’s reaction to her presence, it becomes apparent she is a well-known and deadly woman. She then introduces herself as “Gamora, the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy!” It is ultimately revealed that the person she is working for is none other than Thanos, who survived the crushing of the Cosmic Cube, merely being returned to his normal, mortal form. In his new attempts at conquest, he requires Adam Warlock’s Soul Gem, and for Adam to not become Magus. To that end, he used a time machine he had constructed to go into the future. There he found Gamora, a small girl whose entire civilization had been wiped out by the Church of Universal Truth. He took her back through time with him, and raised her to become a master assassin, all for the purpose of defeating Magus and stopping Adam from becoming him. Ultimately, the group succeeds in altering time so that the Church of Universal Truth never existed. (in later times, it would be stated that Gamora's civilization was wiped out by the Badoon)

But Thanos has his own plans, which include universal genocide!

1976: Star-Lord

(by the way, a bit thanks to Mike Luoma's "Cosmic Crackle" blog over at comicrelated.com for the following information)The cover story of the black-and-white magazine Marvel Preview #4 (Jan. 1976), by writer Steve Englehart and artists Steve Gan & Bob McLeod, introduced the character of Star-Lord, initially intended to exist in a future time outside the Marvel Universe. As a young man in 1973, Peter Quill and his mother saw an alien ship landing, but upon seeing the humans, the aliens fired on them and killed Peter’s mother. Years later, Peter is in astronaut training for a futuristic type of space travel, and is determined to go into space to find the aliens who killed his mother. He has also, however grown into a completely anti-social jerk, who is passed up for several opportunities  because of his lack of people skills. In the year 1990, during a lunar eclipse the crew of the space station he is on experience a vision of a costumed man we know from the cover to be the main character. A voice tells them that this is “Star-Lord,” and that during the next solar eclipse, one of them will be chosen to become this man, and take up his “glorious destiny.” Peter, determined that this should be him, doesn’t take well being denied the opportunity. Although he is bounced off the station, he ultimately steals a ship, gets back on, and apparently even kills some guards on his way to the location where he saw the Star-Lord. There, he is teleported away, and finds himself facing an old, bearded man on a throne (Shazam much?) who refers to himself as the “Master of the Sun.” He bestows on Peter the Star-Lord costume, complete with a helmet which allows him to fly, and an “element gun" that can fire air, earth, water, or fire, at his mental command. The Master of the Sun tries to convince him his quest for vengeance is wrong, but either way, Star-Lord goes off into space for further adventures.

1976: Nova

Nova #1 (Sept. 1976), by Marv Wolfman & John Buscema, debuted it’s own title character. In that story, a dying alien law enforcement official called Nova-Prime is tracking a villain named Zorr, when they pass over Earth. Nova-Prime decides to transfer his powers and suit to an Earth being (Green Lantern much?), and the person they end up finding is high school student Richard Rider. Although he doesn’t know any more than we do about all this, he tries to defeat Zorr, who gets away to become a recurring villain. He then becomes the Earth-based superhero Nova!

1976-1977: More Thanos
In Warlock #15 (November 1976) by Jim Starlin, Thanos appears again, and sends Gamora to become Warlock’s ally, his “bodyguard,” with her having no knowledge of her master’s true plans. On her way to Adam, however, she is attacked by Drax the Destroyer, and her ship explodes. This would be the final issue of Warlock, but the story was continued in issues of two other series, also by Starlin
                In Avengers Annual #7, Warlock discovers the dying Gamora, who, strangely enough, it now says was attacked by Thanos after she learned of his true plans. It turns out Adam’s “Soul Gem” is but one of a group of stones called the “Infinity Gems,” which are sources of great power. Thanos has been searching for the remaining ones, and has collected them all. In addition, in their previous encounter, Thanos managed to siphon off the power from Adam’s gem, thus giving him all the power he needs. He now has a major weapon he intends to use to destroy all life in the universe. He comes to Earth with, again, an armada of battleships, while he himself uses the device. Warlock, The Avengers, and Captain Marvel again stop him, and destroy the device.  Warlock, however, is apparently killed in the fight. However, he finds his consciousness alive inside his gem, alongside his friends Pip and Gamora (with whom serious romantic tension had now been established), and happy.
                In Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2, Spider-Man and The Thing join the party. Thanos still has the Soul Gem, and intends to use it to still obliterate Earth’s sun. However, the “spirit” of Adam Warlock briefly emerges from the gem, and turns Thanos to stone. It is said that Thanos is still conscious and aware, but permanently frozen in place.

1977-1981: More Star-Lord
                Star-Lord appeared sporadically in these black-and-white issues of Marvel Preview. He next appeared over a year later in #11 (Jun. 1977).  Steve Englehart abandoned his original intended story arc for the character, and was replaced by Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne. Claremont took away the character’s rough-edged, sarcastic personality traits, which would resurface years down the road.
 In this issue, Star-Lord travels with a sentient shapeshifting ship named “Ship.” The two find themselves in the middle of a dynastic struggle for control over the planet space empire of Sparta As Peter attempts to stop the evil Prince Gareth from usurping the throne from his uncle, Peter meets the Emperor himself, called Jason, and discovers that they are almost identical. The Emperor turns out to be Peter’s father. He had crash-landed on Earth years ago, and was found and nursed back to health by Peter’s mother, with whom he fell in love. When he had to return home, he temporarily wiped the memories of their encounter from her mind.  He later sent Gareth to find and bring him the woman and the child, but Gareth instead sent the aliens who killed Peter’s mother, and lied to his Emperor, saying both had died in childbirth. Discovering that he is the heir to an empire, Peter declines the opportunity, and instead returns to the stars with Ship.
                Star-Lord continued to appear in Marvel Preview #14-15. In the former, Ship showed the ability to morph into a beautiful woman, and in the latter, was given an origin as a former sentient star who, after going supernova and was given her new form by The Master of the Sun.

1978: The New Marvel Boy
                Captain America #217 (Jan. 1978) by writers Roy Thomas & Don Glut and artist John Buscema, featured a SHIELD agent, Wendell Vaughn, gaining a pair of super-powerful, extraterrestrial wristbands called “Quantum Bands” from the deceased villain The Crusader, and becoming known as Marvel Boy. He later changes his ame to Marvel Man, and still later, to Quasar.
(The Crusader had been known as the original Marvel Boy, first appearing in the 1950s, but given how much we have going on here, and how little this character will actually matter for the Guardians,  I thought I’d spare you all those details)

1979: The Nova Corps
During that time, the Nova series came to an end, with issue #25 (May 1979), still by writer Marv Woflman. In a battle with this villains, Nova discovers Nova-Prime’s spaceship in Earth’s orbit, and ends up being brought back to his home planet with it.
                In the meantime, in Fantastic Four #204-209 (Mar.-Aug.), also written by Marv Woflman, the origins of Nova are revealed. The planet Xandar was an advanced society in the Andromeda galaxy, until a ship of mysterious origin appeared and began draining all the planet’s energy. Their greatest hero, Rhomann Dey (ultimately revealed to be Nova-Prime), tried to save it, but the planet was destroyed. Four cities remained, however, encased in protective force fields (courtesy of Uatu,  a cosmic character we will not be getting into) with conduits eventually built between them. Now, the cities are under attack by the Skrulls, and their leader comes to Earth, appealing to the Fantastic Four for help.
                They ultimately join the fight, along with Nova, who joins a group of heroes known as the “New Champions” of Xandar to thwart the Skrulls. For Nova, however, this storyline would only be wrapped up until a guest-spot in the series Rom #24 in Nov. 1981, when he relinquished his powers to return to Earth. Eventually, in the 1990s, he would regain them and join the superhero team the “New Warriors.” In that eponymous series. But that’s neither here nor there.  This storyline, however, introduced the Nova Corps, the entire fleet of officers with Nova’s suit and powers, and they would be a continuing presence in the Marvel Universe (and in the upcoming film)

1979-1981: The Last of Star-Lord?
                In the meantime, Peter Quill got a couple more appearances, in Marvel Super Special Magazine #10 (Winter 1979), Marvel Preview #18 (Spring ’79), and Marvel Spotlight #6 (May 1980). This issue tells the origin of the Master of the Sun, as a former member of the same race that killed Quill’s mother, who rejected their ways, and is now being hunted down by them. He wanted to give a vengeful man a more peaceful existence, which is why he turned Peter Quill into Star-Lord The Master dies, as he wishes, in atonement for his crimes, and Quill declines to fight the aliens, in respect of the Mater’s pacifistic ways.
                Quill continued to appear in Marvel Spotlight #7 and Marvel Premiere #61 in 1981, , before getting his own special Star-Lord: Special Edition #1 in 1982. That issue reprints the events of MP #11, under a framing story set eighty years later, in which Peter  and Ship finally return to his elderly father, and, leaving behind his Star-Lord helmet, departs with him to explore the stars together.

And that was it from Star-Lord for a long time.

1982: Death of Captain Marvel, Rocket Raccoon & “death” of Drax.

In Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (Apr. 1982) by Jim Starlin, after all his battles, the hero Captain Marvel succumbed to, of all things, cancer, which he had gotten from inhaling an enemy’s toxic gas on a previous mission.


Years prior, a character called “Rocky Raccoon” (named after the Beatles song) had been introduced by Bill Mantlo & Keith Giffen in an unrelated, outside-Marvel-Universe, futuristic story in a backup feature in Marvel Preview #7. Now, what was at least a similar character was then introduced into the Marvel Universe proper in The Incredible Hulk #271 (May 1982) by Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema. In that issue, the Hulk finds himself on a in a part of space known as the Keystone Quadrant, on a planet called Halfworld, where animals have been genetically engineered to be bipedal and as intelligent as humans in order to be caretakers for the mentally ill there on the planet. Rocket served there as the chief law enforcement officer, and captain of the space ship the Rack 'n' Ruin

That year, in Avengers #220 (Jun.), the now-Avenger Moondragon ended up losing her mind and , for a time, becoming a conquest-seeking villain. When her own father, Drax, attempted to subdue her, she killed him, before being defeated by the Avengers and, later on, redeemed.

In 1985, Rocket received his own four-issue mini-series(May-Aug.), as the end of which the “Loonies” of Halfworld are cured of their illnesses, and Rocket and the other animals take off into space for their own adventures.  He would go on, in subsequent years, to make a couple of guest appearances in Quasar #15 in 1990 and Sensational She-Hulk #44-46 in 1992, but that was all for a long time.

1985: Nebula

Meanwhile, the character of Nebula first appeared in Avengers # 257 (Jul. 1985) by Roger Stern & John Buscema. She is a space pirate who has taken over Thanos’ old ship, Sanctuary II, and, claiming to be his granddaughter, uses it to systematically take over pieces of the Skrull empire and massacre Xandar. After being stopped by the Avengers, she would continue to pop up in their magazine as a recurring villain.

1989: Quasar

In the first two issues of his own series (Oct.-Nov. 1989) by Mark Gruenwald & Paul Ryan, Quasar learns from the cosmic entity Eon that the bands he wears were originally intended for the now-deceased Captain Marvel, designated by Eon as the Protector of the Universe. Quasar is offered the chance to succeed him in this role, and accepts, hence gaining more power than ever before.

1990-1991: Thanos’ return and The Infinity Gauntlet
Writer Jim Starlin again brought back Thanos in the pages of Silver Surfer #34 (Feb. 1990) where Thanos was resurrected by Death herself, in order to fulfill her plans for massive genocide. In the following issue, to combat him, Drax is resurrected by Kronos to defeat Thanos,  although he retains brain damage done to him by his daughter, and is thenceforth portrayed as a dull-witted character. While Thanos continued to appear in Silver Surfer, he also got his own two-issue mini-series called The Thanos Quest, in which he collects the Infinity Gems from around the galaxy (including a run-in with the Collector).

This led into the 1991 Marvel-Universe-wide crossover event, The Infinity Gauntlet by Starlin & George Perez. In this story, Thanos unites the gems on his own gauntlet, wipes out half the life in the universe, and maims Nebula for her claims of being his granddaughter. The Surfer travels to “Soulworld,” where Adam Warlock now inhabits, and convinces him to return.  His consciousness, as well as those of Gamora and Pip, are placed in the bodies of three people recently killed in a car accident, whose bodies then morph into their new owners’ forms.
                Once again, Thanos turns himself into a cosmic supreme being, but the object which made him so is taken by another, in this case Nebula, who reverses the effect. The good guys battle Nebula, and Warlock gains the gauntlet, restoring the lost life back to the universe. Thanos, apparently changed by the experience, leaves to live in seclusion, no longer willing to destroy or control life.
              
1992: Korath & The Infinity Watch

Quasar #32 (Mar. 1992) would introduce Korath the Pursuer, a Kree agent who uses cybernetic enhancements of his own design to hunt his prey. Like Ronan, he would continually pop up around the Marvel Universe as a villanous presence in the coming years.

Nebula, for her part, would go on to be a recurring villain for Silver Surfer, at one point being turned into a cyborg form (which we see her as in the movie) in Silver Surfer #69-73 [Jul.-Oct. 1992).

In addition to two massive crossover sequels (The Infinity War in 1992, and The Infinity Crusade in 1993), The Infinity Gauntlet also led into the new series, Warlock and the Infinity Watch, in which Warlock is forced to divide the power of the six gems amongst five other people, including Gamora, Pip, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon who form their own cosmic superhero team. Warlock keeps secret that Thanos is initially the sixth member of the team, until he leaves. After they welcome a new member, Maxam, Gamora leaves the team. The series coincided with other appearanecs of the characters in things such as the six-issue Warlock (1992), Silver Surfer/Warlock: Ressurection (1993), and The Warlock Chronicles ('93-'94). The Infinity Watch ended with issue #42 in Aug. 1995, with the gems lost to a parallel universe, and team disbanding.  In the intercompany crossover Ultraforce/Avengers, (1995), Adam manages to return the gems  to the Marvel Universe.
 
1995-2003: Keeping Up With the Characters
Warlock and Thanos both made sporadic appearances throughout the Marvel Universe. Thanos, for his part, seemed unable to be reformed permanently, and soon continued on his quests to rule the universe and court death.

A new Star-Lord mini-series, featuring a new character taking up the mantle, was published, written by Timothy Zahn, from 1996-1997, running only three issues. This featured a new character, Sinjin Quarrell, discovering Ship having crash-landed on his planet, and with a damaged memory. He becomes the new Star-Lord, and helps her search for Quill while having his own adventures.

Warlock and Drax would both reappear in the 4-issue mini-series Warlock (1998-1999). Drax would go on to guest-star in the new Captain Marvel’s series (#4-6) in 2001, at the end of which he was transported to a pocket universe where, apparently, he found peace.

In the 2002 mini-series Infinity Abyss , Thanos helps a gathering of heroes defeat a group of clones he himself had once created At the end of that series, Gamora and Warlock, having become a couple, depart into a pocket universe to help raise a cosmically powerful child, Atleza.

In the 2003 mini-series The End, Thanos once again saves the day, saving Earth from a powerful ancient pharaoh named Akhenaten who wields an ancient power called The Heart fo the Universe Then, upon gaining universal power from the Heart, chooses to sacrifice himself (if said death is only temporary) to save the universe. Apparently changed once more, he again gives up his old ways for a better path.

2004: Revamping Old Characters

Keith Giffen seems to have made really made the moves which built the groundwork for the new Guardian sof the Galaxy series.That build-up seems to have begun with the 12 issue mini-series Thanos (Dec. 2003-Sept. 2004), consisting of two six-issue stories, the latter written by Giffen. In that story, Thanos finds himself on the interplanetary prison Kyln, where encounters both the Shi’Ar (another interplanetary empire, for you non-X-Men fans) warrior Gladiator and Peter Quill. Quill, now in his forties, refuses to still be called Star Lord. He reveals that, although he imprisoned the villainous former herald of Galactus known as The Fallen One, he killed 350,000 people doing it, and has been imprisoned for that crime. That being escapes, but is hunted down by Thanos, while Gladiator conscripts Star-Lord into service for the Shi’Ar to track down Thanos.

From 2005 to 2006, Drax received his own mini-series written by Giffen. Despite the events in Captain Marvel, he is now on a prison ship, accused, with several others, of murdering thousands of Skrulls. When the ship crashes on Earth, he battles his fellow inmates to save a new human friend. He is apparently killed in battle, but is then born again with a new appearance (resembling that seen in the film), and increased intelligence. At the end, however, he is captured and taken to the Kyln.

Giffen was also writing the short-lived series Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos, about a group of paranormal monster-like beings formed as a SHIELD team.  in issue #4 (Mar. 2006), after forty-six years,  Groot himself made a new appearance. Having apparently survived his ordeal long ago, is captured and briefly joins the team.

2006-2007: Annihilation

The Annihilation mini-series at first consisted of a one-shot prologue, then four lead-in miniseries focusing on the characters Silver Surfer, Super Skrull, Nova, and Ronan the Accuser.
                The series itself (Oct. 2006-Mar. 2007), by Keith Giffen & Andrea Di Vito, tells of an army of Annihilus, called the Annihilation wave, to conquer our universe, apparently with the help of Thanos (honestly, at this point, I’ve lost track of this guy's motivations). Richard Rider is the central character, while Peter Quill is something of a witty sidekick for him. Gamora is also featured as having left Adam Warlock, and once again become a ruthless assassin. Drax is released from the Kyln and manages to kill Thanos. Before the wave is ultimately repelled, Annihilus kills Quasar. The bands are taken by the original Captain Marvel’s daughter, Phylla-Vell, who from then on, becomes the new Quasar.
(Although Phylla-Vell would go on to be a founding member of the Guardians, given the already-lengthy nature of this article, and the fact that she is not a character in the movie, I don't think my audience will mind my condensing her history to this sentence).

The series ended up getting Nova his own series again (in which the original Quasar was resurrected as an incorporeal energy being), and was popular enough to merit a sequel.

2008: Annihilation: Conquest

Annihilation: Conquest (Jan.-Jun. 2008)  by writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and artist Tom Raney,  focused on the cybernetic race The Phalanx (an X-Men villain) picking up where the Annihilation Wave left off, led by Avengers villain Ultron on a quest for domination. The series once again began with a prologue issue, and a group of lead-in mini-series: Star-Lord, Quasar, and Wraith, as well as four issues of Nova’s own series.

In this series, the universe has been torn apart, with Ronan now ruling a badly damaged Kree Empire, and Peter Quill trying to help him maintain it.
In Star-Lord’s mini-series, we see in detail his battle against The Fallen One, in which Ship was killed, and Quill himself was imprisoned by the Nova Corps. Now, Quill is forced by the Kree to lead a ragtag team against the universal invasion by the villain Phalanx, and convince d by Ronan to take back up the mantle of Star-Lord as he does it. This particular team consists of Groot, Rocket Raccoon, and three other characters we have not gotten into: Mantis, Bug, Captain Universe, and Deathcry. 

One of these characters here who would go on to be important in the actual Guardians series is Mantis. Like Phylla-Vell, we will have to simply sum up. This is such a complicated history, it will have to suffice to say she was a former Avenger in the 1970s issues, an Earth woman who was raised in Vietnam by a sect of the Kree, was revealed to be destine to become a powerful being called “the Celestial Madonna,” with numerous superhuman capabilities, and ultimately had several cosmic adventures.

To the dismay of Quill, some join the group simply because of the legend of Star-Lord. Groot still talks of being the monarch of Planet X, but it seems he may be the last of his kind. He and Rocket have also bonded, as he allows Rocket to ride on him much of the time. He also speaks in full sentences, not yet only stating his famous line “I am Groot.” The elements of a dysfunctional group were already present, and before the main series even starts, one member of the team, Captain Universe, manages to kill another, Deathcry in self-defense. In the Conquest series itself, Adam Warlock also comes back into the fray, as do Gamora and Drax, to help defeat Ultron and the Phalanx.

2008: Guardians of the Galaxy

                Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (May 2008) featured Peter Quill, in the aftermath of the Phalanx invasion, deciding that a new team should be formed to protect the universe from such future crises. The original line-up that he gathered was: Adam Warlock, Drax, Gamora, the new Quasar, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot, with Mantis also appearing in the series.

And there you have it. Clearly, this roster would change, to where it became the team you see in the movie, and even that lineup has now been added to There are still other characters from around the Marvel Universe who have joined, and who I have not described. Nevertheless, I think we have presented here the information necessary to dive into this series, or to be well-informed on going to see the movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy initially ran for just 25 issues, from 2008 to 2010. It crossed over with mini-series like War of Kings, Realm of Kings, and The Thanos Imperitive (which saw the return of Thanos, again!)
Although the series only ran briefly, it seems Marvel really didn’t want to give up on it. I think the company really saw it as the culmination of all their cosmic storylines, a series that united, and was able to tell stories of, all these many different legacies they’d developed over so many decades. To that end, the team has appeared in several different Marvel animated series, and now, of course, has it’s own feature film. It seems Marvel Studios sees it as the perfect thing to, after a billion superhero movies, bring that side of Marvel to the screen. No doubt encouraged by the interest in the movie, the series was started again in April 2013, and runs to this day.

I have to say, it has never been this much work to understand the comics behind one movie. It was no doubt a challenge to take a history that vast, and make a concise motion picture around it. Hence, you will see a lot of liberties taken with the team, particularly Star-Lord. Nevertheless, it looks like writer/director James Gunn and crew have done their best to take all these wonderful histories, and bring  a version of it to the screen for us all to enjoy!

Guardians of the Galaxy is released nationwide on August 01^st.