Guardians of the Galaxy

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The Guardians of the Galaxy are fictional characters, a superhero team who are active in the 31st century, in an alternate future of the main Marvel Comics universe where genetically engineered humans had colonised the solar system. They initaially appeared in a story by Arnold Drake in Marvel Super Heroes #18, and first expanded upon by Steve Gerber in the pages of Marvel Two-in-One, Defenders and Marvel Presents.

The original members were:

Martinex T'Naga, a crystalline man from Pluto.
Major Vance Astro an astronaut from 20th Century Earth who spent a thousand years travelling to Alpha Centauri in suspended animation.
Captain Charlie-27, a militiaman from Jupiter.
Yondu Udonta, a blue-skinned "noble savage" from Beta Centauri IV.

Each were supposedly the last of their kind and were forced to become a team due to the actions of the Badoon, a reptilian alien race which sought to rule Earth's solar system.

Eventually the team, after the occasional guest appearance by regular Marvel heroes like the Defenders, defeated the Badoon. This allowed them to travel across the galaxy where they gained new members Starhawk and Nikki.

They would eventually become honorary Avengers when helping the team against Korvac. It was just after the Korvac Saga that Vance Astro would attempt to stop himself from becoming an astronaut by meeting his previous self. The feedback caused by Astro meeting himself resulted in the Guardians timeline separating from the main timeline, and cause the main timeline's Vance Astrovik to eventually join the New Warriors as Marvel Boy and then join the Avengers as Justice.

Other members of the Guardians are:

Aleta Ogord - once married and joined with Starhawk , can construct solid light objects.
Hollywood - Simon Williams, formerly known as Wonder Man.
Replica - a young Skrull.
Talon - cat-like Inhuman.
Giraud, aka Phoenix IX - a human male, hosting the Phoenix Force.

The Guardians had a 62-issue run starting in April, 1990 but when the series' original penciller/writer, Jim Valentino, was forced to leave Marvel midway through the title's life after working on his own comic for Image Comics, Shadowhawk, the title declined heavily in quality. What happened after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy #62 (July, 1995), where the team ends up in another future, one where the events which formed them never happened, has never been revealed.

Over the course of Valentino's run on the 1990s series, there were many references to the present day timeline of the Marvel Universe. In the first seven issues of the series, the Guardians were looking for the legendary shield of Captain America. The team was also searching for a missing colony of humans. This colony was eventually determined to be a group of mutants who had left Earth and had settled on another world. When the Guardians found the colony, they discovered a majority population of humans ruled by a very small minority of mutants. The ruler of the planet was a mutant female named Rancor, who possessed powers very similar to that of her ancestor, the mutant Wolverine.

In the course of the Avengers Forever 12-issue limited series, it was revealed that, in an alternate future where the Avengers became an army and conquered most of the galaxy, the Guardians of the Galaxy had become freedom fighters.

By 2005, Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 has given the numerical designation of the earth of both "Killraven" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" as Earth-691.

The Sonic Comic series included a tribute to The Guardians, with Sonic being Vance Astro.

External links

[Jim Valentino comments on his issues], and lays out his plans up to what would have been issue #51
[Marvel Directory entry]
[Guardians of the Worlds - Includes information about Guardians members]

Bibliography

Marvel Super-Heroes (volume 1) #18 (Marvel Comics; January 1969)
Marvel Two-In-One #4-5 (Marvel Comics; July 1974 - September 1974) (Capt. America and the Thing meet the GotG)
Astonishing Tales #29 (Marvel Comics; April 1975) (reprint of GotG origin from Marvel Super-Heroes #18)
Defenders Giant-Size #5 through Defenders #26-29 (Marvel Comics; July 1975 - November 1975) (Defenders and GotG vs. The Badoon)
Marvel Presents #3-12 (Marvel Comics; February 1976 - August 1977)
Thor Annual (volume 1) #6 (Marvel Comics; 1977) (Thor and GotG vs. Korvac)
Guardians of the Galaxy #1-62 (Marvel Comics; June 1990 - July 1995)
*Guardians of the Galaxy: Quest for the Shield TPB (reprinting GotG #1-6) (Marvel Comics; 1992)
*Guardians of the Galaxy Annuals 1-4 (Marvel Comics; 1991-1994)

Earth-691 (Marvel Comics)

Killraven - Guardians of the Galaxy

Aleta - Charlie-27 - Hollywood - the Keeper - Krugarr - Nikki - Vance Astro - Martinex - Phoenix IX - Replica - Spirit of Vengeance - Starhawk - Talon - Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara) - Yondu

Martians - Badoon - Korvac - Stark - Universal Church of Truth - Ripjak

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