Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
"They might call themselves the "Guardians of the Galaxy," but a "bunch of a-holes" also seems fitting."
The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional spacefaring superhero team that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett andAndy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster ofStar-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar, Adam Warlock, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot.
These Guardians first appeared in "Annihilation: Conquest" #6 (April 2008). A feature film based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is scheduled to be released in 2017. This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following theoriginal team created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan in 1969.
The team first appeared in the partial reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes with issue #18 (Jan. 1969), written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan.[1] They appeared sporadically in several Marvel titles, such as Marvel Two-In-One #4–5 (July–Sept. 1974) and Giant Size Defenders #5 andDefenders #26–29 (July–Nov. 1975). In each case, other heroes such asCaptain America, the Thing, and the Defenders aid them in their war against the alien Badoon.
The Guardians were next featured in Marvel Presents #3–12 (Feb. 1976 – Aug. 1977). This was followed by a series of appearances in Thor Annual #6 (1977), The Avengers #167–177 (Jan.–Nov. 1978) and #181 (March 1979),Ms. Marvel #23, Marvel Team-Up #86 (Oct. 1979), and Marvel Two-in-One#61-#63 & #69 (Nov. 1980).
In the early 1990s, the Guardians starred in a self-titled comic that ran for 62 issues. This series was initially written and illustrated by Jim Valentino. With issue #29 (Oct. 1992) Michael Gallagher commenced writing the title, and continued until its cancellation with issue #62 (July 1995). A spin-off four-issue miniseries, Galactic Guardians (July–Oct. 1994), followed.
A second volume was published in May 2008, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The title, set in a different timeline, features a new team, drawn from participants in the Annihilation: Conquest storyline.[2] The 1969 team made guest appearances in #12–17 and #25.
A new ongoing series starring the original Guardians, titled Guardians 3000 and written by Abnett, launched in 2014.[3]
During their second mission, the team that was to become the Earth-616 incarnation of the Guardians discover a time displaced Vance Astro in a block of ice floating in space. It is his introduction as "Major Victory of the Guardians of the Galaxy" that inspires the team to take up the name. In #7 and #16 of the series, it was revealed a great "error" in the present day has caused the future to be destroyed—Starhawk is constantly trying to prevent it by time travel, causing the future (and the Guardians) to be altered. Only Starhawk, who is changed with each reboot but is "one who knows" about the changes, realizes anything is different, but each change still ends in a cataclysm. In #17, the Guardians' future was a universe where only a small portion remained undestroyed, which had been taken over by the Badoon. A warning was sent to the present day, though at the cost of the universe being ended.
The Vance Astro of the modern-day Guardians is revealed to be a Major Victory from one of these altered futures, rather than the original. A second potential Vance Astro appears in #17.
In #18, a third version of the Guardians' future was shown: this time led by Killraven against the Martians.