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Guardians of the Galaxy Epic Collection
Guardians of the Galaxy Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Earth Shall Overcome
Welcome to the 31st century! A thousand years from now, Vance Astro, Yondu, Martinex and Charlie-27 - the original Guardians of the Galaxy - rise to retake the Solar System from reptilian raiders! And soon, the greatest heroes of the present day - Captain America, Doctor Strange, the Thing, the Hulk and more - will join the Guardians in the future's greatest war! Then, as the Guardians help society rebuild, threats arise from two worlds: one of them living, the other gone mad! The Guardians meet the flame-haired Nikki and the mysterious, all-knowing Starhawk, and the team faces a baptism of fire! Plus: Thor lends a hand against the all-powerful man-machine called Korvac!
Collecting MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1967) #18, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #4-5, GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #5, DEFENDERS (1972) #26-29, MARVEL PRESENTS #3-12 and THOR ANNUAL #6.
Collecting MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1967) #18, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #4-5, GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #5, DEFENDERS (1972) #26-29, MARVEL PRESENTS #3-12 and THOR ANNUAL #6.
408 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2023
11 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Steve Gerber
637 books65 followersSteve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men,
The Phantom Zone
, and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 30, 2023
Ah these were the GOTG I remember. Great collection of all their early adventures. Very recommended
January 7, 2024
I have an ongoing frustration with the Guardians of the Galaxy. I love the idea of them, but for the most part, I have not truly enjoyed the actual stories that have been written for them.
I should also say that, while the world knows the GotG as Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket, that's never been my GotG line up. Mine was always Major Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, Yondu, Nikki, and Starhawk.
Which brings me to this collection. Unfortunately, while there was some brilliant stuff coming out of Marvel in the mid-to-late 70s, there was also an awful lot of crap. And unfortunately Steve Gerber produced more than his fair share of it. The storyline presented here is...well, it's a hot mess. Gerber does a trial run of his Omega the Unknown character with Starhawk who constantly says something along the lines of "Take the word...of One Who Knows!" but never explains how one happens to know. And when it came to providing the origin of the One Who Knows, he started it, then handed the entire mess over to Roger Stern with the admission that he really didn't know where he was going with it.
Which is the central problem, right? Someone who doesn't know what he's doing is writing a character who's defining characteristic is to be the One Who Knows.
Gerber's other problem is, despite having an entire universe as his sandbox, he rarely plays with anything that doesn't seem to tie back tightly to NYC. The imagination just wasn't there.
Roger Stern fairs a little better, steering the storyline away from hamfisted social commentary and Really! Deep! Stories! about very little toward more of a space opera.
I do think, had Stern had more time, he probably could have turned this iteration of the GotG into something fantastic. Unfortunately, he'd taken over a ship that Gerber had purposefully and wantonly kicked holes in.
I'll never understand why Marvel thought their Steves...Gerber or Englehart...were good at cosmic, galaxy spanning stories. They weren't.
I should also say that, while the world knows the GotG as Star Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket, that's never been my GotG line up. Mine was always Major Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, Yondu, Nikki, and Starhawk.
Which brings me to this collection. Unfortunately, while there was some brilliant stuff coming out of Marvel in the mid-to-late 70s, there was also an awful lot of crap. And unfortunately Steve Gerber produced more than his fair share of it. The storyline presented here is...well, it's a hot mess. Gerber does a trial run of his Omega the Unknown character with Starhawk who constantly says something along the lines of "Take the word...of One Who Knows!" but never explains how one happens to know. And when it came to providing the origin of the One Who Knows, he started it, then handed the entire mess over to Roger Stern with the admission that he really didn't know where he was going with it.
Which is the central problem, right? Someone who doesn't know what he's doing is writing a character who's defining characteristic is to be the One Who Knows.
Gerber's other problem is, despite having an entire universe as his sandbox, he rarely plays with anything that doesn't seem to tie back tightly to NYC. The imagination just wasn't there.
Roger Stern fairs a little better, steering the storyline away from hamfisted social commentary and Really! Deep! Stories! about very little toward more of a space opera.
I do think, had Stern had more time, he probably could have turned this iteration of the GotG into something fantastic. Unfortunately, he'd taken over a ship that Gerber had purposefully and wantonly kicked holes in.
I'll never understand why Marvel thought their Steves...Gerber or Englehart...were good at cosmic, galaxy spanning stories. They weren't.
June 21, 2025
As a kid the individual comics that are collected in this compilation charged my imagination in ways that only a few other comics did. There was the Fantastic Four and Kamandi (and maybe OMAC), but the Guardians of the Galaxy had something those others didn't have, or rather they didn’t have something those others had. They didn't have a regular comic series. There was nothing like not having a regular diet of something to fuel the hunger for more. These stories created a future history for the Marvel Universe that loosely tied together the cybernetic nightmares of Astonishing Tales (see: Deathlok the Demolisher!: The Complete Collection) and the Amazing Adventures of revolutionaries fighting off Martian invaders (see: Killraven Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Warrior of the Worlds) and only left me wanting more and more. Whether it was a visit from the Thing, Captain America and SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter or the help of the entire non-team of the Defenders, the Guardians of the Galaxy were going to free their future earth from the fascist Badoon or they were going to die trying. But the biggest threat would come only after they actually succeeded! Today's readers might be disappointed that there is no Starlord, Rocket Raccoon or Groot in these pages, but this was the original version of the Guardians of the Galaxy and those cinematic characters wouldn't be created for some years after these original Guardians had appeared and saved their future galaxy from the Badoon, and the likes of the Topographical Man and Arcturian Reavers.
Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (also reprinted with some heavy editing in Astonishing Tales #29) - This classic origin story introduces Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu and Major Vance Astro, as well as their quest to free humanity from the crushing, totalitarian rule by the oppressive Badoon in this dystopian future version of the Marvel Universe. It may not be the most auspicious debut, but co-creators Arnold Drake and Gene Colan certainly put their heart into it (3/5).
Marvel Two-In-One #4-5 - Five years after their first and only appearance, the story picks up with the Fantastic Four lending a hand, or at least a time machine, to send living legend Captain America, SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter and Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, into the future to offer assistance in defeating earth’s reptilian conquers. Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema do their best to generate some interest in these all but forgotten heroes of the future. This 2-part story got me to pick up this team-up series, and kept me buying Marvel Two-In-One on a regular basis long after it was over. And it also made me a life long fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy (4/5).
Giant-Size Defenders #5 - This next “chapter” in the Guardians of the Galaxy saga was also a prologue, of sorts, to the sequence that would end their initial quest. And it took almost a year to see the light of day. Gerber returned and Don Heck provided the artwork, but as Heck has never been a particular favorite of mine, this story didn’t grab me as much as the others did. Gerber’s usual sense of the absurd is present and the cliff-hanger surprise ending goes a long way to overcoming any shortcomings in the artistic department, although to be fair as I’m looking back on this now (many years later) it’s a lot better than I gave it credit for in my youth. The early mainstays of the non-team (Doctor Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie and Nighthawk) are present and all have interesting contributions to make, and it never once feels overcrowded with heroes (3/5).
Defenders #26-29 - The follow-up story picks up right where the Giant-Size issue ended and quickly propels the Defenders into the dystopian future to aid their new friends in defeating the Badoon. Buscema is back and Gerber is completing the story arc he’d already begun. This a wonderful 4-part adventure that is a great example of how good this era of the Defenders was, and we get the introduction to the character, and mystery, of Starhawk in these pages as well. And while the ending is abrupt and just what seems like it was supposed to be an epic that could have been twice as long, it makes sense that the Defenders shouldn’t be present at the actual liberation of Earth from the big bad Badoon (4/5).
Marvel Presents #3-7 - Finally the original Guardians star in their own (short lived) series. We get more details about the Starhawk/Aleta mystery/relationship and the arrival of Nikki, to round out the team. And it all kicks off with the final victory over of the Badoon. Gerber continues as writer and Al Milgrom joins as regular artist. While in later years, I wouldn’t think much of Milgrom’s sense of style (rushed? Sloppy?), in these pages he’s still doing a nice job and the diverse inkers offer some interesting takes and twists on his style. This story arc didn’t quite thrill me that much, but I still enjoyed it as I was first reading it. Now, reading it for the third or fourth time, I’m not as enthralled, but it is nice having it all in one collection. And it works better like this than stretched out in single issues for well over half a year (4/5).
Marvel Presents #8 - Even with only having to put out an issue every other month, this series still couldn’t meet the deadlines. This issue is a fill-in reprint. The material here, aside from the framing sequence (from writer Roger Stern), comes from the pages of Silver Surfer #2 (sept 1968) by Stan Lee & John Buscema, and it offers a heavily edited version of the first appearance of the Badoon (3/5).
Marvel Presents #9 - This one is the last issue by Gerber and it begins the backstory for Starhawk/Aleta (3/5).
Marvel Presents #10-12 - For these issues, Stern returns as the regular writer and he picks up the backstory of Starhawk/Aleta and threads of the ongoing storyline and, for what it’s worth, runs with it (3/5).
Thor Annual #6 - The last story in this collection, written by Len Wein and Stern, offers art by Sal Buscema and a story that bridges the gap between the Guardians own series from Marvel Presents and their upcoming appearances in the pages of the Avengers. This story also reintroduces the villainous Korvac (originally from Giant-Size Defenders #3) who will, spoiler alert, nearly defeat the Avengers in Avengers the Korvac Saga (4/5).
For this overall collection, I’m going to have to give it a booster star. Primarily because of nostalgia, as I was enthralled with these issues when they were originally being published.
Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (also reprinted with some heavy editing in Astonishing Tales #29) - This classic origin story introduces Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu and Major Vance Astro, as well as their quest to free humanity from the crushing, totalitarian rule by the oppressive Badoon in this dystopian future version of the Marvel Universe. It may not be the most auspicious debut, but co-creators Arnold Drake and Gene Colan certainly put their heart into it (3/5).
Marvel Two-In-One #4-5 - Five years after their first and only appearance, the story picks up with the Fantastic Four lending a hand, or at least a time machine, to send living legend Captain America, SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter and Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, into the future to offer assistance in defeating earth’s reptilian conquers. Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema do their best to generate some interest in these all but forgotten heroes of the future. This 2-part story got me to pick up this team-up series, and kept me buying Marvel Two-In-One on a regular basis long after it was over. And it also made me a life long fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy (4/5).
Giant-Size Defenders #5 - This next “chapter” in the Guardians of the Galaxy saga was also a prologue, of sorts, to the sequence that would end their initial quest. And it took almost a year to see the light of day. Gerber returned and Don Heck provided the artwork, but as Heck has never been a particular favorite of mine, this story didn’t grab me as much as the others did. Gerber’s usual sense of the absurd is present and the cliff-hanger surprise ending goes a long way to overcoming any shortcomings in the artistic department, although to be fair as I’m looking back on this now (many years later) it’s a lot better than I gave it credit for in my youth. The early mainstays of the non-team (Doctor Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie and Nighthawk) are present and all have interesting contributions to make, and it never once feels overcrowded with heroes (3/5).
Defenders #26-29 - The follow-up story picks up right where the Giant-Size issue ended and quickly propels the Defenders into the dystopian future to aid their new friends in defeating the Badoon. Buscema is back and Gerber is completing the story arc he’d already begun. This a wonderful 4-part adventure that is a great example of how good this era of the Defenders was, and we get the introduction to the character, and mystery, of Starhawk in these pages as well. And while the ending is abrupt and just what seems like it was supposed to be an epic that could have been twice as long, it makes sense that the Defenders shouldn’t be present at the actual liberation of Earth from the big bad Badoon (4/5).
Marvel Presents #3-7 - Finally the original Guardians star in their own (short lived) series. We get more details about the Starhawk/Aleta mystery/relationship and the arrival of Nikki, to round out the team. And it all kicks off with the final victory over of the Badoon. Gerber continues as writer and Al Milgrom joins as regular artist. While in later years, I wouldn’t think much of Milgrom’s sense of style (rushed? Sloppy?), in these pages he’s still doing a nice job and the diverse inkers offer some interesting takes and twists on his style. This story arc didn’t quite thrill me that much, but I still enjoyed it as I was first reading it. Now, reading it for the third or fourth time, I’m not as enthralled, but it is nice having it all in one collection. And it works better like this than stretched out in single issues for well over half a year (4/5).
Marvel Presents #8 - Even with only having to put out an issue every other month, this series still couldn’t meet the deadlines. This issue is a fill-in reprint. The material here, aside from the framing sequence (from writer Roger Stern), comes from the pages of Silver Surfer #2 (sept 1968) by Stan Lee & John Buscema, and it offers a heavily edited version of the first appearance of the Badoon (3/5).
Marvel Presents #9 - This one is the last issue by Gerber and it begins the backstory for Starhawk/Aleta (3/5).
Marvel Presents #10-12 - For these issues, Stern returns as the regular writer and he picks up the backstory of Starhawk/Aleta and threads of the ongoing storyline and, for what it’s worth, runs with it (3/5).
Thor Annual #6 - The last story in this collection, written by Len Wein and Stern, offers art by Sal Buscema and a story that bridges the gap between the Guardians own series from Marvel Presents and their upcoming appearances in the pages of the Avengers. This story also reintroduces the villainous Korvac (originally from Giant-Size Defenders #3) who will, spoiler alert, nearly defeat the Avengers in Avengers the Korvac Saga (4/5).
For this overall collection, I’m going to have to give it a booster star. Primarily because of nostalgia, as I was enthralled with these issues when they were originally being published.
April 28, 2025
Hold onto your butts, this isn't your Guardians of the Galaxy, it's your dad's.
There is no Groots, or Rocket Raccoons, or Star-Lords here. This is a completely different concept for the Guardians and not just in character, but even in tone. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, except instead of the future being bright and hopeful, mostly everything sucks. The Guardians as they were originally concieved are a group of freedom fighters 1000 years in the future where an alien race has decimated the human race and completely wiped out the colonies of the solar system except for one character each who are your Guardians. Here we have Martinex, sole survivor of Pluto, Charlie-27, ditto for Jupiter. We have Yondo sole alien survivor of a planet in Alpha Centauri, and Major Victory, time lost astronaut from a thousand years in the past. He's basically Captain America, if Cap was a real jerk 90 % of the time.
I was genuinely shocked at how much I enjoyed this. I was not expecting she sheer amount trauma that is in this. The first third of this or so is a bunch of guest starring issues until they get their own feature for more than a year in the back half.
Mostly this is written by Steve Gerber, who I realized I have criminally not read as much as I would have liked of. The Guardians were created by a fellow named Arnold Drake who only did the one issue of and I had never heard of before and finally this was finished off by Roger Stern, and in fact changed out mid storyline, which makes me think there is a story there behind the scenes.
So I would highly recommend this, just with managed expectations. This isn't the characters you may know from the movies, this isn't a quippy jokey story, it's borderline depressing at points.
There is no Groots, or Rocket Raccoons, or Star-Lords here. This is a completely different concept for the Guardians and not just in character, but even in tone. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, except instead of the future being bright and hopeful, mostly everything sucks. The Guardians as they were originally concieved are a group of freedom fighters 1000 years in the future where an alien race has decimated the human race and completely wiped out the colonies of the solar system except for one character each who are your Guardians. Here we have Martinex, sole survivor of Pluto, Charlie-27, ditto for Jupiter. We have Yondo sole alien survivor of a planet in Alpha Centauri, and Major Victory, time lost astronaut from a thousand years in the past. He's basically Captain America, if Cap was a real jerk 90 % of the time.
I was genuinely shocked at how much I enjoyed this. I was not expecting she sheer amount trauma that is in this. The first third of this or so is a bunch of guest starring issues until they get their own feature for more than a year in the back half.
Mostly this is written by Steve Gerber, who I realized I have criminally not read as much as I would have liked of. The Guardians were created by a fellow named Arnold Drake who only did the one issue of and I had never heard of before and finally this was finished off by Roger Stern, and in fact changed out mid storyline, which makes me think there is a story there behind the scenes.
So I would highly recommend this, just with managed expectations. This isn't the characters you may know from the movies, this isn't a quippy jokey story, it's borderline depressing at points.
July 26, 2023
So this is it. The start of the later named volume 1 of Guardians of the Galaxy. This first collection collects all the stories from 1967 till 1977 the original team appears in. And what a team it is. Totally different from the team we all know and love.
In here we see Charlie 27 (played by Vingh Rames in a cameo in GotG vol. 2), Martinex (played by Michael Rosenbaum in GotG vol. 2 & vol. 3), Yondu (played by Micheal Rooker in GotG vol. 1, vol. 2 & vol. 3) and Vance Astro (not yet in the MCU) fighting the Badoon (who shortly appeared in the terrible movie Thor The Dark World) in the year 3001. Later on they are joined by Nikki (not in the MCU) and Starhawk (Sylvester Stallone in GotG vol. 2 & vol. 3).
A lot of the stories is cameo stuff. Having the Guardians appear in other character comics. These stories are most of the time so-so and pretty dated, but in their own stories this is a wonderfull collection of crazy ideas and weirdness.
This is the third collection i read and my favourite until now. I rank this above Guardians of the Galaxy by Al Ewing (2020-2022) & Guardians of the Galaxy by Donny Cates (2019-2020).
In here we see Charlie 27 (played by Vingh Rames in a cameo in GotG vol. 2), Martinex (played by Michael Rosenbaum in GotG vol. 2 & vol. 3), Yondu (played by Micheal Rooker in GotG vol. 1, vol. 2 & vol. 3) and Vance Astro (not yet in the MCU) fighting the Badoon (who shortly appeared in the terrible movie Thor The Dark World) in the year 3001. Later on they are joined by Nikki (not in the MCU) and Starhawk (Sylvester Stallone in GotG vol. 2 & vol. 3).
A lot of the stories is cameo stuff. Having the Guardians appear in other character comics. These stories are most of the time so-so and pretty dated, but in their own stories this is a wonderfull collection of crazy ideas and weirdness.
This is the third collection i read and my favourite until now. I rank this above Guardians of the Galaxy by Al Ewing (2020-2022) & Guardians of the Galaxy by Donny Cates (2019-2020).
January 3, 2024
A solid bronze age title with the first fifteen issues being far better than the final four. Gene Colan and Arnold Drake provide a superb groundwork in their only issue with interesting characters I want to learn more about. Steve Gerber seamlessly continues the storyline set up in their debut issue across 3 different titles and it somehow remains coherent. Al Milgrom provides excellent art for the Marvel Presents issues. The weakest point is definitely the final four issues by Roger Stern which lack the weirdness that was Gerbers run. Sterns issues are very standard super heroics of the time and aren't very special. Overall its a fun book that's pretty consistent and I'm excited to see what the next epic has to show.
October 5, 2023
I remember reading "Marvel Super Heroes" when I was in middle school. The Guardians had everything a young superhero fan could want but, sadly, I did not see them again until college. I followed them as best I could through their adventures with Ben and Cap, the Defenders, and even with Thor, who wasn't a regular purchase. This volume ends with the first encounter with Korvac which will lead to one of the all time great Avengers storylines. Four stars for the comics, at least one star for the sentimental value. Thanks to Marvel for bringing back the true, original Guardians of the Galaxy.
May 18, 2023
Didn’t follow the Guardians we all know and love today so definitely lower your expectations. Still entertaining enough but the original members of the team weren’t super developed.
May 16, 2025
Star Wars before 1977. Fun.
March 26, 2025
This isn't the Guardians of the Galaxy that most of you are use to today from the movies. These are the original Guardians that lived in the 31st century. They were all from Earth colonies that had evolved to their environments giving them powers. The Badoon had killed the rest of the colonies off leaving them the lone survivors of each planet. The Badoon had also conquered the Earth which was the focus of their first several appearances. Eventually they got their own title for about 10 issues in the 70s. Steve Gerber wrote it giving the book a Star Trek feel to it. Even their spaceship looked like the Enterprise. It honestly wasn't all that good and the stories got better in the last few issues once Roger Stern took over. The book ends with the team fighting Korvak who became their main villain for awhile with a major story in the Avengers with the Korvak Saga. That gets collected in the 2nd volume.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews