Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team)

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Adam Warlock, and Phyla-Vell. They first appeared in Annihilation: Conquest #6 (April 2008).

A feature film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was released in 2017, and the team has also been featured in the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Thor: Love and Thunder, as well as the Disney+ The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (both 2022) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following the original team created by Arnold Drake, Roy Thomas and Stan Lee in 1969.

Publication history

The second volume of the title was published in May 2008, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and featured a new team of characters from the Annihilation: Conquest storyline.[1][2]

Abnett and Lanning's work on the Annihilation: Conquest story laid the foundation for the new Guardians of the Galaxy book that they had been wanting to launch for some time.[3] Editor Bill Rosemann, who had also edited Annihilation: Conquest, provided more background: "As the planning of 'Annihilation: Conquest' came together, it occurred to us that, if things went well, there would be a group of characters left standing who would make for a very interesting and fun team." It also provided the motivation the team would need, as "on the heels of two back-to-back wars, they're out to prevent any new Annihilation-size disasters from erupting."[4]

Team history

In the aftermath of the Phalanx invasion of the Kree, Star-Lord[25] decides to form a team of interstellar heroes that will be proactive in protecting the galaxy, rather than reacting to crises as they happen. To this end, he recruits Adam Warlock,[26] Drax the Destroyer,[27] Gamora,[27] Phyla-Vell (the new Quasar),[28] Rocket Raccoon,[29]

Members

Reception

Other versions

During the "Secret Wars" storyline in the domain of King James' England (which is based on the Marvel 1602 reality), the Guardians of the Galaxy have a counterpart here named the Gardiner's Men. They are a troupe of performers consisting of Madam Gomorrah, Peadar O'Cuill, Arthur Dubhghlas, Goodman Root, and Aroughcun the Raccoon. Angela later befriended them when she helped to fight off attacking beasts.[60]

In another story, "Baby Thanos", other team members appeared with Cable instead of Star-Lord from the resurrected and remade universe where they became "Punisher Universe". But there were other team members as well, where there were Peni Parker, Wolverine, Kamala Khan (Captain Marvel), Juggernaut (Juggerduck), Cloak and Dagger, Iron Groot, and others heroes. All were killed by Frank Castle in order to protect the infant Thanos.[61]

In other media

Collected editions

External links

• Guardians of the Galaxy at Marvel Wiki
• Guardians of the Galaxy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016.