Marvel Origins: Guardians of the Galaxy

As Marvel Studios continues to wow and thrill audiences of all ages with a myriad of live-action films, there remain countless stories within the vastly infinite Marvel Universe that have yet to be told. And speaking of universes, some of Marvel's best-received heroes have been those of a cosmic, intergalactic nature, from The Fantastic Four to The Silver Surfer. Although the latter is rumored to be getting his own flick sometime in 2012, fans would no doubt enjoy a host of action-packed, silver screen adventures spanning the scope of the galaxy. Perhaps a perfect choice would be one of Marvel's relatively unheard of bands of interstellar freedom fighters known as The Guardians of the Galaxy.

The originals Guardians first appeared in a January 1969 issue of Marvel Super-Heroes penned by author Arnold Drake and brought to life by artist Gene Colan. Subsequent appearances throughout other Marvel publications were sporadic at best, as heroes such as Captain America and the Fantastic Four's The Thing often aided them in their epic battles against the evil alien race known as the Badoon. However, during the 1970s, the team gained more substantial recognition via their guest appearances in acclaimed titles such as Thor (Annual issue #6) and Avengers (issues #167-177, Jan.-Nov. 1978 and issue #181, March 1981) (Publication History: www.wikipedia.org). By the 1990s, the entire series had been completely revamped and successfully ran for sixty-two issues, with writer/artist Jim Valentino at the helm. Valentino would eventually hand the reins off to writer Michael Gallagher, who penned fantastical storyline from issue #29 (Oct. 1992) until the series unfortunate cancellation in July 1995.

Based in the 31^st Century, the tale of the Guardians certainly makes ground for classic science fiction adventure, particularly considering they exist and operate within an "alternate future." Marvel Universe author Peter Sanderson comments, "In this era humans had colonized other planets in the solar system and even Alpha Centauri's, but Earth's entire interplanetary empire fell before the Badoon, a warlike race of sentient reptiles." (Abradale Publishers: 1996, p. 176). During this violent time of uncertainty and turmoil, 20^th Century astronaut Vance Astro emerged as a hero and noble leader, attributing his ideals to his childhood icon: Captain America. Astro soon formed a "small band of freedom fighters to liberate Earth" (Sanderson, 176) and confront the Badoon head on. It is here that the original Guardians of the Galaxy came together.

Although members have fluctuated and changed over the years, the classic team of the 1990s remains one of the most successful. Under the authorship of Valentino, it ran for an amazing five years. Much like Alpha Flight of the 1980s, the Guardians of the Galaxy were unique in comparison to other superhero teams of the day, largely due to their member diversity: Charlie-27 was a "human who had genetic alterations that gave him enough superhuman strength to live under Jupiter's heavy gravity..." (Sanderson, 176); Starhawk, as if stuck in a bad episode of The Twilight Zone, found himself continuously caught in an unending time loop, one which causes him to repeatedly live his life over and over again; Alexa, former wife and foster sister of Starhawk, possessed the innate ability to manipulate light energy in all its various forms; Martinex, though human in physical form, had been genetically altered to survive in Pluto's frigid climate and thus resembled Ice-Man of the Uncanny X-Men; Nikki, who had also been genetically altered and was designed to survive in the penetrating heat of Mercury; the blue-skinned, archer alien known as Yondu, often seen wielding a golden bow and arrow that does not require the use of a string or rope; and finally astronaut Vance Astro, who would eventually join the New Warriors under the moniker of Justice.

The origin story of the original Guardians centered on space militia pilot Charlie-27 returning to Earth after an extended tour of duty, and finding the entire planet overtaken by the Badoon. After narrowly escaping the clutches of the evil alien race, he winds up transporting himself to the surface of Pluto, where he meets and subsequently joins forces with the alien Martinex. And the rest, as they say, is history.

After the eventual defeat of the Badoon, series writers introduced readers to a new arch nemesis: Korvac (aka Michael Korvac or Korvac the Enemy), a computer technician born on the Blue Area of Earth's moon in an alternate Earth timeline in the year 2997. The Guardians would eventually be forced to team with The Mighty Avengers in a desperate attempt to battle against Korvac's cosmic powers. During the 1979 run of Avengers #181, the beloved team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes swelled to their greatest numbers, due completely to the interstellar war against Korvac. Scientist Hank McCoy (aka the Beast) of the X-Men even united with the Avengers and the Guardians.

With such diversity and interstellar adventures, who wouldn't want to see the Guardians of the Galaxy make a silver screen debut? Not to mention, their narrative could easily be written into the backstory of the upcoming Avengers film, slated to release in 2012.