ROGUES' Gallery

A new book charts the Guardians Of The Galaxy’s evolution from their barely recognisable origins to the spacefaring rebels we know today. Total Film takes a gander at the comic characters’ key moments. The Guardians made their debut in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, with a line-up almost unrecognisable to anyone who’s only familiar with the 2014 film. Set in the 31st Century when Earth has colonised the far reaches of the solar system, the comics were populated by characters such as Charlie-27, Martinex T’Naga, Major Vance Astro and Yondu Udonta (that name sounds familiar…). In some stories, they did at least team up with familiar faces in the form of time travellers such as Captain America and the Thing. This 1977 comic cover (above) by Al Milgrom plays up the sci-fi stylings, homaging the ’40s covers of Marvel artist Alex Schomburg. The team didn’t get a comic to call their own (below) until they relaunched in 1990, after a quiet decade. The line-up included Vance, Martinex, Charlie, Starhawk (a half-human, half-AI with precognitive abilities), Nikki (a Mercury dweller with flame hair), and Yondu, who sports a large Mohawk-style fin here that’s echoed in movie sequel Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. “I have the biggest fin because I’m the coolest dude,” boasts Michael Rooker, who plays Yondu. “You will see, in the process of the film, how that comes about.” After a major relaunch in 2008, the Guardians were revitalised with a team comprising a bunch of characters who’ll be familiar to film fans, including Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Groot, plus the likes of Adam Warlock, Quasar and more to follow. By the time Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven began their celebrated run, the five central characters coincide precisely with the ones we meet in the film, as seen in this art from the first issue of the comics’ Vol. 3 in May 2013 (above).