Today, the Guardians of the Galaxy are some of the most iconic characters within Marvel Comics’ pantheon of superheroes. That wasn’t always the case. It was thanks to the arrival of writing/artist duo Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning that the formerly niche Guardians would receive a new lease on life. This eventually caught the eye of the burgeoning Marvel Studios. The Guardians of the Galaxy were originally introduced to comic readers in the late sixties as a rag-tag group of aliens in Marvel’s far-flung future. The group was caught in a battle against the vicious alien race known as the Badoon. However, the Guardians that fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would come to know, and love would not form until the summer of 2007-08.
Abnett and Lanning’s Guardians outfit were merely a “modern” iteration of the team that positioned themselves “firmly” within the shared nature of the Marvel Universe. Kickstarted in the wake of the fan-favorite Annihilation crossover event, these Guardians were formed by half-human / half-alien Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord. The group included the likes of underrated cosmic heavy hitters Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Adam Warlock, Mantis, and many others who would cross paths with the team.
While The Avengers and Fantastic Four deal with supervillains on planet Earth, Abnett and Lanning’s Guardians title focused on threats on a cosmic level. These threats ranged from the Negative Zone tyrant Blastarr to the religious faction The Universal Church of Truth.
While their general designs may be similar, it’s key to keep in mind that the characteristics and personalities of these versions of Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy are vastly different than that of their MCU counterparts. Other Guardians’ creative runs have come and gone since, but Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Guardians of the Galaxy offers some of the best space opera action and adventure Marvel Comics has produced in years.
The 25-issue comic series even managed to tie in with now-classic Marvel events such as Secret Invasion, War of Kings, and The Thanos Imperative. Abnett and Lanning’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, alongside their other Marvel works, are readily available on the online Marvel Unlimited subscription service. Check out a trailer for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 below.
