When you think of the Guardians of the Galaxy? Who do you think of? Star-Lord? Rocket Raccoon? Gamora? Nebula? Groot? Drax? Mantis? Well, that's understandable. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has solidified then as the Guardians in the mainstream. And those characters themselves were rather obscure before the MCU made them big.
The Guardians of the Galaxy, however, did exist in another form. There was a version that debuted in 1969. This version was originally conceived by Roy Thomas. His concept was a group of superpowered guerilla fighters that fought to free the USA from an allied takeover by Russia and China. Stan Lee (then Marvel's editor-in-chief) approved the idea, but Thomas would give the idea to Arnold Drake, as Thomas himself was unable to write it. Drake and Lee conferenced, and the idea got changed into an intergalactic adventure, freeing Earth from alien occupation.
Their debut actually sold well, but they would not appear again until Marvel Two-in-One #5 (June 1974). The writer of that comic, Steve Gerber, was fond of the Guardians. He would use them again in his Defenders run (which also established that the Guardians' adventures were not only set in an alternate timeline from the mainstream Marvel Universe, but also set in the same timeline as Killraven). They would go on to star in the Marvel Presents series, until the series was cancelled. They would make appearances in various titles throughout the 1970s, but they would end up sitting out the 1980s. With the popularity of Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 1990s, the original Guardians would get their own self-titled series that lasted over 60 issues, and they would appear in the MCU film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
So, let's look at their humble beginnings in Marvel Super-Heroes Presents #18!
The cover is a Gene Colan and Mike Esposito piece. It's a basic cover, showing the original four Guardians: Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Martinex, and Yondu. The Guardians' appearances on this cover is fascinating to me. They look more like prototypes of the Guardians. Astro's suit is purple instead of the blue-and-white he would be associated with. Charlie-27's look would change over the years. And Yondu is orange. It feels...bizarre. The cover itself is not very dynamic, and it doesn't really preview the action we'll get inside.
"Earth Shall Overcome!"
Writer: Arnold Drake
Penciler: Gene Colan
Inker: Mike Esposito
Colorist: Stan Goldberg
Letterer: Herb Cooper
Editor: Stan Lee
Editor-in-Chief: Stan Lee
The story begins in the year 3007. War between nations on Earth has become a thing of the past. The Earth is now a peaceful planet. It also has spread humanity throughout the galaxy, forming the United Lands of Earth Federation, or U.L.E. Federation for short. We look in on space militiaman Charlie-27. He's a 5th-generation Jovian, or native of Jupiter. He's spent the last six months out in space, and he's heading to his home planet. However, his arrival is not greeted with cheering crowds and hugs from his family. In fact, a pair of hostile aliens is waiting to give him a much more...fatal welcome home.
Charlie-27 dispatches the two aliens, known as the Badoon. He realizes they've invaded the planet, and heads towards the headquarters of his commanders. He finds it completely deserted.
He heads towards his home, and he finds his father being on a transport that's heading towards a labor camp. The militiaman follows the vehicle and discovers that the labor camp is a mine. The Jovians are forced to mine for a material called "Harkovite". Thing is, the stuff is radioactive. You need to wear protective gear to mine it. Without it, the radiation will kill a miner in days.
Charlie is caught by a Badoon guard, but the guard gets beaten down for his trouble.
The fight gets the attention of more Badoon guards. They shoot at Charlie, but he escapes thatnks to a teleporter. The teleporter takes him to Pluto. Charlie notices that much like his base back on Jupiter, the teleporter depot is deserted. He takes the opportunity to grab some supplies, including food. Mmm, food...
Charlie fears that like Jupiter, Pluto may have been invaded by Badoon as well. His fears are confirmed as he crosses paths with a pair of Badoon that also have their own version of a tracking/attack dog with them.
Charlie is in big trouble, but luckily, he has a new ally that helps him out.
Meet Martinex, Pluvian scientist. He reveals that his people had been evacuated, but he stayed behind to blow up some strategic complexes so the Badoon would have...problems. The two flee, but not before Martinex sends some robot mannequins to engage and distract the Badoon. The two take another teleporter to Earth, hoping to find some help there. But the Earth has a Badoon problem of its own.
The Badoon have captured a Centuarian warrior named Yondu and a thousand-year-old Earthman named Vance Astro. Using a memory probing device, the Badoon (and the reader) learn Vance's origins. In the year 1988, Vance Astro was an astronaut. He was sent on a rocket flight to the nearest star, which would take him centuries to make, hence his body being encased in a special suit. The rocket arrives on a planet...only to find he had a welcoming party waiting for him. In the thousand years since his travels, humanity has spread out to the stars.
In the centuries since his spaceflight, humanity found new ways to travel the stars much quicker. It left Astro feeling like his mission was all for nothing. All his friends and family are dead. Drang, the leader of the Badoon, wants Vance to work for him willingly, hence why he hasn't been made into a slave like the rest of the Earthmen. Vance prepares to agree, and the Badoon try to get him to kill Yondu. However, it's a trick.
Yondu uses whistling to control his yaka arrow, and it's used to help them escape. Vance takes himself and Yondu to a teleporter station with his psychokinetic powers. Martinex and Charlie-27 arrive on Earth at that same station.
In the Marvel tradition, the two improvised tag teams end up brawling with each other. The four then are teleported to another world, where they agree to find a free colony of humans. The story ends with them singing a version of the old protest song "We Shall Overcome" as a message: Earth Shall Overcome and be free once more.
This...was an interesting comic. The panel layout had to be one of the more unique ones I had ever seen in a late Silver Age comic. Made scanning a nightmare. The panels are angular and jagged, which fits the more action-oriented story shown here. One interesting detail of this story is that it establishes that, at least in the case of the Jovians (Charlie-27's people) and the Pluvians (Martinex's people), there were still others of their kind out there, as we did see Jovians in a labor camp and Martinex claimed Pluto was evacuated. Later stories would say that Charlie-27 and Martinex were the last of their kind. The story does have that Early Installment Weirdness vibe to it.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
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