A cool first issue kickoff for Jim Valentino’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” series which made me a loyal fan for several years despite issues being a wee bit difficult to find, especially for the final issues of the series!
TITLE: Guardians of the Galaxy – Issue #1
YEAR: June 1990
COMPANY: Marvel Comics
Writer/art by Jim Valentino
INKER: Steve Montano
LETTERER: Ken Lopez
COLORIST: Evelyn Stein
EDITOR: Craig Anderson
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Tom DeFalco
Taserface created by Aaron Valetino
I’ve written about the Guardians of the Galaxy, not the group you see prominently in the MCU movies but the Guardians of the Galaxy which many people grew up reading during the ’60s through the ’90s.
In 1990, Jim Valentino brought back the team who have been relegated to special appearances and bringing back this team would spur on a new generation of fans who would follow this series even though Valentino would jump ship from Marvel and be one of the co-founders of Image Comics.
The setting is 3017 A.D. and is one of the many possible futures of the multiverse.
The group are in a planet called Courg and battling against gun turrets that have come out of the ground.
This new team would consist of:
- StarHawk – Wields the power of light and shares his physical being with a woman named Aleta. Arrogant, strategic and irritates his team.
- Charlie-27 – A fifth generation militia-man and last survivor of Earth’s Jupiter colony and was genetically engineered to withstand eleven ties the gravity of Earth. He is the team’s pilot and military strategist.
- Martinex – Silicon-celled master of thermal energy and sole survivor of Earth’s colony on Pluto. He is the team’s resident scientist and reluctant leader.
- Yondu – The last son of Earth’s only extra-stellar colony, Centauri IV and the primitive mystic and ancient weapons master. His weapon is the whistle-responsive yaka-arrow!
- Nikki – The last child of Earth’s Mercury colony and has excellent agility and marksmanship. She is the team’s navigator and technical weapons expert.
- Major Vance Astro – The first Earthman to the stars and the last survivor of the 20th century. His body is forever sheathed in the silver and black metal suit that preserves his life and he is a master of the mutant power of psychokinesis.
As the group easily defeats the gun turrets, a distress signal alerts a nearby spaceship and now the resident of that spaceship, Taserface wants to make sure whoever violated his property will die!
Meanwhile, the residents of Courg are not so happy that the Guardians of the Galaxy are there and even try to attack them.
As Martinex and Yondu head for the ship, the Freedom Lady; StarHawk allows Aleta to come out and take over.
Meanwhile Yondu prays and asks Martinex to come by the fire as the Spirit of Anthos is strong and showing them the past (appearances on other comics for the past 30 years) and they head back to the planet to continue the search for the shield that Vance Astro is looking for.
Not long after, Taserface arrives and starts attacking the Guardians of the Galaxy. So powerful, they must work as a team to take him on. But are they up to it?
Included is a “The History of the Guardians” by Jim Valentino.
Overall, a cool first issue kickoff for Jim Valentino’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” series which made me a loyal fan for several years despite issues being a wee bit difficult to find, especially for the final issues of the series!