Most people think the story starts with a walkman and a raccoon. It doesn't. Long before James Gunn turned a group of cosmic losers into household names, the original Guardians of the Galaxy were fighting a completely different war in a completely different century. We’re talking about 1969. While the real world was watching the moon landing, Arnold Drake and Gene Colan were dreaming up a team that looked nothing like Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista.
Actually, if you saw them today, you might not even recognize them.
There was no Star-Lord. No Gamora. Instead, you had a pilot from the 20th century who woke up 1,000 years in the future, a blue-skinned archer from Centauri IV, a crystalline man from Pluto, and a massive guy from Jupiter. They weren't a band of outlaws looking for a payday. They were the last stand of a conquered solar system.
The year was 3007. The enemies were the Badoon. And honestly? The stakes felt way more desperate than anything we’ve seen in the modern MCU.
How the original Guardians of the Galaxy actually started
It’s kind of wild to think about how obscure these guys were. They first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18. Back then, Marvel was throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck. The original lineup was Vance Astro, Martinex T'Naga, Captain Charlie-27, and Yondu Udonta.
Yeah, that Yondu.
But in the comics, he wasn't a wisecracking space pirate with a sentient arrow. He was a deeply spiritual hunter, the last of his kind, sporting a massive red fin that was actually part of his biology, not some cybernetic implant. He used a bow and arrow made of yaka metal that responded to his whistles. It’s one of the few things the movies actually kept, though they changed his entire personality.
Vance Astro is the one who really ties the whole weird timeline together. He was a NASA astronaut who volunteered for a mission to Alpha Centauri. Since we didn't have warp drives, he had to go into suspended animation for a thousand years. To keep his body from falling apart during the trip, he was encased in a copper foil suit. When he finally arrived, he realized humanity had already invented faster-than-light travel while he was napping. He was obsolete before he even landed.
That’s a heavy way to start a superhero career.
He wakes up to find out the Badoon—a reptilian race of conquerors—have basically enslaved the entire galaxy. He meets Yondu, then Charlie-27 (a genetically engineered soldier from a colony on Jupiter), and Martinex (a scientist from Pluto whose skin is made of crystal facets to survive the cold). They weren't friends. They were just the only ones left.
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The 31st Century was a nightmare
The tone of those early stories was bleak. It wasn't about "saving the galaxy" in a flashy, heroic sense. It was about guerrilla warfare. They were freedom fighters.
For a long time, they didn't even have their own book. They popped up in The Defenders or teamed up with Captain America thanks to some classic comic book time travel shenanigans. It wasn't until the 1990s that Jim Valentino gave them a proper solo run that lasted 62 issues. That's where things got really weird.
In that run, we saw future versions of everyone. There was a future Ghost Rider. There was a weird religious cult that worshipped Captain America’s shield. Speaking of the shield, Vance Astro eventually finds it. He becomes Major Victory. It’s cheesy, sure, but it gave the team a sense of legacy that was missing from the early "man out of time" stories.
Why the movie version is so different
You’ve gotta wonder why Marvel shifted gears so hard in 2008. That’s when Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (often called DnA by fans) revamped the team into the Star-Lord-led roster we know today.
Basically, the original team was too tied to a specific "future" timeline. It was hard to make them interact with the main Marvel Universe (Earth-616) without constant time travel. The 2008 reboot moved the action to the present day. They took characters like Rocket Raccoon and Groot—who were basically forgotten relics from 1970s backup stories—and mashed them together.
James Gunn did pay some respect to the OGs, though.
If you remember the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there’s a mid-credits scene with Sylvester Stallone. He plays Stakar Ogord (Starhawk). He’s standing there with a bunch of other Ravagers: Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27 (played by Ving Rhames), Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), and Krugarr. That was the original Guardians of the Galaxy team from the comics.
It was a total "if you know, you know" moment for long-time readers. Seeing Ving Rhames as a Jovian soldier was a nice touch, even if he didn't have the massive, blocky proportions Charlie-27 has in the books. In the comics, Charlie is built like a literal cube because Jupiter’s gravity is so intense. A human would be crushed, so they engineered him to be incredibly dense and strong.
The weirdness of Starhawk and Aleta
We need to talk about Starhawk because he is easily one of the most confusing characters in Marvel history. Stakar and Aleta were siblings (adoptive) who accidentally merged into one body. Only one could exist in the physical world at a time while the other stayed in a "limbo" state.
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They also had this "One Who Knows" gimmick. Starhawk had lived his life countless times in a loop. He knew exactly what was going to happen, which made him an arrogant jerk most of the time. He’d manipulate the team because he knew it was the only way to prevent a worse future.
It’s a far cry from the Stallone version, who just seemed like a high-ranking Ravager with a grudge against Yondu.
The Badoon problem
One reason the original team never quite hit the mainstream like the movie version is their primary villain. The Badoon are cool, but they aren't Thanos. They’re a patriarchal, lizard-like society. They have a weird split where the males and females live on different planets and basically hate each other.
In the 70s, this was a way to explore social themes, but compared to the high-stakes cosmic nihilism of the Infinity Stones, "lizard men from the future" felt a bit dated. When the movies came around, they swapped the Badoon for the Kree and the Sovereigns because the rights were tied up or the visual appeal just wasn't there.
Why you should actually care about the 1969 team
If you only know the MCU, you’re missing out on a massive chunk of cosmic lore. The original Guardians of the Galaxy stories deal with themes of displacement and loss in a way the new movies don't always touch. Vance Astro’s story is genuinely tragic. He spent a thousand years in a metal suit, unable to feel human touch, only to realize he wasn't even needed.
That kind of psychological trauma is what made those early stories stand out. They weren't just "superheroes in space." They were survivors of a lost age.
Also, the art in the 90s run by Jim Valentino is peak 90s comic book energy. It’s colorful, it’s loud, and it embraces the absurdity of the Marvel multiverse. You have characters like Nikki, a girl from Mercury who has actual fire for hair and can survive extreme heat. Or Talon, an Inhuman from the future who looks like a cat-man. It’s glorious nonsense.
Key differences to keep straight
If you're diving into the back issues, don't get confused. Here is how the two eras stack up:
The 31st-century team (The OGs) was led by Vance Astro. Their goal was reclaiming Earth from alien overlords. They operated mostly in an alternate future called Earth-691. They used a ship called the Captain America, which is a bit on the nose, but hey, it was the 70s.
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The modern team (Star-Lord’s crew) is a 21st-century group. They’re based on Knowhere (that severed celestial head). Their vibe is much more "misfit family" whereas the originals were more like a "military remnant."
Interestingly, the two teams have met. Thanks to time travel, Vance Astro has actually met the modern Guardians. He even spent some time with them, which created a weird paradox because his younger self (Vance Astrovik, aka Justice) was a hero in the modern era with the New Warriors.
How to start reading
Don't just jump into random issues. You'll get lost.
First, track down Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers. It collects those early 1969-1970s appearances. It’s the best way to see the "War against the Badoon" arc. It’s got that gritty, experimental Marvel feel where the writers were clearly influenced by the counter-culture movement.
Then, if you want the fun, colorful stuff, look for the Jim Valentino Guardians of the Galaxy Epic Collections. That’s the 1990-1995 run. It’s where the team really found its identity and built out the 31st-century mythology. You’ll see the future versions of the Avengers and the X-Men, which is always a trip.
Final thoughts on the legacy
The original Guardians of the Galaxy might not have the star power of Groot or Rocket, but they laid the groundwork. Without them, Marvel wouldn't have had the "Guardians" brand sitting on a shelf ready to be dusted off and rebooted.
They represent a time when sci-fi comics were allowed to be weird, depressing, and incredibly imaginative without needing to fit into a massive cinematic universe. They were the outliers. And honestly? In a world of polished, billion-dollar franchises, there’s something really refreshing about those old, clunky, crystal-skinned heroes from Pluto.
What to do next
If you're actually interested in the deep lore, your best move is to check out the "Korvac Saga" in Avengers #167-177. It’s widely considered one of the best Marvel stories of all time. The original Guardians travel back to the present day to help the Avengers fight Michael Korvac, a man-machine god from their future.
It’s the perfect bridge between the two eras. You get to see how the 31st-century heroes interact with the classic Avengers, and it shows why Vance Astro and his crew were taken seriously back in the day.
Another solid step? Look up the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries for Earth-691. It maps out the entire timeline from the Martian invasion of 1901 to the Badoon war. It’s a rabbit hole, but for a sci-fi nerd, it’s gold.
Stop thinking of the Guardians as just a 2014 movie. They’ve been guarding the galaxy for over fifty years, even if they had to wait a millennium to get started.