Gaurdians of the Galaxy (1990 - 1995)

 I just finished reading Guardians of the Galaxy (1990 - 1995), Issues 1 through 62. I got started on it when I was gifted some issues, and decided to read the whole thing on Marvel Universe. The series was written and drawn by Jim Valentino for nearly half of its run. After that, with the exception of issue 29, it was done by a team that retained several of the original creative team. Valentino left to Join Image Comics after 28, so 29 was done by a few different people. 30 picked up with a new writer and artist and continued with that nearly to the end. 61 had a different inker, 62 had Steve Montano once more.

Credits

This is not a complete accounting of who did what for every issue. I know Dale Eaglesham and some others did pencils for some of the issues, but it's pretty close.

1-28                                                                          29          
Artist /Writer - Jim Valentino                                     Plot - Jim Valentino
Inker - Steve Montano                                              Script - Michael Gallagher
Colorist - Evelyn Stein                                              Pencils - J.J. Birch
Letters - Ken Lopez                                                  Inks, Colors, and Letters stayed the same

30-60, 62                                                                  61

Artist - Kevin West                                                   Letterer - Jay Rosen

Writer - Michael Gallagher                                       All others the same as 30-60

Inks, Letters, and colors the original team

Guardians of the Galaxy were first introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes Present #18 in 1968 with the creative team of  Writer: Arnold Drake, Penciler: Gene Colan, Inker: Mike Esposito. The core characters are: Vance Astro, from 20th century earth, now in the 31st century with Charlie 27, the last Jovian, Martinex a Pluvian from Pluto, and Yondu an Arcturan. This first appearance establishes the alien race Badoon as the bad guys responsible for multiple genocides. they are a reptilian people bent on conquering worlds and ending whole civilizations. They become a constant threat, mostly in the background (with several exceptions) in the 90's series. After this issue, they appeared from time to time, but did not have their own book until 1990, which is the series I just finished.

In it, the Guardians include the original 4, as well as Nikki the fire-haired last child of Mercury, and StarHawk and Aleta, a husband/wife gestalt entity of great power and mystery. The series seems text heavy to me, but it doesn't suffer from it. the story telling really does a good job including each character and giving them their own identity and motives and beliefs. My only issue is that the dialog is overly quip heavy, to the point it weighs things down, Once the character Talon is introduced, the quip fatigue really sets in. Ultimately, It doesn't hurt it much.The book does interpersonal relationships well. When Aleta takes over the form and presents as a woman, she is in a relationship with Vance Astro. The Team is shown as a fairly realistic group of individuals, with tension and disagreements woven in amidst the comradery. They have many missions with a wildly diverse level of impact. They save the 20th century, the 31'st century, individual planets, and ultimately the cosmos. There antagonists include Mephisto's Daughter, and her dad, groups called the Starks and the punishers, and a relative of Wolverine, I believe 5 generations removed.. They hang with heroes like Wonder Man and Silver Surfer, who are both still around in the 31st century, and encounter cosmic beings of no less magnitude than Galactus, Eternity and the Living Tribunal. It is a fun read, and one that really benefits from reading everything rather than skimming. Compared to the MCU Guardians it hangs pretty well, and you get to see where some of the references in the films come from. I'm thinking Yondu's arrow, and Taserface specifically. It is written well, the art varies a little, but Valentinos art is amazingly 90's with an eye toward dynamic panels with very interesting panel layouts that really contribute to the pacing. I recommend giving it a try if you have Marvel Universe, or see issues for a good price. It look fairly 90's but Valentino is a great story teller, and the quality carries over in West and Gallagher's run.