Guardians of the Galaxy

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Phyla-Vell, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Adam Warlock. These Guardians first appeared in Annihilation: Conquest #6 (April 2008). A feature film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was released in 2017, and the team has also been featured in the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Thor: Love and Thunder, as well as the Disney+ The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (both 2022) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following the original team created by Arnold Drake, Roy Thomas and Stan Lee in 1969. Publication history The second volume of the title was published in May 2008, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and featured a new team of characters from the Annihilation: Conquest storyline. Abnett and Lanning's work on the Annihilation: Conquest story laid the foundation for the new Guardians of the Galaxy book that they had been wanting to launch for some time. Editor Bill Rosemann, who had also edited Annihilation: Conquest, provided more background: "As the planning of 'Annihilation: Conquest' came together, it occurred to us that, if things went well, there would be a group of characters left standing who would make for a very interesting and fun team." It also provided the motivation the team would need, as "on the heels of two back-to-back wars, they're out to prevent any new Annihilation-size disasters from erupting."