Arnold Drake was born on this date in 1924. Drake was a key writer artist at DC and later at Marvel in the 60's and 70's. He is best known for The Doom Patrol, but I'll always remember him as the writer of the Guardians of the Galaxy story - the focus of today's celebration.
The debut story is by writer and co-creator Arnold Drake and exquisite artwork by fellow co-creator Gene "The Dean" Colan and Mike Esposito (under his "Mikey Demeo" disguise), and relates the 31st Century future in which the Earth has colonized the solar system and beyond thanks to "Harkovian Physics" (move over Einstein), and finds a motley gang of aliens and hybrid humans joined to battle the deadly Badoon, a warlike lizard race from space. Arnold Drake and Gene Colan were at the top of their respective games with this showcase for a new super team, each though merely the product of circumstance. Charlie-27 is my favorite, a simple man who merely seeks to save his family and who is forced to run for his life despite his great strength and speed when he can't do that. Martinex is properly shiny and knowing and weird, but he is similarly motivated.
And then there's Major Vance Astro, the thousand-year-old Earthman who is at once bitter and selfless, a proper blend of human characters which Drake was so adept at showing. Alongside this "Lone Ranger" (a resurrected masked man, don't you know) of the future is the noble native, the taciturn Yondu with his delightful Yaka arrows which act like living things and obey his commands. These are fascinating characters who were united and committed by story's end to battling against the alien threat of the dominating Badoon.
Major Vance Astro is a 20th Century man sent into deep space to Alpha Centuari in 1988 only to find his long journey and the 1000 years it took unnecessary when he finally arrived at a fully settled colony on a planet in deep space. After realizing he is trapped inside his life-preserving copper foil suit, he joins up with Jovian militiaman Charlie-27 and Pluvian scientist the crystalline Martinex along with Yondu, a finned alien native from the Alpha Centauri system.
The same Badoon who had only a few months before appeared in the pages of Silver Surfer #2 in our modern day. That invasion was thwarted but now we see they returned, and they have won the day conquering not only Earth but all its disparate colonies on Jupiter, Pluto, and beyond. It's a fresh dazzling world that Drake and Colan present and I was hungry for more after the first Marvel Super- Heroes outing. I never got it, that is I never got it for a good long while.
This unlikely gang of four battle the Brotherhood of the Badoon in 3007 A.D. for one brief shining issue then disappear into the comic book mists.
They reappear many years later in the 1974 pages of Marvel-Two-In-One and enlist the time-traveling Ben Grimm and Captain America to help them in their ongoing future war with the deadly Badoon. These stories were written by Steve Gerber and drawn with precision by Sal Buscema.
That battle continues in the 20th Century in the pages of Giant-Size Defenders #5 with vibrant Don Heck artwork . Some of the Guardians are now sporting ginchy new costumes designed by Dave Cockrum.
Then the saga shifts back to the future in four issues of The Defenders regular comic again written by the Gerber-Buscema team. The Badoon are ultimately defeated and the Guardians meet a new member, the enigmatic Starhawk.
These Defenders issues were a try-out of sorts for the space team of the future and it worked, with the Guardians next showing up in their very own comic under the official title of Marvel Presents. With scribe Steve Gerber and artist Al Milgrom in control, the Guardians at long last would find their way forward.
The team adds yet another member when Nikki, a firebrand from Venus hooks up with the Guardians. I'm of two minds about the addition of Nikki and Starhawk because I always felt that the original core group of four, Astro aside, were not developed sufficiently before these additions. Nonetheless the team pressed on.
One curious issue of Marvel Presents was a fill-in which featured some of Silver Surfer #2, the 1968 comic which actually debuted the Badoon battling the "Sentinel of the Spaceways" a few months before they show up in the future to conquer our solar system.
The run in Marvel Presents ended after a cool dozen issues and after this brisk but potent outing the Guardians were once again an itinerant team.
The same Badoon who had only a few months before appeared in the pages of Silver Surfer #2 in our modern day. That invasion was thwarted but now we see they returned, and they have won the day conquering not only Earth but all its disparate colonies on Jupiter, Pluto, and beyond. It's a fresh dazzling world that Drake and Colan present and I was hungry for more after the first Marvel Super- Heroes outing. I never got it, that is I never got it for a good long while.
This unlikely gang of four battle the Brotherhood of the Badoon in 3007 A.D. for one brief shining issue then disappear into the comic book mists.
They reappear many years later in the 1974 pages of Marvel-Two-In-One and enlist the time-traveling Ben Grimm and Captain America to help them in their ongoing future war with the deadly Badoon. These stories were written by Steve Gerber and drawn with precision by Sal Buscema.
That battle continues in the 20th Century in the pages of Giant-Size Defenders #5 with vibrant Don Heck artwork . Some of the Guardians are now sporting ginchy new costumes designed by Dave Cockrum.
Then the saga shifts back to the future in four issues of The Defenders regular comic again written by the Gerber-Buscema team. The Badoon are ultimately defeated and the Guardians meet a new member, the enigmatic Starhawk.
These Defenders issues were a try-out of sorts for the space team of the future and it worked, with the Guardians next showing up in their very own comic under the official title of Marvel Presents. With scribe Steve Gerber and artist Al Milgrom in control, the Guardians at long last would find their way forward.
The team adds yet another member when Nikki, a firebrand from Venus hooks up with the Guardians. I'm of two minds about the addition of Nikki and Starhawk because I always felt that the original core group of four, Astro aside, were not developed sufficiently before these additions. Nonetheless the team pressed on.
One curious issue of Marvel Presents was a fill-in which featured some of Silver Surfer #2, the 1968 comic which actually debuted the Badoon battling the "Sentinel of the Spaceways" a few months before they show up in the future to conquer our solar system.
The run in Marvel Presents ended after a cool dozen issues and after this brisk but potent outing the Guardians were once again an itinerant team.
The comics feel less escapist now than they did years ago for some reason.
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Younger readers probably prefer the current Guardians of the Galaxy, but being an old-timer, I've always loved the original group. If only Steve Gerber had somehow been able to stay on the series & it could have lasted longer than it did! Guess I'm stuck inside of the '70s with the 21st Century Blues again. :)
ReplyDeleteTheir Guardians are fine I reckon, but ours were better.
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