First Appearance Guardians of the Galaxy: 1969 vs 2008

The Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, cover-dated January 1969, created by Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake and Gene Colan (Wikipedia). This is not the team from the films. The original four were Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27 and Yondu, fighters from the 31st century of an alternate timeline (Earth-691) who battle the alien Badoon. Roy Thomas has said the idea started as "super-guerrillas fighting against Russians" before it moved into space.

After the debut the team did not return for more than five years (Wikipedia). Their own series finally arrived in 1990, written and drawn by Jim Valentino, and ran 62 issues to 1995.

The line-up most people know was assembled by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning from existing, unrelated characters. It first formed in Annihilation: Conquest #6 (April 2008), and its own series, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #1, followed in May 2008 (Wikipedia). The founding roster was Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell.

The two teams are linked: the 2008 group meets a time-displaced Vance Astro, now called Major Victory, and takes the Guardians name from him (Wikipedia). So there are two different "first appearance" answers:

• First appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (1969).
• First appearance of the modern team: Annihilation: Conquest #6 (2008).

Each member of the modern team debuted years earlier in other comics, and those individual first appearances are separate keys.

PriceCharting values, read on September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $64.55 (about 3 sales a week)
• CGC 4.0: $103.13 (about 1 a month)
• CGC 6.0: $204.10 (about 1 a month)
• CGC 8.0: $579.09 (about 1 a month)
• CGC 9.2: $1,272.50 (about 1 a year)
• CGC 9.6: $5,757.06 (rare)

PriceCharting's sales list shows a CGC 9.6 with white pages at $8,500 in February 2025, and a pedigree CGC 9.6 at $10,157.50 in 2014. Mid-grade copies mostly trade between about $100 and $300. The jump from 8.0 to 9.6 is nearly ten times, so the grade decides the value.

Miley Cyrus voices Mainframe, a robot member of the Ravagers, in the first post-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). She says "I miss you guys so much." James Gunn cast her after watching her as a judge on The Voice (Newsweek). Newsweek also points out that, apart from Mainframe, every Ravager in that scene has been a Guardians of the Galaxy member in the comics.

The original Groot. In the films, Groot dies at the end of the first movie and a new Groot grows from what is left of him. On February 28, 2018, director James Gunn said the original Groot really died, that one of his spores grew into a new seed, and that Baby Groot is his son, not the same character reborn (Collider). This is a film detail; it does not change any comic first appearance.

In the comics, yes. Guardians of the Galaxy #9, written by Al Ewing and published December 14, 2020, shows Star-Lord in a years-long relationship with two partners, Aradia and Mors, in a parallel reality; Den of Geek reported it as the moment Star-Lord became canonically bisexual and polyamorous. The films have not shown this.

Wikipedia names Northstar as the first openly gay character to come out in a Marvel comic. He first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #120 (April 1979), said "I am gay" in Alpha Flight #106 (1992), and married Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men #51 (June 2012), which Wikipedia calls the first same-sex wedding shown in mainstream comics.

• Title and date: Marvel Super-Heroes #18, January 1969; the Guardians story is the lead feature and includes their origin (PriceCharting).
• Not the 2008 book: Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #1 (2008) and Annihilation: Conquest #6 are 2008 comics, nearly forty years newer.
• Condition: because 8.0 and 9.6 differ by almost ten times, check spine stress, corners and page color before pricing.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles usually say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode format that did not exist in the year printed means a later edition.
• Paper and staples: old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat, straight on, in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. The ComicLens app reads the title, issue number and cover and matches them to the checks on this page, and there are free scans every day. The indicia photo settles most reprint and variant questions.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI, and every fact was checked against the sources listed at the bottom of the page: Wikipedia (Guardians of the Galaxy 1969 team; 2008 team; Northstar), PriceCharting, Newsweek, Collider and Den of Geek. Prices are PriceCharting figures read on September 25, 2026 unless another source and date are named; they move with the market.