Secret Origins: Two-Fer! Drax the Destroyer and Gamora--the Green Guardians of the Galaxy

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna catch the slightest glimpse of how Drax the Destroyer and Gamora, The Deadliest Woman in the Whole Galaxy came to be! Yep, the jade-hued (but not related--except by their creator, Jim Starlin) foes-turned-allies of the Guardians of the Galaxy* both got their starts during the Groovy Age at the hands of Judo Jim Starlin!

Drax the Destroyer made his debut in Iron Man #55 (November 1972). Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin introduced and gave us Drax's origin in that fateful ish, but you've seen that one all over the Internet. Here's Drax's origin retold  from Captain Marvel #32 (February 1974), complete with an awesome (if one-sided) battle with the reason for Drax's existence...Thanos!

You'll note the Groovy Age origin bears little resemblance to the movie version--but 'tis 'nuff, t'will serve.

Gamora made her debut in Strange Tales #180 (March 1975). It's in that ish she meets Warlock's sidekick Pip the Troll, and we learn that she's out to assassinate Warlock...

In the next issue (ST #181, May 1975) we learn why she thinks she's up to the task of killing Warlock...

But it's not until the ish after Warlock moves back into his own mag that we get Gamora's short-but-sweet origin (Warlock #10, September 1975)...

Very much in common with the movie version--just without the Warlock stuff. Here's hoping Marvel's Movie Universe will soon include Adam Warlock and our Kree Captain Marvel! Without 'em, we'd have fewer greens in our Guardians!

(*Yeah, Ol' Groove's doing another Guardians of the Galaxy post 'cause I really dug the movie! It's tons o'fun and the sound track rules, baby!!)

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Guardians of the Galaxy--Groovy Age Style!

Hey, hey, hey, Groov-ophiles! Ol' Groove has long been a fan of the original Guardians of the Galaxy and Star-Lord. Jim Starlin's creations, Drax the Destroyer and Gamora were a huge part of Captain Marvel, Warlock, and the Avengers' Groovy Age mythos. Always found Ronan, the Accuser kind of a cool villain, and the Collector was truly wonky. Now, I know the new Guardians of the Galaxy flick won't feature (much, at least) of the original team, but it is definitely going to pull most of Marvel's Cosmic Universe together (even the Nova Corps are involved, fer Odin's sake! So, yeah, Yers Trooly is headin' to the ol' movie-house tonight to check out all'a the above-mentioned cool characters (plus Rocket Racoon and Groot, to boot!). While we wait, here's a passel of cool covers featuring the original Guardians, plus many of the "new" Guardians in their Groovy Age guises. Are ya ready for this?

The original team featuring Yondu:

Star-Lord!

 Drax!

Gamora!

Groot!

Ronan!

 The Collector!

Oh, and while Rocket Raccoon never made a cover during the Groovy Age, he did make his debut then (in the back of Marvel Preview #7). Just so he doesn't feel left out, here's his debut page...