Didja Know... The Impossible Story of Star-Lord

Didja Know digs into the fun facts, strange stories, and divine details that helped build the hallowed halls of the House of Ideas! Read on and be illuminated by Star-Lord-light!

Didja Know… Star-Lord almost faded into obscurity?

Hard to believe, we hear ya, but his debut back in 1976’s MARVEL PREVIEW #4 didn’t set the skies on fire, and despite big plans for him by his creator Steve Englehart, it took a while for Quill to become the household name he is today.

Here’s another fun fact for you: The very next Star-Lord appearance in MARVEL PREVIEW #11 stands out in Marvel history as the very first assemblage of the dream-team trio of writer Chris Claremont, penciler John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin! They went on to rock the world with a little book called UNCANNY X-MEN, but for Star-Lord it just didn’t click. He meandered through a few more books like MARVEL SPOTLIGHT and MARVEL PREMIERE, but maybe it just wasn’t his time.

Peter Quill disappeared off the radar in 1982, perhaps destined to take his place alongside all the other quirky characters who tried hard but came up short…but as we all know, all it took was a big, splashy series charmingly entitled THANOS in 2003 to give Star-Lord his big break. He moved along to pull together a group of misfits he dubbed the Guardians of the Galaxy, and boy did he hit out of the park that time! The rest is Marvel history!

Didja Know… Another Guardians of the Galaxy existed long before Peter Quill’s team?

Star-Lord’s Guardians blasted onto the swingin’ scene in 2008’s ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST #6 thanks to writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, but old-school Marvel mavens might’ve recognized the name from the dim past...

In 1969, editor Stan Lee, writer Arnold Drake, and artist Gene Colan designed a team with that very same moniker, a rag-tag ragout of roustabouts from the far-flung 31st century who kicked things off in MARVEL SUPER HEROES #18 and then later rocketed into stories in MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE and the DEFENDERS…with nary a Star-Lord or Rocket in sight!

Those Guardians—Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, Yondu, Starhawk, and Nikki—enjoyed various degrees of popularity over the years and eventually writers wove some groovy threads between them and the current team. Who says we’re not fair with doling out what’s due to our diehard do-gooders?

Didja Know… A Star-Lady once replaced Star-Lord?

Now here’s a story! Peter Quill made war on the alien Shi’ar race in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #11-#13, and in the process rescued some X-Men who got stuck in the middle of it all—and that little band included none other than Kitty Pryde, the spectacular Shadowcat. Our boy Star-Lord became intrigued by the young woman, but true romance eluded the two for the nonce.

Eventually, Peter and Kitty did strike up a long-distance love affair that culminated in a marriage proposal, but never really did resemble anything conventional. But hey, we’re talkin’ about the famous Star-Lord here, right? Quill then ascended to the throne of the planet Spartax in place of his faltering father and Kitty took his place in the Guardians as a temporary “Star-Lady” in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #5.

That didn’t last, as these things go, but it did rack up to be yet another interesting item in Star-Lord’s already-amazing life. We can’t imagine what’ll come next!