In this feature we spotlight the various characters, phrases, objects or events that eventually became notable parts of comic lore. Not major stuff like "the first appearance of Superman," but rather, "the first time someone said, 'Avengers Assemble!'" or "the first appearance of Batman's giant penny" or "the first appearance of Alfred Pennyworth" or "the first time Spider-Man's face was shown half-Spidey/half-Peter." Stuff like that. Here is an archive of all the When We First Met features so far! Check 'em out!

With their upcoming film, I thought it would be good to spotlight the debuts of the current members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

First up is the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill, Star-Lord. Star-Lord made his debut in 1975's Marvel Preview #4 by writer Steve Englehart and artist Steve Gan.

The concept of the character is that a young man was born on a day that all of the planets were aligned. His father felt that he was not his own son so tried to kill him as an infant, but instead died of a heart attack before he could kill his boy. The boy's mother was then killed by aliens visiting the Earth. Young Peter vowed revenge and dedicated his life to destroying the aliens who killed his mother. He became an astronaut and when a mysterious figure offered to give an Earthling the role of a Star-Lord (a sort of cosmic cop), Peter sort of went nuts and stole the opportunity away from another. He then met the mysterious and powerful Master of the Sun...













Next up is Drax the Destroyer. He made his debut in 1972's Iron Man #55 (by Jim Starlin)...



The same issue also introduced Thanos...







Next up is Gamora. She made her debut in 1975's Strange Tales #180 (by Jim Starlin), where she met Warlock's ally, Pip the Troll...



In the following issue, we learn her name and her famous tagline...



Go to the next page for the debuts of Groot and Rocket Raccoon!

Up next is Groot. The alien being made his debut in the lead story of 1960's Tales to Astonish #13, with art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers and a story by...I dunno...maybe Larry Leiber?











Finally we have Rocket Raccoon.

He made his debut in a sci-fi story by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen in 1976's Marvel Preview #7...





but wasn't known as Rocket Raccoon (and didn't have his current personality) until he made his color debut in 1982's Incredible Hulk #271 by Mantlo and Sal Buscema...







If you have a suggestion for a future edition of When We First Met, feel free to drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com