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My plan was to take the book to issue #51 and then turn it over…unless more ideas came to me. Had I continued I was fairly certain that I wanted to do at least a full year wherein they met no one with ANY ties to the Marvel Universe. I wanted them to encounter new aliens, new villains and new worlds.
But, then again, I knew there was a story with Yondu and his god, Anthos (who some bright reader pointed out was an anagram for Thanos).
I wanted to introduce Her, the female Warlock into the Galactic Guardians (who were real short of female members) and reveal that SHE was actually Protégé’s mother (the story that Interface told in #15 or 16—can’t remember which, wasn’t true—it was just the story the Church told about the child’s origin).
I wanted to do a story set 500 years in the future featuring the team the Guardians would become, thus honoring my promise to Tom DeFalco when he first gave me the green light for this series.
The story would have featured a Guardians that was thousands of members strong divided into smaller sub-groups each with their own sector (so, think the Green Lantern Corps if they were the Legion). Our story would have focused on an “Alpha” team consisting of Aleta (team leader), her current husband, Adam (The aforementioned Mr. Warlock as he appeared at the end of Avengers Annual #7), Starhawk (I figured by this time he’d be less of a jerk) and several new characters (most whom I have used or will use in my various Image books).
The story was about their uncovering a group of Guardians misusing their power and their authority to enslave worlds, setting themselves up as dictators and demi-Gods. The Guards would find several more groups as they traced the source of this abuse of power back to the Homeworld and the very hierarchy of the organization. So, it would have been a political conspiracy story in spandex, I guess.
AND ONE LAST THING:
In Sonic the Hedgehog #103 (January, 2002), Michael Gallagher (he who followed me as writer on the Guardians) and I did a spoof of the team called the “Freedom Fighters of the Galaxy.” I drew the first of the two-part story (I didn’t finish it due to a faux pas that Michael had made concerning Nikki’s hair—I know, I know, temperamental artists). The Sonic characters took on the roles of the Guardians (Sonic himself was Vance, Antoine-Yondu, Rooter-Charlie, Princess Sally-Aleta and so on). It was a bit of fun that went under everyone’s radar.
As threatened, this is the series proposal I sent into Marvel last September (2004).
I would note, for the record, that Marvel decided NOT to read it, therefore I feel it's perfectly okay to post it here.
It is NOT going to happen. I offer it here only as a coda to the above retrospective:
(Note, all titles derived from science-fiction short-stories and novels)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Series proposal by
Jim Valentino
Just as the Squadron Supreme was re-envisioned for SUPREME POWER, so too should the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY be re-started from day one. Fifteen year old, abandoned continuity services no one and the series, created in 1969, is saddled with a lot of bad science (exo-geology, the study of other worlds, has made a lot of advances in the ensuing 35 years).
By turning up the volume on this book (think Authority/Ultimates) it would appeal to a more modern sensibility. By maintaining the spirit of the series and the characterization of the principal characters, it won’t disenfranchise older readers. That said, depending on the needs of the company, it can also be easily converted to the all-ages MARVEL AGE approach and be used as a plot bible for a television show (the unique physical appearance of the individual Guardians would easily lend themselves to a toy line replete with weapons, vehicles, etc…). In either case, the high concept remains the same:
THEY HAVE THE CHARACTERIZATION OF STAR TREK
WITH THE ACTION AND DANGER OF STAR WARS
Attached are my initial ideas for the first six-issue story arc and a brief character synopsis of the individual Guardians.
ARC ONE:
“THE FUTURE IN QUESTION”
#1. “The End of Eternity”
In the late 21st Century, Astronaut, botanist, zoologist MAJOR VANCE ASTRO (A descendant of the Avenger, Justice) is sent to Centauri IV, the first Earth-like extra-solar planet discovered. His consciousness is placed in an android body (based on Prof. Horton’s designs) to survive the long journey through space. But, upon his arrival, nearly 1000 years later, he discovers that Earthmen have already colonized the planet, faster-than-light travel having been discovered during his long journey. Determined to continue his original mission, he sets off into the wild, there to encounter a Centaurian native, YONDU. Yondu was on his Hakta (or Walkabout), the final step toward his becoming Habaktu (warrior-priest). While the pair are in the mountains the Brotherhood of the Badoon attacked, destroying all of the Earth-based stations (the Centaurians are akin to the Amerinds and do not possess technology of their own) and enslaving the populace. Fearing a similar attack on the Earth, Vance is determined to warn his home planet, convincing the reluctant Yondu to accompany him in breeching the Badoon perimeter.
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