*Marvel: In the year 3007, the countries of the world are brought together in the United Lands of Earth, spreading the Terran empire throughout the known galaxy – when interplanetary harmony is disrupted by the arrival of the voracious Badoon, who overcome Earth and her dominions, leaving only a few scattered freedom fighters to battle on – the Guardians of the Galaxy! Such was the premise of the original story created by Arnold Drake (writer of the Doom Patrol, another popular band of outcasts) and Gene Colan in issue #18 of Marvel Super-Heroes, January 1969. A powerful and moving story, it lay dormant for some years, until revived by Steve Gerber in the Seventies, whereupon the Guardians became a regular, if infrequent, part of the Marvel Universe, before the movie versions (featuring, it must be said, an entirely different cast) catapulted the title back into public consciousness. This is a high grade copy cents copy, with good gloss, deep and attractive cover colour, supple and tightly squarebound with firm staples. Pages are an excellent off-white and there are only vague suggestions of wear at the edges and corners. On very close inspection, there is a ghost of a crease across the bottom right corner, no hint of colour break and only visible in a certain light; due to this, we have graded it quite conservatively. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #18 VF- £500