1987 - Anatomy of a Cover- Avengers #287

By John Buscema and Tom Palmer

Doctor Doom by Larson and Fastner

1979 - Anatomy of a Cover - Micronauts #2

By Michael Golden and Joe Rubinstein

Punisher by Jim Cheung

Magik and Mirage by Jesse Hamm

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #111

By Steve Hickman

Kitty Pryde and Lockheed by David Marquez

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #110

By Earl Norem

Punisher and Wolverine by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #112 by Joe Jusko

Iron Man Mark XIV by Bob Layton

RIP Rich Buckler

I had the pleasure of meeting Rich at the Motor City Comic Con a few years ago. Rest in peace.

80’s X-Men by Tom Fowler

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #113 by Earl Norem

Wonder Man by Brian Hurtt

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #115 by Joe Jusko

Wolverine by Paul Smith and Terry Austin

1985 - Anatomy of a Cover - Savage Sword of Conan #116 by Bill Sienkiewicz

1980 - Doctor Strange by Paul Smith

The Former X-Men

This House Ad for Uncanny X-Men ran in 1981 with art by Jim Salicrup and by Terry Austin.

Anatomy of a Cover - Ragnarok #5

By Walt Simonson

1982 - Anatomy of Cover - Marvel Team-Up #122

By Ed Hannigan and Al Milgrom

Anatomy of a Splash Page - Amazing Spider-Man #293

By J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Rick Parker, and Janet Jackson

1990 - Anatomy of a Cover - Avengers Spotlight #39

By Steve Lightle

Black Cat by Mike McKone

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws

By Nick Jones

DK Publishing
Hardcover, 200 pages

One of my earliest and fondest comic books from my youth is a battered copy of Astonishing Tales #29, which reprinted the first Guardians of the Galaxy story from Marvel Super Heroes #18. In those pre-comic book store days, it was difficult to track down their adventures as they appeared sporadically through Marvel titles, so they drifted by my short attention span.

I caught up a dozen years later with the 1990s Jim Valentino reboot, which was fun, but again the Guardians faded away into B-List Limbo. However, the 2008 cosmic reboot by Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett was a different story. Although this new iteration wasn’t quite my Guardians of the Galaxy, they successfully put together a ragtag team with the spirit of the old.

Okay, so all of that so far was a long-winded build up to my review of DK new book (which was kindly supplied to me for the purposes of a review). I was impressed as it would have been easy to stick to the current incarnation and leverage the 2014 film and it’s 2017 sequel, but author Nick Jones really did his home work. He spends a considerable time not only on the film version of the team, but on the 1970s and 1990s versions. His work also covers the post-2014 film expanded cosmic universe that the comic book heroes have been exploring and adventuring within.

In the typical and reliable DK fashion, the book presents all this information in an impressive and sometimes dizzying visual fashion with a lot of great art clips, covers, timelines, friends, villains, equipment, and character bios. Once you start reading, it's pretty hard not to flip through the whole book!

This hardcover is an impressive refresher on the legacy of the Guardians of the Galaxy and a great primer for the upcoming sequel.