<P> Roy Thomas recounted, </P> <P>' Guardians of the Galaxy' started out as an idea of mine: about super-guerrillas fighting against Russians and Red Chinese who had taken over and divided the USA . I got a sort of general approval out of (editor - in - chief) Stan (Lee) (I think), and gave the idea to Arnold Drake, since I had not time to write and research it . Arnold went in for a conference with Stan, and Stan (maybe Arnold, too) decided to change it to an interplanetary situation . All the characters and situations in Guardians were created by Arnold and / or Stan . </P> <P> The team first appeared in the partial reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes with issue #18 (Jan. 1969), written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan . Despite strong sales on this issue, the Guardians of the Galaxy would not appear again for over five years, in Marvel Two - In - One #4--5 (July--Sept. 1974). The story's writer, Steve Gerber, liked the team enough to use them again in Giant Size Defenders #5 and Defenders #26--29 (July--Nov. 1975). In each case, other heroes such as Captain America, the Thing, and the Defenders aid them in their war against the alien Badoon, necessitating the liberal use of time travel in these stories . </P> <P> The Guardians were finally given their own series, Marvel Presents, starting with issue #3 (Feb. 1976). Steve Gerber, still handling the writing chores, reflected, "Most of the stories I was scripting were set in the present . I wanted to do something that combined the standard superhero elements with something a little different, so that I could give my imagination a bit more play . We had Dave Cockrum redesign the costumes, we created a new starship for them to pilot, and we revised the premise of the strip, so that they were no longer fighting the Badoon on Earth, and sent them off amongst the stars ." Gerber left the series after seven issues, leaving Roger Stern to take over with Marvel Presents #10 . The series was cancelled shortly afterwards due to poor sales, with the final issue being #12 (August 1977). This was followed by a series of appearances in Thor Annual #6 (1977), The Avengers #167--177 (Jan.--Nov. 1978) and #181 (March 1979), Ms. Marvel #23, Marvel Team - Up #86 (Oct. 1979), and Marvel Two - in - One #61--63 & #69 (Nov. 1980). Marvel Two - in - One #69 drastically changed the Guardians of the Galaxy story; due to changes made to the past of one of the members, the future which the Guardians of the Galaxy come from and the mainstream Marvel Universe are permanently separated, becoming alternate timelines to each other . After this, the Guardians of the Galaxy were absent from published stories for over a decade . </P>

When did guardians of the galaxy comic first come out