Guardians of the Galaxy: A Primer of Cosmic Proportions
So I’m sure the majority of tumblr has now learned all about Phase Two of Marvel’s Diabolical Plan To Ruin All Our Lives, One Movie At A Time. Three of the titles you’re hopefully familiar with, and Ant-Man has been so long gestating in Marvel’s dark and terrifying vault of ideas (and is such a prominent character in past and present comics) that it would be impossible not to have at least an idea of what that movie is going to be about. That leaves the Guardians of the Galaxy, a relatively unheard of title in the long history of Marvel comics, which even a well-read Marvelite might be completely ignorant of. So unless you’re like me, who has been obsessing over this band of alien misfits ever since reading their most recent run just about a year or so ago, you probably took one look at Marvel’s announcement of a Guardians of the Galaxy movie and went ‘huh?’. But never fear, I am now going to put all your questions and concerns to rest.
To put it in as simple terms as possible, the Guardians of the Galaxy are the Avengers of space, except rather than protect a single planet, they protect the entire known galaxy, keeping it in a state of balance and safe from unknown cosmic threats. They first appeared in Marvel comics in 1969, and in an alternate dimension as well as in the 31st century, though it’s the most recent team, (created in 2008 and thankfully still in the 21st century), that forms the basis of this upcoming movie.
Cosmic Marvel Masterpost
This is something of a continuation of my previous masterpost of Nova, Rich Rider, and a shameless attempt to get more people to read about him and Peter Quill, who are amazing characters.
If you’re a science-fiction and comic book fan, I can’t recommend this stuff enough. One of the best descriptions I’ve seen lately of Cosmic Marvel was “a wonderful blend of Star Wars, Firefly/Serenity and Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga”1 So, if you’re a fan of any of these series (or better, all three!) I recommend picking up Annihilation and giving it a shot.
I am using this infographic for my recommended reading order, but you can find any other number of reading orders on the internet or on Marvel publication cards. I dislike jumping from series to series very quickly, so this fits my personal preference, but feel free to read however it works for you!
Bring tissues, because things get rough, but in a really phenomenal way.
**PLEASE CONTACT ME ABOUT ANY BROKEN LINKS OR ERRORS. I will replace/fix them as soon as possible. However, please check back and see if my current post has the broken links, and not just the version you are seeing if it has been reblogged from someone else. You need a 4shared account to download these files, but it’s a very useful thing to have anyway. :3**
Annihilation
An invading force from the Negative Zone decides that the universe’s expansion is a threat to its own existence, so clearly this universe needs to go.
Thanos 1-12: This is a prequel to Annihilation, but contains relevant material. 6-12 is really the “prequel” part, but I’ve included the entire thing for completion’s sake.
Annihilation: Silver Surfer 1-4
Annihilation: Super Skrull 1-4
Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files: Not part of the story, but includes dossiers and information on major characters and events.
Annihilation 1-6: The main series
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus 1-2
Nova v4: 1 | 2 | 3: Isn’t strictly part of Annihilation, but is a bridge between Nova in Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest. Also puts Civil War in context of Annihilation. Really gives you some perspective.
What if Annihilation Reached Earth?: This goes predictably well. It’s also very good.
Annihilation: Conquest
Annihilation Saga: Recap!
Annihilation: Conquest - Prologue: In which shit goes down.
Annihilation: Conquest: Quasar 1-4: In which Phyla-Vell settles into her new identity as Quasar.
Annhihilation: Conquest: Starlord 1-4: In which Peter Quill is, as always, amazing
Annihilation: Conquest: Wraith 1-4: In which you meet a pretty cool new character.
Nova v4 4-10: 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
War of Kings
The torrent from which I got these issues had them organized in a different order, but as I don’t like jumping around a lot when reading, I’ve placed them like this instead. If you wish to read them in exact chronological order, all of the files have a number indicating their chronology (Nova excepted, but you can easily fill in the blanks: Nova 23 is 12a, 24 is 15, 25 is 20, etc.).
War of Kings: Savage World of Skaar
Nova 22-28: 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28
War of Kings 1-6
Guardians of the Galaxy 18-19
Realm of Kings
See previous disclaimer about numbering and organization.
Guardians of the Galaxy 20-24
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard 1-5
Son of Hulk 1-4
The Thanos Imperative
The Thanos Imperative: Ignition
The Thanos Imperative: Devastation
Annihilators
I actually haven’t read these yet, but it was in the torrent, and who doesn’t like free stuff, so here you go!
Enjoy!
Nova (Rich Rider) Masterpost
So I’ve decided to put together a masterpost of one of my two favorite Cosmic Marvel characters, Rich Rider, or the original Nova (at least, the first person to star in a title by that name). I was going to stick Peter Quill in here, too, but then I found this awesome masterpost that was already up so I’m just going to shamelessly plug it here instead.
Seriously, though, you guys should totally give this a shot; I need more people to talk about him with! I of course encourage you to buy any comics you can still find, but many of these are out of print and impossible to track down.
If you want to read his older appearances, start here. If you’re interested in his more recent appearances, skip down to New Warriors v3 or Cosmic Marvel.
**PLEASE CONTACT ME ABOUT ANY BROKEN LINKS OR ERRORS. I will replace/fix them as soon as possible. However, please check back and see if my current post has the broken links, and not just the version you are seeing if it has been reblogged from someone else. You need a 4shared account to download these files, but it’s a very useful thing to have anyway. :3**
Nova v1
Rich Rider made his debut in 1976, meant to be an homage to Spider-Man as a high school kid who suddenly finds himself with powers. He is, unfortunately for him, not nearly as smart as Spider-Man, but he’s such an adorable dork you can’t help but love him. I have included all of this main series as well as significant crossovers. Rich cameoed in a lot of different series besides these, and I own them but haven’t read them all, so if I’m missing something significant (as opposed to a flyby or quick rescue), please let me know and I will add it!
Nova 1-12, Amazing Spider-Man 171 (crossover), Nova 13-19, Marvel Two-in-one Annual 03, Nova 20-25
The first volume ends here; however, dangling plot lines are resolved in Fantastic Four 206, 208, 209, and ROM 24
All of them are located in the folder linked above.
New Warriors v1
After all of these events, Rich joins up with the New Warriors via a completely safe and consensual manner of regaining his powers. Tumblr user Robbiebaldwin has made a masterpost of this awesome team, so go check that out! Rich shows up in all of these, plus some crossovers and annuals (which I don’t believe that post contains), which I’ve included here. If you just want an overview of his time during the New Warriors, it absolutely isn’t necessary to read these crossovers, but I’ve included them if you’re interested!
Here is the folder for the Annuals
Here is the folder for the crossovers
Also, don’t miss the all-important 1994 Marvel Swimsuit Special, which includes your favorite sexy Human Rocket in his swimming clothes!
Here is the reading order:
After issue 10 of New Warriors: Annual 1
After Issue 13: Infinity Gauntlet affair
Silver Surfer 52 and 54
Infinity Gauntlet 3
Silver Surfer 55
Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 33
Infinity Gauntlet 4
After Issue 26: Annual 2, Infinity War Affair
Infinity War 1-2
Fantastic Four 367
Marc Spector: Moon Knight 41
Infinity War 3
Wonder Man 13
Fantastic Four 368
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack 4
New Warriors 27
Quasar 38
Warlock And The Infinity Watch 8
Infinity War 4
Fantastic Four 369
Wonder Man 14
Silver Sable And The Wild Pack 5
Quasar 39
Infinity War 5
Wonder Man 15
Infinity War 6
Fantastic Four 370
After Issue 34: Annual 3
After Issue 35: Infinity Crusade Affair
Infinity Crusade 1 - 2
Warlock And The Infinity Watch 18
Web Of Spider-Man 104
Warlock And The Infinity Watch 19
Web Of Spider-Man 105
Warlock And The Infinity Watch 20
Infinity Crusade 3 - 4
Web Of Spider-Man 106
Infinity Crusade 5 - 6
Nova v2
After issue 42 of New Warriors, Nova gets his own series again! It is very unashamedly ’90s and we don’t talk about that hair.
These issues can all be read as a companion to the rest of New Warriors v1
Folder link for Nova Volume 2 download
Nova v3 and New Warriors v2
Like the previous volumes of these series, they can be read as companions to each other. Robbiebaldwin’s masterpost contains the New Warriors series.
Nova the Human Rocket (v3) can be found here.
For a brief period of time, Rich was on the New Warriors reality show. It’s cute. Go read it. Though it gets renewed for a second season, Nova ends up not signing on, as he is called up to deal with the Annihilation War.
Which is when everything becomes horrible (in the best way) forever.
It is during Annihilation that Nova becomes less of an Earth-based hero and focuses on dealing with extraplanetary threats instead, becoming one of the primary and most formidable forces in the Cosmic Marvel line.
(I will be focusing primarily on Rich’s part in these events, but if you are interested in the entire saga, I have made a Cosmic Marvel masterpost here.)
Annihilation
This all starts with Annihilation: Prologue.
Annihilation is an intricate storyline with a lot of different characters and series that cross over, but you absolutely don’t need to read all of them to get the story, or Rich’s story, only these two miniseries.
Annihilation: Nova covers Rich trying to deal with the consequences of Annihilation: Prologue
The Nova Corps Files is not a story, but includes dossiers on all of the players in Annihilation, Nova included.
Annihilation (1-6) has the main story of the resistance to the Annihilation Wave, in which Rich Rider (and Peter Quill!) play a large part.
He also appears in a one-shot What If issue: “What if Annihilation Reached Earth?“ This goes about as well as you’d expect, and is one of my favorite “What If” comics.
Nova v4
After the events of Annihilation, Nova got his own solo series, his first since the ’90s. This runs through Annihilation: Conquest and other cosmic events up to Thanos Imperative.
Here is the entirety of Nova v4
The annual should be read between issues 10 and 11, and the Origin of Richard Rider takes place between 21 and 22.
This series crosses over a few events, and Rich appears in a few of these:
Annihilation: Conquest prologue (very briefly, but it sets up Nova 4-12)
Annihilation: Conquest 6 (also briefly, but he plays a very important role)
Realm of Kings
See my Cosmic Marvel masterpost for download links and their placement in the Volume 4 chronology.
Secret Avengers
After Volume 4 ends, Rich becomes a member of the Secret Avengers for four issues.
I actually haven’t read these yet, oops, so if they leave off in the middle of a story, let me know and I’ll upload the rest.
I Am an Avenger
Rich also appears in a couple of issues of “I Am an Avenger,” which is a collection of short stories about various Avengers (Ant-Man, Young Avengers, Captain America, and others). He features most prominently in issue 3, but has a brief appearance in 2.
I’ve included all five, not just Rich’s (Because they’re cute stories, okay?)
The Thanos Imperative
Ignition, issues 1-6, and Devastation (read in that order).
Much of this post was put together using the help of The Nova Prime Page, which is an amazing resource for everything Rich Rider.
I hope you enjoy reading about Rich and his space adventures as much as I have!
