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Star-Lord Comics Reading Order, Peter Quill’s Cosmic Marvel Guide

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The introduction of Star-Lord in the Marvel Comics Universe didn’t come with a boom but with editorial complications. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character made his first appearance in Marvel Preview #4 in 1976. He was supposed to go, according to its creator, from “being a jerk to the most cosmic being in the universe.” However, things changed quickly when Steve Englehart left Marvel, and Chris Claremont took over the character. Claremont’s revamp led to some legal issues due to his heavy reliance on Robert A. Heinlein’s work as inspiration. fter that, Star-Lord made only a few appearances before disappearing from the scene. This version of the character is no longer considered a part of the regular Marvel Universe anymore.

In 2005, Peter Quill/Star-Lord was introduced by Keith Giffen and Ron Lim in the ongoing Thanos comic series. This introduction led him to play a part in the Annihilation saga, and then in the new incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy series from Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

Now with a revised origin story, Peter is revealed to be the son of an alien named J’son, who crashed on Earth and met Meredith Quill. When J’son left to go back to fighting his intergalactic war, he didn’t know that Meredith was pregnant. A decade later, enemies of his father J’son came to Earth and murdered his mother. Orphaned, Peter was raised by hMeredith’s ‘s best friend Lisa Chang, a commander at NASA. He was destined to join the stars.

During a mission in Space, Peter Quill’s ship malfunctioned and was discovered by a group of space pirates led by Yondu, the Ravagers. After some convincing, he was allowed to join them. That’s how his cosmic adventures started… that you can right now discover with our Star-Lord Reading Guide!

Star-Lord Comics in Order

The 1970s Star-Lord

Also known as the Star-Lord of Earth-791, this version of the character is not what his creator intended it to be nor it is connected to what people now know of Peter Quill. But you may be interested in exploring those 1970s (and a bit beyond) sci-fi comic adventures as Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning hinted that they wanted to connect it to the contemporary version of the character.

  • Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy
    Collects Marvel Preview #4, 11, 14-15, 18 (Star-Lord stories); Marvel Super Special #10 (Star-Lord story); Marvel Spotlight (1979) #6-7; Marvel Premiere #61; Star-Lord (1996) #1-3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Icon

Star-Lord and The Annihilation Saga

Peter Quill officially joined the main Marvel Universe when its cosmic universe was seriously relaunched in the mid-2000s with the Annihilation saga. Star-Lord first appeared in Thanos (2003) #8-12, then in the first Annihilation event–more precisely the main Annihilation miniseries, but it’s hard to find it nowadays collected by itself.

The follow-up crossover story, Annihilation Conquest, featured Peter Quill once again in the main miniseries, as well as in his own comic miniseries. It was during this time that Star-Lord recruited Rocket Raccoon to join his team.

Star-Lord The Saga Of Peter Quill

Some of those stories are now available in a Star-lord dedicated book:

Star-Lord and The Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy comic series starts here! It’s a good entry point if you want to skip the whole crossover event that precedes it.

  • Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning Omnibus
    Collects Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #1–25, The Thanos Imperative: Ignition, The Thanos Imperative #1–6, The Thanos Imperative: Devastation, material from Annihilators #1–4, Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4.
These comic books are also available in the following more affordable collections:

Brian Michael Bendis’ Guardians of the Galaxy with Star-Lord

It’s the entry point for those who want a version of Star-Lord and The Guardians of the Galaxy that is similar to the ones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Before going into more details, you can find those stories in one big omnibus:

  • Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus
    Guardians Avengers Assemble (2012) #1-8; Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #0.1, 1-27; Guardians of the Galaxy Annual (2014) #1; Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers (2013) #1; All-New X-Men (2012) #22-24; Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians of the Galaxy) #1; Guardians of Knowhere (2015) #1-4; Guardians Team-Up (2015) #1-2.

When Brian Michael Bendis introduced this new version of The Guardian of the Galaxy, he didn’t explain immediately how Peter Quill was back at the head of this team following the events of The Thanos Imperative. This is explained later in Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) issues #18-20. Instead, the story started with an Avengers story featuring Thanos, where the Guardians intervene. After this, the new Guardians of the Galaxy ongoing comic series began.

Starting after GotG #20, the Legendary Star-Lord from Sam Humphries, Paco Medina, and Freddie Williams focused on some of Peter Quill’s solo adventures.

Read Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #21-23 after issue #8 as issues Legendary Star-Lord #9-11 are part of The Black Vortex storyline, as well as issues #24-25 of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Once The Black Vortex storyline is concluded, jump back to Legendary Star-Lord #12 before going back to Guardians of the Galaxy with the last two issues, #26 and #27.

To read the full “The Black Vortex” story, you can check out this following book, it’s certainly simpler that way.

  • Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex
    Collects Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 #24-25; Legendary Star-Lord #9-11; All-New X-Men #38-39; Guardians Team-Up #2; Nova #28; Cyclops #12; Captain Marvel #14; Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega #1.

Star-Lord in the Marvel Universe Post-Secret Wars

Then came the 2015’s Secret Wars which gave us the Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde comic miniseries and the Marvel Universe went through what was a sort of relaunch with a new status quo. Take a look at our Essential Kitty Pryde Comic Book List to discover more about her character!

  • Secret Wars
    Collects Secret Wars #0,#1-9, Free Comic Book Day 2015. Peter appeared in a few issues of the main event. After issue #4, read Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde.
  • Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde
    Collects Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #1–3, Generation Next #1, Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega #1.

Post-secret Wars, as the superhero universe is somewhat redefined, Star-Lord still has a comic solo series, but he is not a full-time member of The Guardians of the Galaxy (the series is still written by Bendis). Nevertheless, Peter still appeared in the series, but not in the same position.

Then came Civil War II which changed the Guardians of the Galaxy as the team finished by being grounded on Earth. Check out the reading order for the event to know how to read the following issues.

After Guardians of the Galaxy #13, the team is disbanded. The creative team of Chip Zdarsky and Kris Anka is now in charge of the solo Star-Lord comic series.

After Star-Lord #6 (and before Star-Lord Annual #1), the Guardians of the Galaxy reformed in Guardians of the Galaxy #19, the last issue written by Bendis.

No more Bendis, but the Guardians keep fighting on in a few one-shots and a miniseries before a new writer took over for the next ongoing.

Star-Lord and the All-New Guardians of the Galaxy by Gerry Duggan

Gerry Duggan is the new writer and Marvel is launching the All-New Guardians of the Galaxy. The stories were published out of order, but know that Secret Empire is set in the middle of it, between issues #10 and #12–see the reading order for the event.

With Marvel Legacy, the numbering of issues changed, but the story continues.

Gerry Duggan was the architect of the Infinity Wars event, which featured Peter Quill and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

  • Infinity Wars by Gerry Duggan: The Complete Collection
    Collects Infinity Countdown Prime #1, Infinity Countdown #1-5, Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock #1, Free Comic Book Day Amazing Spider-Man/Guardians of the Galaxy 2018 (Guardians of the Galaxy Saga), Infinity Wars Prime #1, Infinity Wars #1-6, Infinity Wars: Fallen Guardian #1, Infinity Wars: Infinity #1, Thanos Legacy #1 (B story).

Star-Lord and Old Man Quill

Gerry Duggan handed over the Guardians of the Galaxy to Donny Cates, with artists Geoff Shaw and Cory Smith, following the conclusion of Infinity Wars.

During that time, Peter got the “Old Man” treatment. It’s not the same character, it’s Peter Quill from Earth-21923.

Once Donny Cates left the book, Al Ewing and Juan Cabal took over.

Last Annihilation marked the end of that run. Peter and the Guardians didn’t come back immediately in a new volume of the series. After appearing in Fantastic Four (2018) #42 & #43 as part of the Reckoning War crossover, they just disappeared for a good year before a new relaunched by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Kev Walker.

The Story continues…

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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