50 Years Ago, Star-Lord Made His Bizarre Debut

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Each month, we take a look back at a comic book issue from 10, 25, or 50 years in the past. When there’s a fifth week in a month, we also feature a surprise comic. This time, we’re revisiting October 1975 to see the very first appearance of Peter Quill, known as Star-Lord—and it’s quite different from how most fans know him from the Guardians of the Galaxy!

Each month, I share two entries from historical dates – either 10, 25, or 50 years in the past. I usually focus on the 50-year anniversaries because they tend to have the most interesting related stories.

In 1964, James Warren grew his magazine publishing company by launching black and white horror magazines. Because they were classified as magazines and not traditional comic books, he avoided the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority – a loophole EC Comics had discovered earlier with Mad magazine. Warren was fortunate to have Archie Goodwin, a hugely talented creative force, who helped make Creepy and Eerie two of the most popular horror magazines ever published. Their success eventually inspired Marvel to create its own line of black and white magazines, though it took several attempts before finding a solid footing in the 1970s.

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While Savage Sword of Conan lasted much longer than other similar Marvel magazines, most of those black and white titles had trouble keeping characters popular. Interestingly, two characters who first appeared in those magazines eventually became important in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One was originally just a minor joke, but the other, Star-Lord, was always meant to be a main character – it just took time for that to happen!

Let’s take a look at Marvel Preview #5 from October 1975, where Peter Quill, known as Star-Lord, first appeared. This story, created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, is quite different from the character most fans are familiar with today!

What was Star-Lord’s deal when he was born?

The idea behind the character of Peter Quill is that he was born under a special astrological alignment – the planets lined up in a significant way at his birth. The writer, Englehart, even draws a parallel to the birth of Christ! It seems a bit much, but he does. Beyond that, Quill has a strong, clear motivation for wanting to become an adult and fight for justice across the galaxy, and I’ll explain that in a moment. Let’s start with the details of his birth…

Peter’s father attempted to kill him as a baby, believing he wasn’t his biological son, but unexpectedly died of a heart attack first. Later, his mother was killed by visiting aliens. Driven by grief and a desire for justice, young Peter committed his life to finding and destroying those responsible for his mother’s death.

That .

How did Peter Quill become Star-Lord?

Peter achieved his dream of becoming an astronaut, but his life changed dramatically when a strange being announced a search for a ‘Star-Lord’ – a protector of the galaxy. Peter, caught up in the moment, jumped at the chance, even though someone else deserved it. This led him to an encounter with the powerful Master of the Sun, who granted him incredible abilities.

Obviously, to make the character more like the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Peter Quill.

I’m looking for suggestions of comic books with cover dates for November (or any later month) from the years 1950, 1975, 2000, and 2015 to feature in a spotlight. If you have any ideas, please email me at brianc@cbr.com! Keep in mind that comic books usually hit stores about two months after their cover date, so a book with an October cover likely came out in August. It’s easier to pinpoint release dates for more recent books thanks to online resources, but I’m happy to consider suggestions from any of those years.

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2025-11-01 06:12