Celebrate this incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s tenth anniversary while also prepping for the May 5 release of the new film with these gems from Marvel Unlimited!

After coming all the way across the cosmos to help former member Captain Marvel in her fight against another fellow former pal, Iron Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy found themselves torn apart thanks to one piece of information: Thanos was imprisoned on Earth and neither Marvel nor Star-Lord told anyone. Feeling betrayed, Gamora left first, followed by the others. It didn’t help, of course, that their ship had been destroyed in the events of Civil War II, so the remaining issues of the series—GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #15–19—featured solo stories from Brian Michael Bendis, Valerio Schiti, and a group of guest artists.

The first story focused on Ben Grimm, the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing. After he enjoyed the perks of being one of the most beloved heroes on the planet, Maria Hill approached him about leading a task force looking into Doctor Doom’s recent turn into a hero. This tale carried directly into another Bendis book, INFAMOUS IRON MAN.

The next issue found Bendis channeling his inner Dr. Seuss as he told a rhyming tale about Groot fighting Armadillo in New York City, even though it raised the ire of some passersby. Thanks to a little boy, though, the Flora Colossus had friends to back him up.

Up next, Gamora ran into a task force consisting of Sasquatch, Aurora, Ms. America, and Spectrum while scoping out Thanos’ prison. After seemingly making short work of the Earthlings, the most dangerous woman in the galaxy found herself punched-out and, soon, talking to Captain Marvel while fully bound. Carol told her old teammate that Thanos had escaped and that she’d arranged for a Shi’Ar ship to take Gamora anywhere she wanted. Assuming she had been lied to again, the emerald assassin escaped and made her way to the Mad Titan’s cell only to discover that he no longer filled it and that she would be its new occupant.

We then flashed back to immediately after the Guardians’ first battle during Civil War II to see Angela fly off in an effort to take care of some unfinished business. After failing to find Sera, she fought Maxilin the Accuser who had a few run-ins with Gamora previously. Following his defeat, the Accuser told Angela that others were coming for them all.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2015) #15

• Published: December 14, 2016
• Rating: Rated T
• Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
• Penciller: Valerio Schiti
• Cover Artist: Arthur Adams

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This brought us to the final issue of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY from Bendis, Schiti, and guests like Phil Noto, Ed McGuinness, Kevin Maguire, Sara Pichelli, Andrea Sorrentino, Arthur Adams, Mark Bagley, and Filipe Andrade. After escaping Earth, Thanos met with Annihilus, the Brood Queen, and others to ally themselves against the third planet from the sun. Upon arriving, the Mad Titan told the world that he intended to help Earth become part of the cosmic collective, but only after giving up the Guardians. While Carol took Rocket to a spaceship graveyard, Drax and Star-Lord faced Thanos first, soon enough joined by Groot, Venom, Kitty Pryde, and The Thing.

Meanwhile, Thanos’ alliance intended to betray him and just destroy Earth anyway, but Angela made short work of the Brood and threatened to do the same to the rest of them. As you might expect, they left with haste. By then, Rocket had rigged up a spaceship and arrived in time to join his fellow Guardians as Gamora made her way to the battlefield…and let her friends beat her enemy for her. In the end, the Nova Corps came to pick Thanos up and then Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, and Drax left for all new adventures in the stars!

Transmissions from Knowhere

Though the team found themselves split up on Earth, they continued to thrill readers in a variety of solo series. GAMORA looked at the heroine’s early days thanks to Nicole Perlman and Marco Checchetto. Matthew Rosenberg and Jorge Coelho chronicled Rocket’s further adventures while Chip Zdarsky and Kris Anka did the same with Peter Quill in STAR-LORD.

That’s all for Guarding the Galaxy. Go see “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” in theaters today and look for ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1 by Gerry Duggan and Aaron Kuder, which launched this week!

Every Friday we use the powers of Marvel Unlimited to look back at the very first appearance of a major character, place or object that made waves this week.

One of the best parts of long-running shared super hero universes is getting to see characters go from inexperienced newbies to universe-saving heroes. That’s been the case with Richard Rider, better known as Nova. In this week’s NOVA #6 by Jeff Loveness and Ramon K. Perez, readers found out even more about his time away in the Cancerverse; while looking back at his six years away from the spotlight, why not go all the way back to his first appearance?

Richard Rider debuted in NOVA #1—from 1976 by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema—losing a basketball game for his team behind Harry S. Truman High School. Quickly we met his friend Ginger and tormentor Mike. Feeling depressed, ineffectual, and common, Rich sat at Uncle Fudge’s with Ginger when he got zapped by a shattered Nova flying near Earth. The being transferred his power to Rider in hopes that the young man could stop the world-destroying Zorr.

After spending some time in the hospital and getting a feel for his powers, Richard fought Zorr, but ultimately the previous Nova teleported the villain to his ship to disintegrate him himself, leaving his would-be successor with more than a few questions. That first appearance set up everything from Rich’s self-described inferiority complex, to his human rocket powers, to the connection to other Nova Corps members out in space, and even his iconic catch phrase “Blue Blazes!”

That first solo series went on to pit the new hero against bad guys like Condor, Powerhouse, Diamondhead, Sphinx, and even a brainwashed Thor as his solo exploits continued until its 25th issue. Still out in space at that time, he appeared in a few other books, including ROM #24, which saw him give up his powers on Xandar after defeating invading Skrulls. He kicked around for a while, thinking his abilities really had gone until NEW WARRIORS #1, when Night Thrasher drops him off a building and they return!

Nova (1976) #1

• Published: September 10, 1976
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: February 19, 2009
• Penciler: Joe Sinnott, John Buscema

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Richard became an integral part of the New Warriors as their series ran from 1990-1996. During that time, he also gained another solo series, this one going from 1994 to 1995. Both books worked to flesh Rich out and offer even more information about his place in the universe.

After some time out of the spotlight, Richard Rider came back in a big way thanks to the Annihilation event. In the pages of ANNIHILATION: PROLOGUE and ANNIHILATION: NOVA, Rider not only defended the entire Nova Corps Worldmind, but also worked against the Annihilation Wave moving on to the main series, ANNIHILATION. Writers Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett carried through into the 2007-launching series that ran for 36 issues.

Up until this current run, Rider hadn’t been seen since he, Star-Lord. and Drax trapped themselves in the Cancerverse with the title villain at the end of THE THANOS IMPERATIVE. Readers got a little more information about how Nova helped get his friends out in the pages of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18–20. Not bad for a kid from Long Island who thought of himself as ineffectual and as far from special as possible.

Flash Forward

Did you know that Richard Rider almost had a Marvel Comic? “Sure,” you’re thinking, “He had plenty!” That’s true, but he almost got one in continuity as seen in the pages of NOVA #5. Marvel Comics existed within the 616 universe, producing books based on Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Dracula, and others. In this issue, Richard heard that the editors were looking to meet with him to pitch a book to Stan Lee! He went to the offices and even met with a couple of guys named Marv Wolfman and Sal Buscema. They wanted a demonstration of his powers, which led into a battle with a giant robot, but ultimately, Stan nixed the book in favor of something called MIDAS THE MILLION DOLLAR MOUSE.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man has died after his vehicle was swept off a road near a flooded creek in Missouri, marking the 10th death blamed on flooding in the Midwest, authorities said Friday.