User:Brian Kurtz/To Do

Comic connections

 * Gamora: Gamora is an alien assassin-turned-freedom fighter. She first appeared in Strange Tales, Volume 1 #180 in June, 1975. Gamora is the last member of the Zen-Whoberian race. She was born on her people's homeworld of Zen-Whoberi some twenty years into the future of the modern era. The Universal Church of Truth committed a massacre on her world, wiping out nearly the entire Zen-Whoberi population. The demagogue Thanos rescued the infant Gamora and raised her as his own. Through Thanos, Gamora was trained in advanced combat fighting techniques and became a master assassin. Traveling backwards in the past with her, Thanos employed her services to eliminate threats to his ever-growing bid for power. Gamora eventually betrayed Thanos and struck out on her own. She aligned herself with Adam Warlock and eventually became a member of the Infinity Watch. She later joined a modern-era incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy.


 * Groot: Groot is a plant-like life-form of the Flora Colossus race from Planet X. The character was originally conceived as a non-Marvel Universe sci-fi monster by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1960 in the pages of Tales to Astonish #13. For years, Groot was simply another of literally dozens of one-shot space monster villains, but like the others, was eventually included in canon continuity. He made his first official "canon" appearance in Incredible Hulk, Volume 2 Annual #5. He later became a member of the second iteration of the Howling Commandos (monster team) as well as one of the main members of the modern-era Guardians of the Galaxy.


 * Guardians of the Galaxy: The Guardians of the Galaxy was originally conceived as a cosmic superhero team from the 31st century, who were introduced in the pages of Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in January, 1969. The name was recycled for a modern-era incarnation of the team, which is what the Guardians featured in this episode are based on. This iteration of the group was introduced in the first issue of their own ongoing series, Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2. Although the team roster has fluctuated some since their inception, the core members of the group, Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Gamora and Rocket Racoon, are all represented relatively faithfully in this episode.


 * Star-Lord: Star-Lord is a half-human and half-Spartoi cosmic adventurer. He was created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan and first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 in January, 1976. He was one of the main characters featured in Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3. Born on Earth, his mother was killed by aliens, prompting Quill to seek revenge. He joined NASA and impersonated a man who had been chosen by the Master of the Sun to take on the role of a cosmic policeman under the title Star-Lord. Star-Lord revised his costume, weaponry and attitude some years later and became involved in the Annihilation Conquest incident, which subsequently gave birth to the modern-era iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.


 * Tana Nile: In this episode, Tana Niles appears as a character on a video game called Space Battle, which Pete and Sam are seen playing in the beginning of the episode. The comic version of Tana Nile is not a character from a video game, but is actually a female member of the Rigellian race. She was originally conceived as a foe of Thor back in Thor, Volume 1 #129 in 1966, but later became a member of the Daydreamers.