Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, Peter Quill made his first appearance in Marvel Preview #4 (1976), a black-and-white magazine published under Marvel’s Curtis imprint. Unlike the wisecracking outlaw we know today, this early Star-Lord was a brooding, cosmic adventurer. Englehart’s vision leaned into mature and spiritual sci-fi stories that were more 2001: A Space Odyssey than Guardians of the Galaxy.

Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, Peter Quill made his first appearance in Marvel Preview #4 (1976), a black-and-white magazine published under Marvel’s Curtis imprint.

Unlike the wisecracking outlaw we know today, this early Star-Lord was a brooding, cosmic adventurer. Englehart’s vision leaned into mature and spiritual sci-fi stories that were more 2001: A Space Odyssey than Guardians of the Galaxy.

— PSAcard (@PSAcard) Oct 16, 2025