It’s that time of year again: San Diego Comic-Con! It’s the biggest pop culture event of the year…and someday I’ll get to go. Personally, I don’t like large crowds, and it would be super expensive, so I haven’t gone yet. But someday I hope to go as a vendor to sell Gamer Girl & Vixen comics. But until then, I’ll continue one of my favorite traditions of the year: fan-casting a superhero roster!

This year we’re going to do the Guardians of the Galaxy!

The current team

I’ve played this game for several years now, fan-casting the likes of the Avengers, Justice League, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans, Sinister Six, X-Men, X-Force, Defenders and the Exiles! A guy can dream!

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a ragtag band of space heroes dedicated to doing good and saving the day in outer space. They’re far more popular in the movies than they are in the comics, but they recently had a comic-based roster shakeup that inspired this list. Obviously the easy answer to this game would be to just use the movie roster for the comic team…but where’s the fun in that?

Join me after the jump for the six spacey heroes I’d have on my Guardians of the Galaxy comic book team! And feel free to share your own fan-casting ideas in the comments!

6. Gamora

Deserves better than Peter Quill

Who is she: The Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy, Gamora is a badass alien warrior hero. She’s the adopted daughter of Thanos after her entire species was wiped out. Thanos trained her to be an assassin, and she later rebelled against him and joined the cosmic good guys.

Why pick her: Originally, I’d put Star-Lord in this spot as the one “classic” member to anchor the team. I figured he was the best focus character to ensure this as the Guardians of the Galaxy. But then I realized Gamora could fill the same role, and I would rather have Gamora on the team than Star-Lord. She’s the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy, with a lot of great history with Thanos, and having a leadership role would be a nice way to grow her character. Star-Lord is fine, but when picking from the five movie members, I’d go with Gamora as the new team leader.

5. Rocket Raccoon

Is perfectly matched with Groot

Who is he: Rocket Raccoon’s story is pretty weird, the character having originated back in the 70s. Suffice to say, he’s a science experiment that turned an animal into a walking, talking badass jerkass. He came back into prominence during Annihilation: Conquest and joined the comic book Guardians revival, lining him up perfectly for the movie. He’s a gun-toting, quip-making space hero!

Why pick him: It would be too easy to just put the main five members on this list and call it a day. So that’s not what I’m doing. But I think Rocket is another one of those characters who just needs to be on the team lineup to really count as the Guardians of the Galaxy, at least in their modern day incarnation. He’s great comic relief, brings a lot to battle, has oodles of charm and is a wonderful supporting player. Plus the Gamora/Rocket friendship would be a fun way to ground the series in the classic team lineup, while letting the new characters grow the group.

4. Darkhawk

Never forget the 90s

Who is he: Chris Powell was an ordinary guy who randomly stumbled upon a magic amulet that allowed him to turn into Darkhawk, an armored warrior. His popularity rose and fell in the 90s before he faded into relative obscurity. The past few years have seen multiple attempts to rebrand, revamp, retcon and relaunch Darkhawk to varying degrees of success.

Why pick him: I have always liked Darkhawk, almost entirely because his costume is radical! I never really read the Darkhawk comic in the 90s, but he was a highlight of my trading card collection because he just looked so cool. Darkhawk was recently retconned to be a space character, a member of the Fraternity of Raptors assassin squad. He’s had multiple revamps since then, but remains something of a space-based character. I would definitely snag him for a team membership in the Guardians as something of as sad-sack character. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I think that’s a good direction for him.

3. Angela and Sera

All comics need space love

Who are they: Angela is a great story. Created by Neil Gaiman for some early issues of Spawn way back in the day, she became part of a long-lasting lawsuit between the people who owned Spawn and whether or not Gaiman owned Angela. The legal battle ended with Gaiman retaining the rights to Angela and then just selling the character to Marvel to add wholesale into the Marvel Universe. It’s such a weird turn of events!

Anyway, in Marvel, Angela is the long-lost daughter of Odin and Freyja, making her Thor’s sister. She was taken by the angels of Heven, the secret 10th Realm in Thor mythology (there’s a Hel, so why not a Heven?). She eventually returned to normal continuity, but has mostly been a background player for a while. Sera is her lover, one of the few openly transgender characters at Marvel. She was a servant angel who kicked butt and fought for her freedom, eventually joining up with Angela as a sidekick.

Why pick them: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is two characters, but I think Angela and Sera should always go together. If Marvel went to such lengths to give us this tight knit queer romance in the first place, they need to commit. It’s not like anybody is screaming for a solo, single Angela. Angela has already been a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, albeit briefly. So I’d have her join back up, act as the tough-as-nails muscle, with Sera tagging along as a quippy awesome person. Angela doesn’t really have anywhere else to go but on a team, and she shouldn’t be separated from Sera.

2. Quasar

Needs more comics

Who is she: Avril Kincaid was a SHIELD agent working at Pleasant Hill, the virtual reality neighborhood that served as a mind control prison for super-villains. When that blew up in SHIELD’s face, Avril fought against the villains and was eventually bequeathed the Quantum Bands by the original Quasar, Wendell Vaughn. Avril had a short-lived career as Quasar, eventually sacrificing herself only a few stories later in Secret Empire.

Why pick her: I have taken a liking to Avril Kincaid after I decided she would be Marvel’s best choice for a leading LGBTQ character in an MCU movie. She’s young, she’s gay, she’s got a character legacy to play with; this would have been Marvel’s chance to revive Quasar! But then they went and killed her. There have been hints that she’s still alive, and I would make that permanent. Bring her back and add her to this team as a young, fun, cheerful, powerhouse.

1. Cosmo

Don’t mess with the best

Who is he: Cosmo was a Russian space dog from the 1960s who drifted off course and wound up in deep space. He developed human-level intelligence and telepathy, then wound up as head of security at Knowhere. He’s awesome, and a good boy.

Why pick him: Cosmo is now a staple of the cosmic side of Marvel and needs to be used as such. I know he normally sticks around Knowhere, but he can travel, and should, with the Guardians of the Galaxy! He’s funny, charming and probably good in a scrape. He may not reach the popularity of Groot, but Cosmo deserves more time in the spotlight!

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So that’s my team, what about yours? Who would you include in your own custom Guardians of the Galaxy comic book lineup?

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