Vance Astro

Vance Astro, born Vance Astrovik and going by the nickname Major Victory, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as being from the Earth-691 timeline of the Marvel Universe.

Publication history

Astro first appeared as a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the partial reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes with issue #18 (Jan. 1969), written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan. He appeared sporadically in several Marvel titles, such as Marvel Two-In-One #4-5 (July-Sept. 1974), and Giant Size Defenders #5 and Defenders #26-29 (July-Nov. 1975). In each case, other heroes such as Captain America, the Thing, and the Defenders aid Astro and the Guardians against the alien Badoon. The Guardians were also featured in Marvel Presents #3-12 (Feb. 1976 - Aug. 1977).

This was followed by a series of appearances in Thor Annual #6 (1977), The Avengers #167-177 (Jan.-Nov. 1978) and #181 (March 1979), Marvel Team-Up #86 (Oct. 1979), and Marvel Two-in-One #69 (Nov. 1980). In the 1990s Astro starred in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1, which ran for 62 issues. It was initially written and illustrated by Jim Valentino. Michael Gallagher commenced writing the title from issue #29 (Oct. 1992) until cancellation in July 1995.