Friday, January 29, 2016

Character/Team Spotlight: Yondu and the Ravagers

Although it's happened before, it's not often you see characters who already exist become canon immigrants as well thanks to some creative adaptations, but that's exactly what has happened here.

Yondu Udonta first appeared as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (November 1968). As a Centaurian, he's a walking Native American stereotype, with loincloth, mohawk - headfin, excuse me, bow and arrow, and an empathic link to nature.


When Yondu appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie (2014), he was...not that. He wasn't even a Guardian of the Galaxy, but instead the leader of a gang of space pirates called the Ravagers.


As you can see, he still has the mohawk, but it seems more like an implant than a natural part of him, and with the rest of his changes, it plays more to a biker persona than a Native American one. He also uses an arrow as a weapon, but divorced from the bow, it seems less stereotypical as well.

As the comics version of the Guardians of the Galaxy - at least the version hat Yondu is a member of - lives in an alternate future, this version was brought into comics as Yondu's ancestor (also named Yondu), the leader of a gang of space pirates called the Ravagers.


Yondu first appeared in Star-Lord #1 (November 2015), while the Ravagers first appeared in Star-Lord #2 (December 2015). As in the movie, Star-Lord joins their team for a while.

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