While Star-Lord is best known for his portrayal in the MCU, the character has a significantly longer history in the comics. As much as the MCU’s Star-Lord dingey red duster and the rarely used mask look fun on screen, the comics have introduced significantly more interesting costumes over the years. For a man who loves his vintage music, Peter Quill knows how to keep his fashion fresh.
Throughout his long tenure as a pirate turned galactic protector, Star-Lord has adopted many looks, each adapting to reflect his place within the galaxy. While he was originally a self-entitled cocky jerk, and still is to a degree, he’s long since stepped up and embraced with open arms the variety of life and culture the galaxy has to offer. While his tenure in the MCU may soon be over, his reign, and his many many costumes, in the comics are far from being over.
1 The Original Star-Lord
First Appeared In Marvel Preview #4 (1976)
Before his modern introduction in 2004, Star-Lord originally debuted in Marvel Preview #4 (1976) by Steve Englehart. This version of Star-Lord is a similar version to the modern Peter Quill, with a few key differences in his origin story. Similar to a character like Shazam, Peter’s powers and costume were originally granted by a space wizard as an inheritance of the galactic guardians known as Star-Lords.
Very much a product of its time, this costume is a sleek and vintage look, indicative with the 60s and 70s interest in retro-futurism. While it may feel outdated by today’s standards, the simple but unified aesthetic feels alien in nature, best representing the origin of Peter’s powers. If anything, Peter’s Green Goblin-esque glider is for sure a concept that needs to be brought back in the comics.
2 Space Criminal Peter Quill
First Appeared In Thanos #8 (2004)
Nearly thirty years later, Keith Griffen and Ron Lim resurrected the galactic hero with a brand new aesthetic and backstory. In his return debut, Quill was a hardened man burdened by the hundreds of thousands of deaths he had inadvertently caused while protecting a planet with millions. In an effort to rescind his humanity, Peter began implanting himself with multiple cybernetics.
Unlike his MCU counterpart, this Star-Lord was disgusted with himself and deeply repentant for what he had done despite how many he had saved. While a bit of an edgy way to display one’s dissatisfaction with oneself, the figurative display of Star-Lord’s struggle to feel human is a powerful one. Originally teaming up with Thanos at the time, Peter would soon find himself in the company of the fledgling Guardians of the Galaxy.
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3 The Dirty Dozen
First Appeared In Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord (2007)
After Annihilation’s defeat, Peter was conscripted to lead a new strike force comprised of criminals and outlaws. While the team had no official name at the time, Peter referred to themselves as the Dirty Dozen. Hoping to inspire his team, Peter had a new uniform created that leaned heavily into his “Star-Lord” name.
This new outfit is heavily inspired by older British military and police uniforms, while depending on the blue and gold color scheme to represent him being a “star” in the vast void of space. The most shocking part, and honestly the best part, of the costume is his mask. Peter wanted to leen into the legendary status his name had garnered in the war against Annihilation, desiring to hide his face so that “Star-Lord” could become an image. While he no longer possesses his cybernetic augmentations, the mask continues to serve as a way for Peter to distance himself from his sense of humanity. To date, this is probably one of the more drastic of his outfit choices while also being one of the sharpest he’s had.
4 The Guardians of the Galaxy
First Appeared In Guardians of the Galaxy #2 (2008)
Following the conclusion of their previous mission, Peter and portions of the “Dirty Dozen” were reformed into the newest iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy. With the new team also came a new appearance. While it doesn’t look like much has changed at first glance, it’s greater importance is that it was the benchmark for the Guardians’ unified outfits.
While the MCU did give fans a version of this look, the comic original continued to carry the authoritarian police look that his previous costume had. Despite being a band of criminals, the Guardians were peacekeepers, the galaxy’s independent police force. In addition to an updated mask and color scheme, the insignias that Peter originally had adorned on his uniform increased in size, making the Star-Lord brand clearly recognizable from a distance.
5 The Cosmic Avengers
First Appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (2013)
After leaving Earth-616 to deal with a threat in the Cancerverse, Peter returned back to his home dimension and reformed the Guardians once again. The series had taken a large hiatus due to low sales, but following the release of the MCU film, Marvel Comics decided to give the crew another shot. Now back with blonde hair and a semi-familiar callback to his original 1976 suit, the Guardians had overall ditched the unified aesthetic, allowing each member a little more personal stylization.
Once again, the insignia that Star-Lord often uses for his personal branding has expanded, now consuming large portions of his outfit. Additionally, Peter abandoned his authoritarian mask and helmet to better expose his face. Not only was he made to look significantly more superheroic, but by showing his face once again, Peter was accepting both himself and his humanity. Peter’s frequent use of gold accents in his costumes continues to be a prevalent factor and something the MCU severely missed out on.
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6 Tony Stark’s Iron Armor
First Appeared In Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 (2013)
An alternate costume that Star-Lord debuted during the same introduction of the same series, this outfit made its proper debut on the Ed McGuinness variant cover of Issue #.01. During this period of the Guardians, Iron Man had joined the team to help defend Earth from Thanos’s impending invasion. Until now, Star-Lord has never worn proper “armor.”
For the most part, Peter’s outfits were, and continue to be, primarily cloth. While the color scheme is a bit monotone, the deviation toward a proper looking space suit, which only Gamora had been wearing, gave Peter a commanding look. It almost highlights the comedic nature of Peter flying through space in nothing but thick jackets, leather, and spandex. While this look never had staying power in the comics, it leaves one wishing that Peter could get his own Iron Man armor in the future.
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7 King of Spartax
First Appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (2015)
Years later, just prior to 2015’s Secret Wars event, Peter’s father, the villainous King J’son of Spartax, had been overthrown, leaving Peter as heir to the thrown. As expected, Peter hated the role, frequently noting that he had no place in politics outside of his obligation. That said, his kingly attire is not only sleek and elegant but still draws in thematic aspects from his other outfits.
Bringing back his familiar black and blue motif, the golden accents from Peter’s previous costumes became a center point of the entire uniform. It’s also worth noting that the Star-Lord insignia that Peter had included in all of his suits is now excluded, further pulling himself away from “Star-Lord” to enforce his new identity as King of Spartax.
8 Return to the Guardians
First Appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy #2 (2013)
Peter was eventually ousted from his position as king, labeled a fugitive, and returned to the stars alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy. Peter’s new outfit embraces the general structure of his very first Guardians militaristic outfit while combining it with some of the adaptive looks he first received in the MCU. While he completely abandoned the dramatic nature of his king outfit, the return of the frequently used elements in his previous costumes signified his return to self.
However, this time the golden accents had been removed almost entirely. Outside of the Star-Lord insignia and his now-showing golden blonde hair, the greatest color change was the new white accents. In the chaos of battle, especially those in outer space, the new accents help establish a firm and noticeable silhouette.
9 Master of the Sun
First Appeared In Guardians of the Galaxy #9 (2020)
Following a series of events that saw the Gods of Olympus killed and reborn as “Dark Olympians,” Star-Lord summoned a black hole that devoured him and the Olympians, transporting them into an alternate universe. The process had also fused Star-Lord with the gods’ energy, transforming him into the Master of the Sun. In truth, the reality he had traveled to was the same one that the original Star-Lord hailed from.
Peter spent over a hundred years in that reality, accepting his new endlessly pointless life of ultimate power and fighting dark gods. By far his most unique outfit yet, this look signifies a version of Peter that forwent his previous attachments to embrace the carefree open-love lifestyle of a god. As fun as this outfit, especially including the beard, would look in the MCU, Star-Lord quickly cleaned himself up after returning to Earth-616 during the middle of Knull’s invasion.
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10 Galactic Outlaw
First Appeared In Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (2023)
Star-Lord’s most recent look, this outfit came about after the Guardians were left broken from within and disgraced across the galaxy. Now acting as grifters and outlaws on the outer edge of the galaxy, the Guardians took on entirely new looks. While Peter has always visibly presented himself as an officer or pirate, he’s consistently had this gunslinger mentality through it all.
Frankly, this costume is fantastic. While he still wears a variation of his traditional Guardian look, he has entirely covered himself up. Throughout his comic appearances, Peter’s outfits have reflected his sense of self at the time. Whenever he tries to hide his face, it means he’s trying to hide from himself, to distance himself away from his own image. This Western look is more than just that of a badass gunslinger, but another view into the Guardian’s psyche. The trench, the gloves, the hat, and returning to covering his face with the mask all show where Peter is mentally. More than any other, this outfit is the perfect mixture between aesthetically awesome and symbolically powerful.
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