Gamora #1

By Nicole Perlman, Marco Checchetto, Andres Mossa, and Travis Lanham.

This week launched Marvel’s newest female titled series, Gamora, and this series has been a long time coming. We all know Gamora from the movies and comics as the “deadliest woman in the galaxy” and this series is going to show how she earned that title and what her life was like before the Guardians of the Galaxy when she was a ward of Thanos. Let’s be honest, it’s about time Gamora had her own series. She is a character that has been around for a long time, has a great backstory, and has never has the platform to really go into the details of her history. In Gamora #1, this series is off to a fantastic start with all the promises to finally deliver a series worth waiting for.

Perlman is at the helm of this series, writing a story built around the dynamic between the three main characters of Gamora, Thanos, and Nebula. We all know that Gamora and Nebula are the adopted daughters of Thanos, and they both fell into being there through some tragedy. Gamora fell into Thanos’ grasp after she became an orphan when the Badoon killed all her people. Thanos took her in, made her an assassin and used her for his benefit.

What Perlman does beautifully here is make the dysfunctional family of Thanos, Nebula, and Gamora relatable to the reader. Thanos is the proud father who will pit the children against each other to push them to their limits to get the best out of them. He clearly announces Gamora as his favorite, even though Gamora could care less and it clearly beaks Nebula’s heart. Gamora is the oldest and focused child, who wants to prove that she is ready to live her own life and does not need anyone. That leaves Nebula as the jealous younger child who desperately wants to be as valued as Gamora and will do anything Thanos asks to win his approval. Nebula almost steals this issue away from Gamora with her plotting and trickery, that it gives their dynamic a familiar Thor and Loki feel that will surely provide great storylines in future issues. This dynamic is what will move this series along and really add depth to every character. It is exciting to see a well-known character like Thanos in this series, as we get to see this new side to him as a quasi father to two rascally daughters.

Gamora #1 has great artwork throughout the issue that really makes it a real stand out. Line work is from Checchetto, with colors from Mossa, and letters from Lanham.  Cosmic books can feel a little dreary and overwhelming, but Checchetto does a great job to give this book a clean, shiny cosmic feel, while also giving it tons of great detail. This book is expertly paced with great buildup to the action sequences with intimate moments between Gamora and Nebula. Gamora is made to look like the badass overtaking an entire bloodline of the Badoon by herself. There are great heroic poses of Gamora throughout the issue while in battle, and it is so fantastic to see Gamora in the center of each action panel looking even more of a bad ass than before. A particular moment that sealed Gamora in the Badass Woman Hall of Fame was during a fight between herself and Nebula. Gamora is grabbed by her long braid by Nebula and she attempted to draw her closer to strike her using the braid, Gamora senses the move and then pulls a shard of glass out of her leg and then uses it to cut her hair off, freeing herself from Nebula’s grasp.

Gamora #1 gives you all the badass moments you hoped for, all the feels for Nebula you did not expect, and all the hope in the world that this series will be great. This first issue leaves the reader fully invested into Gamora’s crazy family, and also rooting for her to kill people in a weird way. This is for sure the Gamora story we were hoping for and hopefully we can look forward to having a Nebula titles series too.