Gamora #1 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Sibling Rivalry

Written By: Nicole Perlman
Art By: Marco Checchetto, Andres Mossa
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 21, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I was starting to doubt that this book would ever happen. For those that are unaware, this book was originally slated to be a part of All-New, All-Different Marvel. Then the book got pushed back to October where it stayed until the Marvel NOW! announcement which pushed it back once again to December but the wait is finally over and the story of the deadliest woman in the galaxy begins. Now, admittedly my knowledge surrounding Gamora is rather limited but I am a big fan of her character and when I saw that she was getting a solo book, I immediately put it on my pull list. So, let’s stop talking about the book and instead, lets just jump right into it.

We begin our story with Gamora laying on the floor. She isn’t asleep as her nightmares keep her awake and she is visited by Thanos who she calls Father. This story is taking place in the past when Gamora was Thanos’ ward rather than a present day story. Thanos gives Gamora a gift and this year it is the ability to cure her pain. We cut to the planet Moord where the king is on his deathbed and he gives a confession. This planet seems to kill their female hatchlings but on his deathbed, the Brother Royale admits that he had a daughter and instead of smothering her, he sent her away in hopes that she would live. The Brother Royale’s son then undergoes his coronation when members of the crowd suddenly begin to be taken out one by one. Thanos and Nebula watch as Gamora takes her vengeance on these people and voices her own jealousy.

Meanwhile, Gamora destroys the family tree of these royals and when she reaches the final one he asks who she is. She tells him that she is the last of the Zen-Whoberis and the prince tells her that he’s never even heard of her race. She kills him and says that soon people will say the same for his. Unfortunately, Gamora having her vengeance doesn’t seem to help her heal. During this time, Thanos and Nebula have made their way through the area until the reach the vault. While he does this, he speaks with Nebula and stokes the fires of her jealousy for Gamora. When they finally reach the vault, Thanos tells her that the reason he is here is to grab something known as The Elemental and he takes a prisoner in order to find its location.

Meanwhile, on the Badoon Orbital Bunker, the remaining members of the race discuss going after the daughter of the Brother Royale in order to regain control of their people who have broken out into riots and chaos. Unfortunately, the child resides on Ubliex, a place no one escapes. Back on Thanos’ ship, Gamora awakes once more and makes her way to the room where Nebula currently is. When she turns her back, Nebula gives in to her jealousy and attacks Gamora. Gamora sees through this easily though and is able to pin Nebula with ease. Gamora expresses her disappointment in Nebula as a sister. This allows Nebula to grab a piece of broken glass and stab Gamora’s leg. This causes Gamora to fall back and Nebula grabs a hold of her hair braid. Gamora cuts her hair braid off and quickly knocks Nebula down once again before Thanos breaks up their fight.

We go to the next day where Nebula has continued her interrogation of the prisoner in order to find The Elemental. In order to buy himself some rest, the prisoner tells Nebula about the daughter of the Brother Royale. Nebula immediately uses this information to her benefit and tells Gamora about the sole survivor of the Badoon. Gamora thinks that this is why she doesn’t think the job feels finished and immediately sets off to Ubliex in order to kill the final member of the royal family. We see a bounty hunter receiving a bid for a job from the council that we saw earlier. It is one of the biggest bids he’s ever seen and he knows this is going to be trouble but he takes the job anyway. We then cut back to Thanos who is playing chess with Nebula when he is notified of a small ship leaving his own. It was headed to Ubliex and he is immediately angered and attacks Nebula who is able to convince him that Gamora knew what she was getting into and she didn’t even have to trick her sister into going. We end with a scene of Gamora nearing Ubliex which resides close to a black hole The black hole’s gravity is so strong that most ships are unable to escape it’s pull. This is where the issue leaves us.

This comic is made for people like me who like the character but aren’t too familiar with her past. That said, while there are a few instances of battle, most of the issue is setting up the story that is to come. Hopefully that will pay off in the long run and we will look back at this issue with fond memories of the story that it set up. However, at this point, it is hard to say that this book is worth the price of admission. It was a fine story and I feel like I’ve got a good handle on these characters now that I’ve read this book. In addition, the art in this book is absolutely incredible. Checchetto is not an artist that I’m very familiar with but I have a feeling that I’m going to be following his career for quite some time after this. That being said, for all the good in this book, there isn’t much story but I’m looking forward to the future.

Bits and Pieces

Gamora gets a slow start out of the gate with this issue. It certainly isn’t bad but this is the kind of issue that’s value will be determined by whether or not the story that follows it is any good. If it is, we will look back on this issue fondly, if not we will wish this issue had started something better. This is a middle of the road book at this point but hopefully we will get something more exciting in the issues to come.

6.5/10