The solo title for Marvel’s “deadliest woman in the galaxy” has been in the works for over two years, and now Gamora has finally hit stands and is wasting no time getting its lead character into murder mode. Written by Nicole Perlman (co-writer of the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie), with art by Marco Chechetto and colorist Andres Mossa, this series explores Gamora’s life before joining up with the Guardians, particularly her tense relationships with her adopted father and sister Thanos and Nebula. The series is set in the Marvel Comics Universe, but it feels like an origin story for the movie version of Gamora, which makes sense given Perlman’s involvement. That’s not a bad thing, and Perlman’s understanding of the film’s Gamora enriches the version of the character she’s working with on the page.
Gamora reads a lot like one of Marvel’s newer Star Wars books, only replacing the Star Wars universe with Marvel’s cosmic landscape. Much of that is because of Chechetto and Mossa, who have both contributed to recent Star Wars titles and know how to bring rich sci-fi spectacle to the page. This preview of next week’s Gamora #2 has the lead racing through space on her way to her latest target: a Badoon half-princess hiding away on a planet on the edge of an event horizon. The plot drops readers right into the middle of a high-octane dogfight, and the art team brings a thrilling energy to Gamora’s flight toward vengeance for the murder of her family. Getting to Ubliex is dangerous enough, but the situation will only get more perilous once Gamora lands and starts hunting her prey.