By Zack Quaintance — There is a question at the center of Nebula #1 and it is this — just because one can invent a certain technology, does that mean they should? This, of course, is a timely question, as the impact of big tech on the world and country is a continued source of consternation in society. We are as a civilization emerging from an age where we invented fast and often, and now because of the results of those inventions, we’re having to grapple with whether advances (especially in social media and data collection) were good ideas in the first place.

This is heady stuff, and it serves Nebula #1 quite well. Nebula is essentially a side character in the Thanos mythos, one that with her depiction in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy / Avengers movies has come to be increasingly intwined with tech. Writer Vita Ayala, artist Claire Roe, colorist Mike Spicer, and letterer Travis Lanham taking Nebula in a more philosophical way thematically is an inspired choice, one that makes for a stellar debut issue for this mini-series.

But don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a comic where deep philosophy is the whole thing that’s for sale. You won’t find Nebula writing lengthy journal entries about the nature of her being or having pages of talking head discussions with a scientist about his work. No, this is very much a comic that’s told and paced like a breakneck action one-off. Our plot sees Nebula pursuing a tech upgrade to her own physiology that can give her constant threat probability, enabling her to almost (but not quite) see her own immediate future. To get that upgrade, she has to fight her way onto a ship and threaten the designer, eventually coming into conflict with other pursuers of the same innovation. The questions about ethical tech all stem from this tight and well-paced story. This issue is, simply put, a stellar and layered work of action comic book storytelling.

And, of course, much credit is owed to Roe’s illustrations. This whole book looks great, but I was particularly impressed with Roe’s work depicting a full page of hand-to-hand (or headbutt to headbutt, as it were) combat. Roe packs in 9 panels on the page in question, but doesn’t use the standard 9-panel grid, instead varying panel sizes in a way that most efficiently imparts information while also accentuating the impact of landed headbutts and knees to the stomach. You can practically feel the strikes on this page, so kinetic are they. Like the rest of this book, it’s all really well-done.

Overall: This issue is, simply put, a stellar and layered work of action comic book storytelling, one that has more to do with relevant philosophical questions about ethical use of tech than it does Nebula’s past continuity. 9.0/10

Nebula #1
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Claire Roe
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Solicit: Nebula has grown under the shadows of Thanos and Gamora, but no longer! With her eyes set on a top-secret device, Nebula has big plans for her future-and she's not about to let anyone get in her way! But her goal may end up costing her more than she's willing to pay after a showdown with one of the cosmos most feared bounty hunters....

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.