NEBULA READING ORDER: The Legacy of Thanos (1985-2015)

Thanos had died in battle with Adam Warlock (during THE FINAL THREAT) but that wouldn't be the end of his legacy. Before his inevitable return, creators Roger Stern and John Buscema would introduce us to Nebula - a woman who claimed to be the granddaughter and quickly proved herself to be a capable cosmic-level threat!

Death brought Thanos back with a mission to wipe out half the living beings in the cosmos (during REBIRTH OF THANOS) with a story written by Thanos creator Jim Starlin who took the opportunity to address Nebula's claims and shoot them down. Nebula continued to make claims about her connection Thanos, though it wasn't until the INFINITY event by Jonathan Hickman that we'd learn of the existence of Thanos' son, Thane. With Thanos' claims that he would never sire progeny called into question, the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' film in 2014 established Nebula as Thanos' daughter, something that would eventually become part of continuity in the comics as Marvel attempted to align with the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Below are Nebula's appearances in chronological order, with a few of her MCU-aligned stories included for good measure. Whether you want to think of her as Thanos' daughter or a pretender to throne, Nebula will no doubt continue to play a big part in the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe while her film counterpart stays in the spotlight.

MCG Notes:

• Issue listings in blue & black: The must-read Nebula stories from this time period, along with any often-forgotten tales that are worth a read.
• issue listings in grey: Part of Nebula's chronology, cameo appearances or stories of note that non-essential or no longer considered 'required reading'.
• Chronology: Every Nebula appearance from this period is included in chronological order - mapping out his timeline rather than just the order the issues were released.
• Spoilers: The are some spoilers in the story overviews, though I've tried to keep them to a minimum - just be warned!

Avengers #255-256 (1985)
No Nebula appearance - working behind the scenes; first appearance of Gunthar, Kehl, Levan, Skunge and 'Terminus' (Jorro); Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) heads deep into space on a solo mission to Sanctuary II, the gigantic starship once owned by Thanos; Captain Marvel encounters a band of space pirates under the leadership of someone called Nebula who has laid claim to the ship during THE WAR TO END ALL SKRULLS.

Avengers #257-259 (1985)
First appearance of Nebula; taken prisoner by space pirates aboard Sanctuary II, Captain Marvel meets their leader Nebula who announces her plan to take over what's left of the Skrull Empire; the Avengers ally with the Skrulls against Nebula during THE WAR TO END ALL SKRULLS.

Avengers #260 (1985)

Nebula is revealed to have wiped out the population of planet Xandar; the Avengers, the Skrulls and Firelord narrowly defeat Nebula who reveals herself to be the granddaughter of Thanos; hoping to prove himself as a potential member of the Avengers, the Beyonder teleports Nebula and her crew to the other side of the galaxy during THE WAR TO END ALL SKRULLS / SECRET WARS II.

Avengers West Coast #48 (1989)

Nebula cameo; Starfox finally tracks down Nebula, discovering her next plan to obtain absolute power.

Avengers #311-312 (1989)

Nebula cameos; first appearance of Professor Paul Harker; Starfox continues to spy on Nebula; Nebula heads to Earth and approaches Paul Harker, showing interest in his recent scientific breakthrough during ACTS OF VENGEANCE.

 

Avengers #314-318 (1990)

The Avengers and Spider-Man oppose Nebula when she takes over a research station and uses the Genesis Pulse to obliterate reality; her plans incur the wrath of the Stranger who ultimately strips her of the power of the Infinity Union; Nebula makes her escape.

Avengers/JLA #4 (2003)

Nebula is plucked from the timeline by Krona of the DC Universe who uses her as one of the many villains making up his army to oppose the Avengers and the Justice League.

Silver Surfer #38, 44 (1990)

Nebula cameos; first appearance of Geatar; first named appearance of the Infinity Gauntlet; Thanos is alive once again and on a mission to wipe out half the universe for his mistress Death; Thanos meets Nebula, kills her loyal warrior Geatar and burns Nebula alive for claiming to be his granddaughter, proclaiming he who serves Death would never drop progeny; after claiming the power of all six Infinity Gems, Thanos discovers Nebula is alive and keeps her in a state of living death as a monument to 'the insanity of life and death denied' during REBIRTH OF THANOS.

Infinity Gauntlet #1-5 (1991)

Infinity Gauntlet #6 (1991) / Sleepwalker #7 (1991)

First appearance of Epoch; Thanos grants the zombie-like Nebula to Death as a gift; as Thanos goes from doing Death's bidding to allowing his ego to take over and fighting Earth's heroes in attempt to impress his mistress, the shuffling Nebula grabs the Infinity Gauntlet and steals its power from him, undoing the deaths he's caused; Thanos joins the remnants of Earth's heroes against Nebula; Adam Warlock tricks Nebula into throwing off the gauntlet and claims it for himself during THE INFINITY GAUNTLET.

Silver Surfer Annual #5[3/3] (1992)

Firelord confronts Nebula over the slaughter of his people at her hands; Starfox mentally shares Nebula's abusive childhood with Firelord, but it leaves her in a vegetative state.

Silver Surfer #67, 69 (1992)

First appearance of Morg; the Eternals of Titan reconstruct Geatar who continues to serve the catatonic Nebula as her servant; Geatar helps Nebula escape Titan during INFINITY WAR.

Silver Surfer #70-74 (1992)

Nebula cameos; First appearance of Calculex; Geatar takes Nebula to the Siminian Galaxy where criminal surgeon Doctor Mandibus restores her mind, but transforms her into a cyborg in the process; Nebula and Geatar set off to gather her crew.

Silver Surfer #76-78 (1993)

Nebula stages a prison break on Annoval 14 to free her crew; the Silver Surfer and Jack of Hearts interrupt the prison break, so Nebula kills her crew while she makes her escape with Geatar.

Secret Defenders #9-10 (1993-1994)

Nebula plans an attack against the Eternals of Titan by using a warhead with the Silver Surfer chained to it; War Machine and Thunderstrike free the Surfer and defeat Nebula who believes Geatar has died in the vacuum of space (though he's later rescued by Thanos).

Silver Surfer #110 (1995)

The Silver Surfer and Legacy (Genis-Vell) spot Nebula while partying on Syllogonia and apprehend her, unaware that she was trying to start over and have only refueled her hatred.

Nova #1 (1999)

The New Warriors disband and Nova goes solo, but Nebula (apparently having reclaimed her original appearance) attacks him when she believes him to be Nova Prime; Nebula reveals her father, Zorr, was hounded by the Nova Corps, explaining why she wiped out Xander years earlier.

Annihilation: Ronan #1-2, 4 (2006)

Annihilation #6 (2007)

First appearance of the Graces; Ronan the Accuser pursues Tana Nile to Godthab Omega to find out why she turned his fellow Kree against him; he discovers Gamora has formed a group called the Graces with other cosmic female warriors, including Nebula; Ronan's clash with the Graces is interrupted by the Annihilation Wave during ANNIHILATION.

Guardians Team-Up #1-2 (2015)

Kindun hires Nebula and the Chitauri to kidnap Gamora so he can have his revenge on her for her actions against his homeworld while she worked as Thanos' assassin; the Guardians of the Galaxy join forces with the Avengers to rescue Gamora.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Best Story Ever #1 (2015)

The imprisoned Star-Lord tells his jailer about the Guardians of the Galaxy's last clash with Nebula; now referred to as the adopted granddaughter of Thanos, Nebula used the graces against Gamora and revealed her jealousy over her past connection with Thanos.

I don't currently have plans to cover stories following 2015's SECRET WARS, but here are some key tales featuring Nebula that may be worth reading:

Gamora #1 (2017)

Nebula's origin is tweaked to align with the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, turning her into the adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised alongside Gamora during MARVEL NOW!

Thanos #2, 4-12 (2017)

First appearance the Coven; first appearance of Thane as the Phoenix; Thane - the secret Inhuman son of Thanos - turns to Nebula, Starfox and the Champion for help in killing his father; Nebula realises Thane has tricked her and kills him, accidentally activating the Phoenix Egg which transforms him into the Phoenix; Nebula ends up siding with Thanos against Thane.

Asgardians of the Galaxy #1-5 (2018-2019)

First appearance of the Asgardians of the Galaxy and the Naglfar Beacon; Nebula claims the Naglfar Beacon which she hoped would give her an edge over Gamora; Nebula is defeated by the Asgardians of the Galaxy during INFINITY WARS.

Guardians of the Galaxy #2-6 (2019)

First appearance of the Dark Guardians; Nebula temporarily joins Starfox's Dark Guardians in an attempt to prevent the resurrection of Thanos.

Nebula #1-2 (2020)

Nebula attempts to get out from under the shadow of Thanos and Gamora.

MCG Note: This series was cancelled after two issues.

I normally cover notable alternate versions of the feature character from the Marvel Multiverse, but there are very few alternate versions of Nebula that are of note. There is, however, one character from Earth-6311 who disguised herself as Nebula for some time, though we wouldn't realise this wasn't the true Nebula for a few years. Below is the initial story arc, though I'll likely be putting a reading order together for Ravonna Renslayer before long:

Avengers #291-297 (1988)

Ravonna Renslayer of Earth-6311 disguises herself as 'Nebula' to infiltrate the Council of Cross-Time Kangs and turn Doctor Druid of Earth-616 against his fellow Avengers during FUTURES IMPERFECT.