Marvel Comics is planning to launch a Thanos limited series in April by writer Tini Howard (Marvel Knights 20thAge of Conan: Bêlit) and artist Ariel Olivetti (Death of the Inhumans), exploring the early days of the Mad Titan's relationship with his adoptive daughter, Gamora.

"One of my favorite things about working with an existing character is confronting them, in the narrative, with the things we think about them when we're reading their stories," Howard told Marvel.com. "And Thanos is not okay. It's not really a secret to him, Thanos is brilliant -- he knows he's crazy. But he's an insane person who is in charge of stuff, and that's pretty scary. But if everyone's too scared to ask him about it and he's not going to admit it himself... what kind of person would get him to confront his own madness?"

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"That's where Gamora comes in. I'm a sucker for a smart girl and the big angry guy who becomes her father figure," she continued. "When I put some thought into what Thanos and Gamora's early relationship would have been like in an interpersonal sense, not the thousand-yard-overview we get in the old books, I go back to 'True Grit.' Or I think of team-ups like Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, you know? These classic duos where nothing threatens the big bad guy -- except for a kid. And it's not because kids are cute and vulnerable, it's because they're honest. And they don't have a full understanding of the world around them yet, so they're somewhat unaware of nuance and danger. And Gamora's even more dangerous than a regular child -- because Thanos has taken everything from her. She's got nothing to lose. And they share a moment in the first issue that I won't spoil here -- that answers the question: why her? Why Gamora?"

Thanos #1, by Tini Howard and Ariel Olivetti, goes on sale in April from Marvel Comics.