Nova Indifference

Nova 1: "What's Next" (Abnett & Lanning and Chen).

Can a guy with an ugly costume and another company's gimmick survive in today's crowded marketplace?

Let's get a couple things out of the way just so everyone knows where I stand: I have never been a fan of Richard Rider. I have never been a fan of the Nova Corps. I think the Nova costume is among the ugliest costumes going ... and that was before they gave it this ridiculous new design which makes it even worse. (When did pointy knee and elbow armor become cool or useful?) I have never been a fan of Abnett & Lanning's work.

That about covers it, I think. It's not that I despise the character, it's just that I've been historically indifferent to him. I'm not the first to point out that the whole Nova concept reeks of DC's Green Lantern idea but that wouldn't mean anything if the stories were good, and I've never read a Nova story that's memorable for anything good.

Except for Annihilation.

Marvel's 2006 cosmic event was more good than bad, I thought, and I actually grew to like Richard Rider a bit during that series. He was in a tough spot and struggling to deal with the insane hugeness of the Annihilation Wave - he grew up, got a bit more mature, and became unique. Unique not because Annihilation killed off all of the other Nova Corps members, but because of what Keith Giffen (in the main series) and Abnett & Lanning (in the Nova LS) were doing with him.

Because of Annihilation I was intrigued enough to check out the first issue of the new Nova series. After one issue ... shrug.

Rider is all go-go action here. Feeling the burden of being the last Nova and having a universe in ruins post-Annihilation Wave, Rich is blasting from crisis-scene to crisis-scene. He's got the Xandarian Worldmind in his head to feed him all kinds of information and generally be a pain in the ass. The issue is definitely action-packed and it's nice to see A&L build off Annihilation, but the issue just feels too light compared to Annihilation's depiction of Nova. What helped make Nova work there was his relationships with the other members of the United Front, specifically Peter Quill (the former Star-Lord) and Gamora, the self-described "most dangerous woman in the galaxy" and assassion. Neither of them are in evidence here, though the annoying Worldmind is everywhere.

By the time the end of the issue arrives and Nova has decided to head back to Earth for some R&R, we get an Iron Man sighting and a promise of a Nova/Iron Man throwdown next issue. Since he's going to be on Earth next issue, I hope we get something about Nova's reaction to what happened to his former teammates in the New Warriors during Civil War.

Honestly, the issue doesn't do a whole lot for me. I'd much rather have seen this series take a darker tone and serve as a more direct sequel to Annihilation instead of seeing a slam-bam action adventure tale. I'd like to see a guy dealing with that instead of some kind of legacy burden of being the last Nova, yet with all of the Nova power and with the potentiality of rebirthing the Nova Corps.

I liked Nova much better when he was one guy struggling with a ragtag group against seemingly impossible odds. Here, he's yet another incredibly powerful cosmic dude wracked with self-doubt. I wish it were the former and not the latter.