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| Nova makes his 1976 debut |
Nova is the story of high school kid Richard Rider. Richard Rider is a putz. When we first meet him, he's losing an important high school basketball match - to the girls team!! Bullied by the Brom Bones-like Mike Burley (all he can do in response is apologize), and permanently mired in self-pity.
Moping around the local ice cream shop, Richard is suddenly hit by a force beam from space and lapses into a coma. While unconscious in the hospital, Richard learns he's been nominated as "Centurion Nova Prime," and that he's inherited powers from the former champion, an alien being of unknown origin. Oh, and he's supposed to beat down something named Zorr.
(Am I the only dork who notes a rather profound resemblance to the origin of Ultraman in the now-legendary Japanese sci-fi series?)
After becoming conscious and releasing some laser beams from his eyes, Richard goes home, apparently no worse for wear. But the next day, he undergoes a startling transformation.
As such, Rich learns that, as Nova, he can fly, has super-strength, is near-invulnerable, and can do complicated math problems(!). Oh, and pick up police radio signals though his helmet.
Well, soon enough Zorr - "the most inhuman creature this universe has ever known" (weren't there already several contenders for that title flitting about Marvel's outer space?) shows up. He turns out to be a rather uninteresting big galoot. After a rather pointless battle, the original Nova's last act is to disintegrate Zorr from his spaceship, in orbit around earth.
This doesn't exactly make a lot of sense (why didn't the original Nova distingrate Zorr BEFORE he tore up part of Long Island and knocked Richard around?), and it doesn't exactly make for an interesting hero (deus ex machina rarely does). Nova was off to a shaky start.
Issue 2-3 wasted little time in introducing some new menaces for Nova to fight. There was The Condor, basically a knock-off of The Vulture, only black, and the more interesting Powerhouse, a young guy with the power to drain life energy and turn it into super-strength. Actually - power-wise, Powerhouse wasn't interesting at all - his saving grace was that he was unusual - an amnesiac who was largely in thrall to Condor and challenged by his own moral doubts about taking part in criminal capers. Next there was Diamondhead, a typical tough-talking Marvel thug, who happened to be literally constructed of diamond - making him well-nigh invulnerable and stronger than the average nebbish.
With issue 6, the title took a bizarre turn with the introduction of The Sphinx, a vague sort of knock-off of Jack Kirby's menacing and complex Darkseid, whom, it seems, Nova's rogue's gallery (Condor/Powerhouse/Diamondhead) needed to dispose of in order for Condor to become "emperor of crime". Exactly why this was so was never made very clear, since The Sphinx didn't seem to be particularly involved in any criminal activities - he mostly sat around brooding and yelling at his underlings while (apparently) planning world domination. Or something. Mostly it seemed he was just a bored immortal.
After becoming conscious and releasing some laser beams from his eyes, Richard goes home, apparently no worse for wear. But the next day, he undergoes a startling transformation.
As such, Rich learns that, as Nova, he can fly, has super-strength, is near-invulnerable, and can do complicated math problems(!). Oh, and pick up police radio signals though his helmet.
Well, soon enough Zorr - "the most inhuman creature this universe has ever known" (weren't there already several contenders for that title flitting about Marvel's outer space?) shows up. He turns out to be a rather uninteresting big galoot. After a rather pointless battle, the original Nova's last act is to disintegrate Zorr from his spaceship, in orbit around earth.
This doesn't exactly make a lot of sense (why didn't the original Nova distingrate Zorr BEFORE he tore up part of Long Island and knocked Richard around?), and it doesn't exactly make for an interesting hero (deus ex machina rarely does). Nova was off to a shaky start.
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| Issue 10 features almost all of Nova's rogue's gallery |
With issue 6, the title took a bizarre turn with the introduction of The Sphinx, a vague sort of knock-off of Jack Kirby's menacing and complex Darkseid, whom, it seems, Nova's rogue's gallery (Condor/Powerhouse/Diamondhead) needed to dispose of in order for Condor to become "emperor of crime". Exactly why this was so was never made very clear, since The Sphinx didn't seem to be particularly involved in any criminal activities - he mostly sat around brooding and yelling at his underlings while (apparently) planning world domination. Or something. Mostly it seemed he was just a bored immortal.
In any case, Nova's battles with Condor/Diamondhead/Powerhouse AND The Sphinx took up several issues until The Sphinx ended it by (a) burying Diamondhead in a mountain (b) wiping Powerhouse's memory even more than it had been and teleporting him to London and (c) turning The Condor into an actual condor. Finally, he and The Sphinx slug it out, The Sphinx being convinced that Richard has some information in his mind (via the Nova takeover thing) that he needs to become un-immortal (had Marv been reading Kirby's Fourth World books? Nah...). He finally gives Nova a pass, impressed by our hero's never-say-die spirit, but vows to return. So much for the rogue's gallery I guess.
In between, there's the bizarre "Nega-Man" story, in which Richard's friend Caps is kidnapped by his own uncle, who's been killed, then resurrected, by a weird polyhedron-shaped critter from the far future, which has transformed him into a faceless, energy-bolt throwing whatsis. This strange little interlude is probably the series high point, storywise.
Next up came the near-inevitable Spidey cross-over (Thor had shown up in issue 4), a two-parter which carried into Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man, featuring a mystery centered on the murder of Richard's never-before(or again) mentioned scientific genius uncle. Nova and Spidey had the expected dust-up before finally joining forces to solve the less-than-gripping mystery.
I remember being very excited about Nova as a kid. A new Marvel superhero, and me getting in on the ground floor. I intended to collect it, but over time I found myself passing it up in favor of other titles, and not missing it. When I did check in again, late in its run, I wasn't being drawn back. Re-reading it today, its easy to see why my interest faded - and why the title never really took off.
It had promise. The premise was to do a simple superhero comic, free of much of the increasingly complex Marvel backstory (to this end it was set in Long Island, away from the main stream of Marvel superhero action), and reminiscent of DC's 60's titles, such as Green Lantern (an obvious influence) and the early days of Spider-Man (it was marketed as "In the Tradition of Spider-Man"). Intended partly as a way to introduce new, younger comics fans to the Marvel universe, a kind of Marvel gateway drug, if you will. That notion was increasingly downplayed in the latter half of the run, with numerous tie-ins to the larger universe. And while it might have hosted a high-school kid hero, the title never even came close to capturing the old Spidey magic.
There's the villains. Superheroes need strong and memorable antagonists. By way of contrast: the first two-dozen issues of Spider-Man introduced The Vulture, Dr. Octopus, The Sandman, The Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and The Green Goblin (among others) - all classic villains who are still around in some form to this day. The best Nova could come up with was The Sphinx (who as already mentioned was a pale Darkseid riff), and the conflicted Powerhouse - who's only interesting quality was that he was conflicted. Once The Condor was gone, there was nothing left for him.
Big problem: the main character - Richard Rider himself. As Nova he's engaging but bland. Out of costume he's completely colorless - a nice kid, but without any distinct personality whatsoever. His only distinguishing trait is self-pity, which he wallows in constantly. This has the effect of making him thoroughly unappealing. Yes, Peter Parker in the early days was a dork who, yes, often hosted his own personal pity party. But it's worth noting that, while Peter P could fall into self-flagellation, he was also often angry, frustrated, vengeful, and occasionally puffed-up with self-confidence after a victory - enough that he sometimes shot himself in the foot. P.P. was a junior scientific genius with an unusually burdensome home life. In his alter-ego as Spider-Man, he was a cocky wisecracker and funny as hell, even when he was fighting for his life. His character also developed over time: in later issues, he not only became more confident - standing up for himself against bullies from Flash Thompson to J. Jonah Jameson - and more attractive to girls, in large part because of his growing self-confidence and pride. This was an interesting, even realistic, touch. Having fought for his life again and again (and condemned in the media), obnoxious jocks and flighty girls weren't likely to intimidate him much.
Conversely, Rich never seems to gain much confidence, constantly putting himself down for his less-than-spectacular victories. Often he screwed up, making errors in judgment or fumbling his powers, then berating himself for not practicing his skills more. This actually could have been developed into something interesting - a young superhero learning to handle his powers. But not much came of it.
The supporting cast needed work, too. Rich's girlfriend Ginger Jaye was the perfect girlfriend every nice high school guy would want - but she didn't have much personality (and it was hard to understand what she saw in a sad sack like Rich). Bernie, a wisecracking Jewish kid who dropped Yiddish phrases a lot, actually had some color to him. School bully Mike Burley was later revealed to be an emotionally abused kid, pushed by perfectionist parents - a novel and realistic idea vs. his being merely a typical thug. Rich's younger brother was a pest - but that was intentional. His dad was an overbearing tyrant. The others were all ciphers. Characterization was one of Wolfman's strengths on Tomb of Dracula, but here there was only a hint of it.
There's an overall feeling with Nova that there wasn't much investment in it, by anyone. Marv Wolfman was one of the more prolific comics writers of the 70's/80's. Some of his stuff was excellent (much of his run on Tomb of Dracula). Some of it was outright bad. I suspect his prolificacy had something to do with that. Wolfman has said that he loved writing Nova, but there's a lack of passion to the whole thing.
The first two issues were indifferently drawn by John Buscema (Buscema never liked superheroes anyway). With issue 2, his brother Sal took over. Sal was a prolific Marvel artist in the 70's, drawing many titles, and while always professional, he was never very interesting or inspiring (though he did do some nice stuff in the late 60's/early 70's). One got the feeling was largely phoning it in; the artwork on Nova is generally workmanlike and no more, and frequently rushed-looking. Details get dropped or forgotten. Rich's friend Caps (so named for his ever-present baseball cap - baseball caps were less de rigeur back in the Disco era) is supposed to be a fellow high-schooler, but looks about 12. He's also supposed to be overweight, according to certain comments, but isn't drawn as a fat kid.
Later, Buscema was replaced by the legendary Carmine Infantino on art chores. Infantino is one of the great comix artists, having been the Main Man on The Flash for years, and bringing high-quality work to Batman in the late 60's. The kind of clean, bright work he brought to The Flash might have worked great for Nova, but he didn't bring that to this or anything else he did at Marvel). His characters often looked crude and even grotesque. Dark, moody inks by the normally very fine Tom Palmer didn't help.
I think in many ways that sums up Nova: no one involved really seems to have brought their A-game. Reading through the series, there's an air of - "ho hum - another Marvel superhero - let's trot out the tropes" about the whole thing. No one really seemed to have their heart in it.
After issue 12 (the Spidey team-up), Nova began to noticeably run out of steam, fast. The stories became less and less interesting, potentially compelling sub-plots went nowhere. New characters who were even more underwhelming than the earlier ones were introduced. Everyone stopped growing. Old villains such as The Sandman, Dr. Sun (a Wolfman creation from ToD, and hardly a welcome return) and the hoary and racist Yellow Claw (yeesh) did nothing to help. The series was finally euthanized with issue #24, as Wolfman folded the storyline into the gawdawful intergalactic epic he'd been running in Fantastic Four. The Sphinx was finally (and temporarily) laid to rest. Nova went on to become a guest star in the popular toy tie-in ROM, where, in issue 24, Rich Rider was suddenly, and rather unceremoniously, stripped of his powers and transported back to earth, to pick up his boring teenage life. Wonder how that went?
There have since been other Novas, with different identities. I must plead ignorance at this time. For better or worse, the Nova I knew was poor little Rich Rider. At least someone remembers him.
Some links....
The Nova Prime Page - here's a page for the true Nova-phile. Issue summaries and all kinds of info on all the various Nova incarnations.
The complete run of 70's Nova can be had in b&w as The Essential Nova, or the 3-volume Nova Classics in glorious color.
In between, there's the bizarre "Nega-Man" story, in which Richard's friend Caps is kidnapped by his own uncle, who's been killed, then resurrected, by a weird polyhedron-shaped critter from the far future, which has transformed him into a faceless, energy-bolt throwing whatsis. This strange little interlude is probably the series high point, storywise.
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| The inevitable Spidey cross-over |
I remember being very excited about Nova as a kid. A new Marvel superhero, and me getting in on the ground floor. I intended to collect it, but over time I found myself passing it up in favor of other titles, and not missing it. When I did check in again, late in its run, I wasn't being drawn back. Re-reading it today, its easy to see why my interest faded - and why the title never really took off.
It had promise. The premise was to do a simple superhero comic, free of much of the increasingly complex Marvel backstory (to this end it was set in Long Island, away from the main stream of Marvel superhero action), and reminiscent of DC's 60's titles, such as Green Lantern (an obvious influence) and the early days of Spider-Man (it was marketed as "In the Tradition of Spider-Man"). Intended partly as a way to introduce new, younger comics fans to the Marvel universe, a kind of Marvel gateway drug, if you will. That notion was increasingly downplayed in the latter half of the run, with numerous tie-ins to the larger universe. And while it might have hosted a high-school kid hero, the title never even came close to capturing the old Spidey magic.
There's the villains. Superheroes need strong and memorable antagonists. By way of contrast: the first two-dozen issues of Spider-Man introduced The Vulture, Dr. Octopus, The Sandman, The Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and The Green Goblin (among others) - all classic villains who are still around in some form to this day. The best Nova could come up with was The Sphinx (who as already mentioned was a pale Darkseid riff), and the conflicted Powerhouse - who's only interesting quality was that he was conflicted. Once The Condor was gone, there was nothing left for him.
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| Rich Rider: The Spectacular Sad Sack |
Conversely, Rich never seems to gain much confidence, constantly putting himself down for his less-than-spectacular victories. Often he screwed up, making errors in judgment or fumbling his powers, then berating himself for not practicing his skills more. This actually could have been developed into something interesting - a young superhero learning to handle his powers. But not much came of it.
The supporting cast needed work, too. Rich's girlfriend Ginger Jaye was the perfect girlfriend every nice high school guy would want - but she didn't have much personality (and it was hard to understand what she saw in a sad sack like Rich). Bernie, a wisecracking Jewish kid who dropped Yiddish phrases a lot, actually had some color to him. School bully Mike Burley was later revealed to be an emotionally abused kid, pushed by perfectionist parents - a novel and realistic idea vs. his being merely a typical thug. Rich's younger brother was a pest - but that was intentional. His dad was an overbearing tyrant. The others were all ciphers. Characterization was one of Wolfman's strengths on Tomb of Dracula, but here there was only a hint of it.
There's an overall feeling with Nova that there wasn't much investment in it, by anyone. Marv Wolfman was one of the more prolific comics writers of the 70's/80's. Some of his stuff was excellent (much of his run on Tomb of Dracula). Some of it was outright bad. I suspect his prolificacy had something to do with that. Wolfman has said that he loved writing Nova, but there's a lack of passion to the whole thing.
The first two issues were indifferently drawn by John Buscema (Buscema never liked superheroes anyway). With issue 2, his brother Sal took over. Sal was a prolific Marvel artist in the 70's, drawing many titles, and while always professional, he was never very interesting or inspiring (though he did do some nice stuff in the late 60's/early 70's). One got the feeling was largely phoning it in; the artwork on Nova is generally workmanlike and no more, and frequently rushed-looking. Details get dropped or forgotten. Rich's friend Caps (so named for his ever-present baseball cap - baseball caps were less de rigeur back in the Disco era) is supposed to be a fellow high-schooler, but looks about 12. He's also supposed to be overweight, according to certain comments, but isn't drawn as a fat kid.
Later, Buscema was replaced by the legendary Carmine Infantino on art chores. Infantino is one of the great comix artists, having been the Main Man on The Flash for years, and bringing high-quality work to Batman in the late 60's. The kind of clean, bright work he brought to The Flash might have worked great for Nova, but he didn't bring that to this or anything else he did at Marvel). His characters often looked crude and even grotesque. Dark, moody inks by the normally very fine Tom Palmer didn't help.
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| A disappointing Diamondhead, depicted by Carmine Infantino |
I think in many ways that sums up Nova: no one involved really seems to have brought their A-game. Reading through the series, there's an air of - "ho hum - another Marvel superhero - let's trot out the tropes" about the whole thing. No one really seemed to have their heart in it.
After issue 12 (the Spidey team-up), Nova began to noticeably run out of steam, fast. The stories became less and less interesting, potentially compelling sub-plots went nowhere. New characters who were even more underwhelming than the earlier ones were introduced. Everyone stopped growing. Old villains such as The Sandman, Dr. Sun (a Wolfman creation from ToD, and hardly a welcome return) and the hoary and racist Yellow Claw (yeesh) did nothing to help. The series was finally euthanized with issue #24, as Wolfman folded the storyline into the gawdawful intergalactic epic he'd been running in Fantastic Four. The Sphinx was finally (and temporarily) laid to rest. Nova went on to become a guest star in the popular toy tie-in ROM, where, in issue 24, Rich Rider was suddenly, and rather unceremoniously, stripped of his powers and transported back to earth, to pick up his boring teenage life. Wonder how that went?
There have since been other Novas, with different identities. I must plead ignorance at this time. For better or worse, the Nova I knew was poor little Rich Rider. At least someone remembers him.
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| Nova says goodbye in his final issue, with a great cover by Rudy Nebres. Win a no-prize if you can spot the joke here... |
Some links....
The Nova Prime Page - here's a page for the true Nova-phile. Issue summaries and all kinds of info on all the various Nova incarnations.
The complete run of 70's Nova can be had in b&w as The Essential Nova, or the 3-volume Nova Classics in glorious color.
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