Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Sean Chen
Company: Marvel Comics

It’s a mystery as to why it’s happened (and continues to happen) but anything that Marvel puts out that has something to do with a cosmic character, ends up being a book that for lack of a better word, rocks. It happened with all of the prequel books to Annihilation (minus the Ronan the Accuser mini which was bland), the core title itself and even the one shots produced like The Heralds of Galactus. Now with the sequel, Annihilation Conquest, looming ever so close on the horizon, you’d think that Marvel would have been done what it has always done and successfully run this whole cosmic space adventure, action extravaganza genre right into the ground, spoiling all of the fun and ruining people’s lives all around the world.

But strangely enough, that hasn’t happened yet, and with Nova, despite mixing in the post Civil War landscape so quickly, the overall concept and execution of this title continues to allow for that rare opportunity to sit back and bask in the bright cosmic-y goodness while at the same time enjoying a clever, very slickly told story. How could it be that good? Well, I blame the ever present space munchies myself, but it does seem that Marvel may have brought the perfect duo of creators to the table who have a great understanding of what makes this character worthy of getting his own series. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have already proved that they can write a well defined, very interesting sci-fi story with their hefty run on DC’s The Legion. Then, more recently, they proved that the character of Richard Rider was worthy of exploring further with the Nova prequel. Now though, with this first issue in a new ongoing series, they’ve continued the character’s story instead of simply casting him aside and forgetting about him. And by keeping Nova a very likable, very powerful hero that reads well without resorting to such drastic measures as say, putting him in a spiked suit powered by pain, they’re obviously off to a good start.

The key word here in this whole thing, for me at least, is hero. That’s what these books should be about and here, that’s what it is about. There are no grays, no questions that Rider is anything but a hero. Yes, the character has indeed gone through a heavy, somewhat dark, revamp of sorts recently, there’s no denying that. The biggest difference with the changes that have been made to Nova compared to the aforementioned spiked suit joke, are that the changes don’t feel wrong or egregious in any way, slight or otherwise. The destruction of the Nova Corps and the melding of the Worldmind to his own essence, which amps his power levels to a considerably higher level, are character defining occurences, plot points that elevate Nova to yet another tier on the superhero totem pole. They also act as the perfect springboard for an ongoing series.

At its core, Nova follows the tried and true formula that most solo superhero comics adhere to: The wham, bam, I’m here to save the innocent and beat the bad guy method. It’s one that works but to say that it’s a completely one dimensional outing and doesn’t offer any unique twists and turns for the reader to enjoy just wouldn’t be true. One main divergence, and probably the most interesting to me, is the character study of Richard Rider. He’s the last of a galaxy wide peace-keeping military police force, and the idea that there are so many people in need after the Annihilation Wave and the subsequent war and he’s all they have. Basically he feels responsible and has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Again, not exactly new territory to tread but with Nova, the same character that I read in the humorous pages of New Warriors as a kid, it is and the clever story device of the Worldmind being the only thing that Rider has any contact with or any conversations with only makes the study more satisfying.

As for the art side of things, Sean Chen (X-Men: The End/Iron Man) doesn’t disappoint. His work here is like a kinetically-charged bag of tricks, reminding me of the comic books of old where things didn’t have to look so photo realistic or grounded in the real world, they just had to look exciting, be exhilarating to the reader and meld with the story being told. Chen has this ability and his smooth and detailed pencils not only contain the dynamic action and gorgeous splash pages that a cosmic story demands, they really do work for the story and don’t try to compete with it.

There’s a lot of inherent fun to be had with these cosmic characters and since Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett are the writers doing a large majority of it, with this book and the Annihilation Conquest main title, they seem to be able to bring the fun to the foreground. All in all, a great beginning and because of that, my hopes are high for this series.

This is an advanced review. Nova #1 hits comic book shelves everywhere on April 11.