Nova week: Doug Smith interview, part 3
Nova Week continues as Doug Smith of the Nova Prime site and Rocket Boosters talks about his favorite “Nova” story and about Nova’s time with the New Warriors. Stay tuned today, as we’ll be talking more about the “Heroes for the 90s” shortly!
Matt Price: What’s your favorite individual Nova story?
Doug Smith: Yikes, there are so many! The ‘Forever Yesterday’ story in New Warriors #11 – #13, The ‘StarLost Saga’ from New Warriors #40 – #42 and Rom #24 are among my favorites. But I’d say my most favorite story is from The Man Called Nova #11. The fight between Nova and the Sphinx was the most intense I had seen up until that point. The sheer will and determination Nova displayed against his more powerful foe was overwhelming. Even when he was physically broken and knew he couldn’t win, Nova kept fighting and made it clear to the Sphinx that he would never give him what he wanted. I was so into the story that when the Sphinx left saying that Nova was more of a man than he’d seen in centuries, I remember saying “You’re darn right!”.
MP: Which is your least favorite?
DS: I’d have to go with the Yellow Claw story arc in The Man Called Nova #15 – #18. It didn’t do anything for me.
MP: You’ve interviewed a lot of creators connected with Nova. Who did you find the most interesting? DS: Most of my interviews have been through e-mail so it’s hard to get a feel for their personalities. But of those I’ve met in person, Erik Larsen is definitely the most interesting! I had lunch with him at Wizard World Chicago in 1999 when he was doing his Nova series. He was incredibly nice and funny plus he didn’t hesitate to do a Nova sketch for me! J MP: Talk a little about Nova’s time in the New Warriors.
DS: Nova’s time in the New Warriors was a very important time in Nova’s career. For the character, it was the next step in Nova’s growth. In the beginning, a lot of the original Nova fans (including myself) weren’t too thrilled with how Rich Rider had changed in the New Warriors. Rich was an angry, more aggressive, tough-talker which was a far cry from his original personality. However, Fabian Nicieza did such a fantastic job with Nova that a number of us came to appreciate and support the New Warriors and the second Nova series. Fabian understood that Rich had fought through the Xandar/Skrull War and had given up his powers which were the only things that mattered to him and used those events to logically grow the character. The other area of growth in Rich Rider during the New Warriors was his ability to work in a team. It was assumed that he was a good team leader of the Champions of Xandar and the Nova Corps during the war but we never got to see him in action outside of Rom #24. Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz had assembled a great group of characters for the New Warriors. Each member had a distinct personality and Fabian was able to take that group and give Nova a much needed feeling of family. Most importantly, a new generation of readers was exposed to Nova and it was a version they could call their own. And they helped make Nova one of the more popular characters during the 1990s. The second New Warriors series and the limited series highlighted Rich’s desire to be a celebrity (which we saw a touch of back in The Man Called Nova #5) which was a lot of fun to read.
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