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It has to be the hardest thing for a comic book writer to do, but there has to be some suspense — some danger — or else there’s no payoff to the story. And while I was reading Nova 15, I had to give props to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for making me fear, even for a second, that Nova might not make it out of this scrape.

If you haven’t been following the book, first of all, shame on you. This is classic Marvel. But Nova is an Earthman, drafted into an intergalactic police force (sound familiar?). In his head, his constant companion, is the Xanadarian Worldmind. Why? Because all the other Nova Centurians are dead and the planet that used to house it is gone.

So, this super-powerful policeman is tracking down a psionic pserial pkiller when he gets caught up in some Galactus-sized trouble. Now, I don’t worry about the Fantastic Four or the Avengers when they fight Galactus. I just don’t.

And while I love Nova, and I don’t think I’m alone, I don’t know that Marvel loves him well enough to keep him alive. So I worry when he goes up against a big, bad threat like Galactus.

Great art, great story and just enough anxiety that I have to pick up every issue to make sure Nova is still alive. This is well worth a pick up.

- Greg Elwell

Kyle Roberts and I review “Nova” Annual 1 on the comics podcast at the conclusion of “Nova Week.” We also review “Green Lantern Corps” 21 by Oklahoma’s Sterling Gates, as well as “X-Force” #1 and “Fantastic Four” #554 from Marvel.

– Matt Price

Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning look at the past, present and future of the Human Rocket in “Nova” Annual No. 1.

Infected by the techno-organic transmode virus, Richard Rider, the last surviving member of the Nova Corps, has been searching for Kvch, the lost homeworld of the creators of the Phalanx.

As the issue begins, readers are taken back in Nova’s timeline — to the point at which Richard Rider’s story began, 1976’s “Nova” No. 1. This updated version, drawn by Mahmud A. Asrar (”Dynamo 5″) shows Richard’s humiliation at the hands of a bully, after which, he heads to the ice cream shop.  It’s there that he’s hit by the lightning bolt that gives him the powers of the Nova Force.   (Also providing art for this issue: Klebs and Wellinton Alves.)

But the issue isn’t simply a modernization of the first Nova story.  It’s also a look at the (possible) future of Nova, in a story that recalls “All Good Things” from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

If you haven’t been reading “Nova,” this first annual will get you up to speed on the character’s history and recent adventures.   While the issue is readable and enjoyable on its own, hints to the “Annihilation: Conquest” story, as Marvel’s cosmic heroes tackle the Phalanx, are throughout.

Despite the three artists, and the three storylines, the look is consistent and the story flows well.   The coloring creates the main shift between the past, present and future, with each time having its own feel based on the hues selected.

The concept behind the story does seem to have a “Trek” influence, but it still makes for an entertaining tale that provides new reasoning behind Richard Rider’s selection as Nova.

– Matt Price

As we wind down Nova Week with the release of “Nova” Annual No. 1 (look for a review later today!), Nerdage talks to another voice from Nova’s past - writer Jay Faerber.

Faerber writes the excellent “Noble Causes” and “Dynamo 5″ for Image Comics.  (And look for more from Faerber about “Noble Causes” in an upcoming Weekend Look!) In 1999, he was approached to revive the New Warriors.  Jay talked about his time with the Warriors for Nova Week.

Matt Price: What were your impressions of the New Warriors or Nova before working on the characters?

Jay Faerber: I was familiar with Nova from his original ongoing, from the 70s. I’d picked up the odd issue here and there at garage sales, that sort of thing. But I really became a fan during Fabian Nicieza’s New Warriors. I loved that book (still do — it holds up well), although I know his interpretation of Nova wasn’t quite the same as the original version of the character. Still, it’s the one I preferred, while I appreciate that a lot of diehard Nova fans weren’t crazy about it.

MP: What were your goals with the series?

JF: I really just wanted to try to do justice to the great characters and concepts that Fabian had come up with. I wanted to build on that, and continue to draw from all corners of the Marvel Universe. One of the things I really liked about the New Warriors (as opposed to the various X-teams) was that the Warriors were on their own. They didn’t really have a mentor figure. I liked that sense of independence, and its one I tried to maintain in my series.

MP: What was your take on Nova?

JF: Again, I have to cite Fabian’s take. I tried to stay true to that, while also being consistent with Erik Larsen’s ongoing Nova series, that was running concurrent with my series. Erik was much more of an old school Nova fan than I was, so he was more heavily influenced by the original series. The problem I ran up against was that Erik’s book wasn’t selling very well so Marvel editorial wanted to try to distance the New Warriors from it. Their idea was to change Nova’s costume (along with everyone else’s). As I’m sure all Nova fans would agree, one of the coolest things about Nova is his costume. I fought that change as hard as I could, but I lost, and we ended up with Nova running around in a costume no one liked. Editorial heard the fans’ outrage, however, and we were able to ditch the new costume about halfway through our run. But by then, the book was pretty much cancelled.

MP: What was your biggest success with the series?

JF: Well, the series only lasted 10 issues, and we went through about four different artists in that time. So I’m kind of hard pressed to come up with anything resembling success. For me, personally, I’d have to say it was great just getting a chance to write such great characters. I kind of wish I hadn’t gotten that chance so early in my career, since I’d probably do a much better job now that I’m a bit more experienced. But if I had to pick an actual success, I’d say getting Jamal Igle on board as artist for issues 7 thru 10. We took a chance on Jamal (who was pretty much unknown at the time), and he didn’t let us down. We’ve since gone on to collaborate on a number of projects, and he’s now working exclusively for DC Comics. And speaking of working, I’ve got Noble Causes and Dynamo 5, both of which come out monthly from Image Comics. In May, I’m launching a third Image series, called Gemini. It’s a 5-issue mini-series that’s sort of The Manchurian Candidate with super-powers — it’s about a normal man who’s secretly controlled by some organization to be a super-hero.

Nerdage wraps up our interview with Nova Prime’s Doug Smith. We’d like to thank Doug for his indulgence being part of our Nova Week celebration, and we encourage Nova fans to continue to visit the Nova Prime page!

Matt Price: What do you think of the “Annihilation” saga?

Doug Smith: It’s incredible! And the best part is that this new phase of Nova didn’t come out of left field or ham-fisted into one issue. It was developed over time beginning with the Annihilation: Prologue, widely expanded in the four issue Annihilation: Nova mini-series and brought to fruitation in Annihilation. And it was all driven by the events happening to the character. Personally, I love Nova’s new adventures taking place in space. The science fiction element of Nova’s origins had been neglected for a long time which was a shame. It’s a major part of what makes Nova different from the majority of Marvel’s super-heroes and it’s great to see it being used. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are bringing in weird and wonderful concepts to their new series but never at the expense of Rich Rider’s character.

Matt Price: What kind of feedback have you gotten on the site? Doug Smith: Really great! The site started as a personal project but it’s allowed me to meet, and be friends with, a number of fellow Nova fans from around the world. Nova fans have contributed wonderful projects to the FanWorks section and they make me aware of Nova appearances that I might have missed. Which is fantastic for me since I get the thrill of hunting down back issues!The biggest surprise that came from creating the site was from Nova artist Brian Denham. Brian liked the site so much that he wanted to reward me for the work I’d done. He asked me to send him a photo of myself and he used it to draw me as one of the Novas who fought Rich Rider’s Phalanx virus in Nova #7!!

Matt Price: Is there anything else you’d like to add? Doug Smith: Just that I hope everyone who isn’t picking up Nova will give it a try. It’s a great book that’s smartly written that has had the benefit of a top-notch set of artists working on it. The first seven issues are now available as a trade paperback so anyone can get caught up quickly. And if a new reader wants an overview of Nova’s past 30 years, they can download the Rocket Boosters fanzine from the Nova Prime Page (in the FanWorks section) for free!

From The Oklahoman

http://newsok.com/article/3201900/1202477207

By Matthew Price

Acting Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

Given powers by a dying alien, Richard Rider became the embodiment of the Nova force. Most recently, he’s been at the forefront of the heroes repelling the incursion from the arch-villain Annihilus. Richard Rider will star in his first annual Wednesday, as he battles a techno-organic virus.

Ain’t it Cool News called “Nova” “without a doubt, the best Marvel ongoing series of the year.” Marvel.com named Nova one of Marvel’s top-10 heroes of 2007. But Nova taking charge of a strike force taking on galactic threats, as he did in the recent “Annihilation” saga, was a long time coming. For much of his publishing history, Nova has been a second-tier character, though one with devoted fans.

“The Man Called Nova” launched in 1976, written by Marv Wolfman (“Teen Titans,” “Tomb of Dracula”) with art by John Buscema (“Avengers”) and Joe Sinnott (“Fantastic Four”). The cover proclaimed “In the marvelous tradition of Spider-Man!” Clearly, there were big plans for the Man Called Nova.

In Nova’s first issue, Richard Rider is a 17-year-old from Queens, N.Y. After being harassed by the school bully, Richard retreats to the ice cream shop. It’s there that the everyday teen is hit by the energy beam that gives him the power to become Nova.

Doug Smith, owner of the comprehensive fan site about Nova at www.novaprimepage.com, says he was a fan from the very beginning, when at age 12 he picked up “The Man Called Nova” No. 1 from the local grocery store.

“I was sitting on the floor making my pile of new comics when I saw something new,” he said. “It was an incredible cover of a super-hero flying through the air surrounded by a montage of cool action scenes. And it was a first issue! I knew this because it told me so in great big bold letters. I had never collected a series from No. 1 and had never been able to follow a super-hero from his first appearance.”

Smith said while Nova’s costume drew his interest, Richard’s personal life made Nova all the more intriguing.

“Richard Rider turned out to be me! I could relate to him on a level that I had never been able to before. Rich was an average kid trying to get through school and life the best he could. To me, he wasn’t a loser. He had a girlfriend, friends, a normal family life, etc. His biggest failing was a lack of self-confidence,” Smith said. “And being in junior high at the time, I could really relate to that.

“And suddenly, Rich Rider is granted super-powers along with that great uniform! It was the ultimate wish fulfillment for a young reader like me. The best part was that Nova was still Richard Rider. His personality didn’t change with the new powers. He didn’t all of a sudden have all the answers and all the confidence in the world but he still was determined to use his powers for good. I loved that!”

Despite strong feelings from many fans, sales weren’t strong enough to maintain “Nova,” which was canceled after the 25th issue. The character guest-starred in “Fantastic Four,” “Amazing Spider-Man” and “Rom” before finally being depowered.

The character remained dormant for six years before being revived in the pages of “New Warriors.”

“Rich’s powers were reactivated when a hero named Night Thrasher dropped him off a building,” Smith said. “Night Thrasher gambled that his actions would jump-start the powers and Nova would join his new team, the New Warriors, in gratitude. Although angry at being almost killed, Nova agreed since Rich had missed being Nova more than anything. Nova was a member of the New Warriors for years until he was called back to Xandar to fight in the Annihilation War.”

It was the Annihilation War stories, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning that moved Nova up to A-list superhero status.

“‘Annihilation’ … and the (new) ‘Nova’ series have elevated Nova to a whole new pay grade. Richard Rider, unlike a lot of comic book characters, has been allowed to evolve,” Smith said. “He’s no longer the young, unsure hero he started out as and he’s not the brash, angry member of the New Warriors that he became years later. The current Nova series has Nova in situations far beyond what he’s ever encountered before and he has grown into a fine leader and hero with the core foundation of the character intact.”

It’s Nova Week at Nerdage, Matthew Price’s blog about comics, video games and more at blog.newsok.com/nerdage

“Nova” editor Bill Rosemann provided Nerdage with this first look at a page from “Nova” #11 featuring Warlock and the New Mutants. In the following interview, he talks about the recent popularity of Richard Rider, the Human Rocket.  Be sure to check out “Nova” Annual No. 1 on Wednesday, and “Nova” No. 11 on March 12!

Matt Price: What has been the key to Nova’s recent surge in popularity?
Bill Rosemann: Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have a true love and appreciation for Nova. They saw the potential – in both his powers and his personality – that we fellow Nova fans always knew lie underneath his golden helmet.
Even if you’ve never read a single Nova comic before – or even a single Marvel comic – anyone can pick up a new issue andconnect with and root for our hero, Richard Rider, who is an ordinary young guy from Queens who suddenly finds himself the lone “space cop” for an entire galaxy. What if you were given incredibly cool powers, but were then expected to police all the galaxies of the universe? Dan and Andy get the fun in that concept, and have attracted amazing artists who then translate that sense of excitement into some the most jaw-dropping sci-fi visuals ever.

Price: What’s the best reason for someone to start reading “Nova”?
Rosemann: Bone-rattling action, brain-melting sci-fi concepts, gut-busting dialogue, eye-melting art, jaw-dropping cliff-hangers, a hero you can identify with and cheer for…Nova has it all. Oh, and if all that’s not enough, howzabout a frequent guest-star who happens to be a telepathic talking Russian cosmonaut dog?

Price: Tell me about the creative team on the book.
Rosemann: Nova is lucky enough to have some of comics’ greatest creators. Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, who are well-known for their cutting edge sci-fi work, never fail in placing our hero in fascinating and deadly situations. And their anti-buddy exchanges between Nova and Worldmind, the super computer that happens to live in Nova’s head, are hilarious. On the art side, Paul Pelletier (fresh off a great run on Fantastic Four) is drawing a fun two-parter in issues #11 and #12 that bring back the cult-fave former New Mutant known as Warlock. Then rising star Wellinton Alves kicks off a three-parter in issue #13 that features the perennial heavy weights Galactus and the Silver Surfer! Add on covers by the amazing Alex Maleev, and you have the total package.

Price: What threats will Nova face in the coming issues?
Rosemann: Currently, a vicious virus is racing through Nova’s system. What’s fun about that (for readers, at least) is exploring the question: What good is the ability to soar through space and hurl massive force beams if your own body is betraying you? You can see how that fight is taken to it’s ultimate level in Nova Annual #1, on sale next week. Then he’ll confront the afore-mentioned Warlock in March and April. Will he help Nova in his current quest to take down the techno villains known as the Phalanx? After that…yeah, it’s time for Galactus and the Silver Surfer! What can our Human Rocket do against a giant who eats planets? You’ll have to come along for the ride in May to find out!

There was a lot of online speculation during “Civil War” about the possible interaction between that storyline and either the ongoing “Annihilation” storyline or possibly “Planet Hulk.” While, from what I understand, “World War Hulk” was originally more of a direct sequel to Civil War, I don’t know that the Annihilation Wave was ever planned to reach Earth.
That said, David Hine picks up the idea and runs with it in “What if Annihilation Reached Earth,” a recent one-shot from Marvel Comics.
The “What If” concept in Marvel Comics takes a pivotal event and shifts something that happened, allowing the event to play out differently.  In “What If Annihilation,” Drax the Destroyer makes a different choice at a critical moment, causing Nova’s United Front resistance  unable to halt Annihilation.
At the climax of Civil War, the clash between Iron Man and Captain America is interrupted — by a scout ship from the Annihilation Wave. 
Richard Rider, Nova, stops the scout ship, and comes to the heroes for help — and is amazed that they’ve spent the last several months “squabbling over (their) secret identities.”
Nova is appropriately heroic, at the heart of this alternate storyline.  He works to bring together factions against stiff odds, and takes a key role as Annihilation unfolds.  Working with Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Bolt, Nova enlists another cosmic force to help Earth face Annihilus.
Mico Suayan provides the art for pages 1-9 and 21-24; Rafael Kayanan handles pages 10-20.  Both artists provide appropriately moody but still mainstream style Marvel artwork.
Marvel Comics fans who want a hint at what might have been will enjoy “What If: Annihilation.” With no “next issue” needed, “What If” comics can up the carnage and the consequences. “What If: Annihilation” does so ably.

– Matt Price

I was just the right age to love ALL of the comics Marvel put out under its “Heroes for the 90s” tag in 1990.  Spider-Man by Todd McFarlane? Check.  Ghost Rider by Howard Mackie? Only the best Ghost Rider comics ever.  Namor by John Byrne? You bet.  And, what 15-year-old me found to be the best of the bunch? New Warriors.

The book was written by Fabian Nicieza with a pre-superstar Mark Bagley on art.   On the splash page of the opening issue, Night Thrasher is holding a depowered Richard Rider off the edge of a roof.

He’s hoping the adrenaline causes Rider’s Nova powers to kick in.  Fortunately, it works, or this would have been a much shorter series than the 75 issues the first series ended up running.  

With his powers restored, Nova — who was called ‘Kid Nova’ for a while, I believe for trademark reasons — became the hotheaded young man of the New Warriors team. Nova takes the forefront in “The Starlost” from New Warriors 40-42 and in January 1994 again received a solo series, from “New Warriors” writer Nicieza.

“New Warriors” came to a close in 1996, with the “Heroes for the ’90s” making it for more than half the decade.  They were revived for a 10-issue run in 1999 by writer Jay Faerber.

Nova’s solo series ran 18 issues, to 1995, and he also underwent a brief revival in 1999, for seven issues written by Erik Larsen.

Nova made an appearance in what would be a forgettable 2005 “New Warriors” series by Zeb Wells, in which the New Warriors became reality show stars.  However, the “reality” Warriors spurred Mark Millar to use the team as the flashpoint of “Civil War.”

While the Warriors are much changed, some of the characters now appear in the current “New Warriors” and “Thunderbolts” series.  Nova, meanwhile, was recalled to the Nova Corps as part of 2006’s “Annihilation” — the series that made Nova into one of Marvel’s leading heroes.

– Matt Price

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.