By  Timelord

Nova #22

Written By: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Artist: Andrea Divito

Colorist: Bruno Hang

Cover Artist: Juan Doe

 

 

 

 

Warning: Contains Spoilers

 

I had mixed feelings about issue #22 – mainly due to reservations about the overall “Nova Corps” story arc. So, to be fair, I’m simply going to review this issue on its own merits. Once this story arc is finished, I’ll review the “Nova Corps” story arc as a whole in an upcoming edition of this column.

This issue begins with the Worldmind conscripting thousands of human beings from all over the world to join the Nova Corps. They arrive on Nu-Xandar where they are met by the avatar of the Worldmind and by prior recruits including Robert Rider. The Worldmind and the prior recruits welcome and reassure the new recruits that they can leave if they don’t like being drafted into the Corps. Surprisingly, none choose to leave and many react as if they are having a religious experience. Could that be because the Worldmind is pumping them full of endorphins to “soothe anxiety?” Fascinatingly, we witness the process by which inductees are transformed into Nova Corpsmen – making canonical the speculations of many notable fans over the years as we see that the skills required to use the powers are downloaded into each new Centurion at the same time the powers are received – no practice required. Before anyone jumps me – yes, that has always been implied; but to my knowledge never officially acknowledged until now. Thanks DnA, that was a nice touch and the unapologetic techno-geeks among us appreciate it because it is that kind of detail that makes a science-fiction story plausible. Also, the continuity fanatics among us appreciate it because it helps explain a lot of things over the past 32 years of Nova history – beginning with why would Rhomann Dey give powers to a random untrained human and send him against a powerful genocidal maniac like Zorr? But I digress – so back to the story. Next we see Richard Rider having a heart-to-heart talk with his father, Charles Rider, as Charles drives Richard to Project Pegasus. It was nice to see Charles back to the kind, supportive, fatherly role he has always exhibited in the past; rather than the frightened, angry, judgmental jerk we saw in Issue #2 of this series. Charles drops Richard off at Project Pegasus; and Richard meets with Quasar, Doctor Necker, and Dr. Gruenwald. Rich asks to be tested – physically and mentally – to determine his health as he is concerned that his suspicions about the Worldmind’s behavior might be arising from mental dysfunction related to his carrying the entire Nova Force within him for so long. It is also decided to lure a certain fully functioning Centurion – namely Robert Rider – into an isolation chamber in order to determine if the Worldmind is mentally manipulating the functioning Centurions in any way. Turns out, the Worldmind is manipulating the minds of the Corpsmen; and it doesn’t like Richard having figured that out. So, it sends some Corpsmen in to bust up the isolation chamber and threaten Rich with consequences if he continues to interfere. The issue ends with Rich receiving some ominous news about his medical condition – the Nova Force did not drive him insane; but his body has adapted to contain it and now cannot survive without it. If his powers are not restored within 48 hours, he will die.

This issue was long on dialogue, story arc development, and character development; but short on action. As a 32 year Nova fan, I didn’t mind that at all. In fact, I enjoyed it. I do fear that some less hardcore fans might be turned off by the relative lack of action; and at a time in our nation’s economic history when things are tight and comics sales are down; I would hate to have that adversely affect the survivability of this series. This issue was by far the best yet in the Nova Corps arc and I have a feeling that next issue will more than make up for the relative lack of action in this issue. It was great to see Quasar alive and well again. I know the Quasar fans must be ecstatic, so here’s a shout out to all my Quasar fan friends. Congratulations on Wendell’s triumphant return to the land of the living! You’ve all worked hard to lobby Marvel to bring back Wendell and your effort has paid off. It looks like Wendell is back and more powerful than ever. I look forward to his role in the rest of this arc. As I said in my review of the prior issue of Nova last month, I’m tired of depowering stories. That being said, at least DnA have infused some new life into that tired old plot device by making Rich physically dependent upon his powers for life itself. In the past, he’s experienced psychological angst at the loss of powers; but never had his life dependent on having powers. With the clock ticking down his final 48 hours, I expect Rich to go on a desperate quest to regain his powers. It is common knowledge that he conjoins with Wendell next issue to help in his quest; but there’s an intriguing unconfirmed rumor going around the net that he might end up back at Xandar’s ruins looking for answers about exactly how to regain his powers. Aside from the depowering cliché, another thing has begun to annoy me about this story arc – that being the “insane supercomputer” science-fiction cliché. Rich dropped a line in this issue about the Worldmind possibly being insane. I really hope DnA avoid that tired old plot device or at least somehow breathe some fresh life into it.

The art in this issue was quite simply magnificent cover-to-cover. Speaking of covers, the cover art was stunning – both in concept and in execution. Cover artist, Juan Doe (is this the artist’s real name or a play on John Doe?), is to be commended; and I hope that Marvel will release this cover art as a commercially available poster. If they do, I promise to buy at least two. What can I say about Divito’s interior art except that as of this issue, Divito has surpassed Buscema as my all time favorite Nova artist. Rich has never looked better. Each panel is masterfully executed. Here’s hoping that Divito stays on this book for the rest of its run. Hang’s colors are eye-catching throughout.

In short, Issue #22 was the beginning of the redemption of what to my mind has been an overall disappointing story arc. Let’s hope that #23 really brings this “Nova Corps” story arc out of the mediocrity that it has been suffering from and puts Nova back on track as Marvel Cosmic’s hottest book.

 

Article by: Timelord

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the author and should not be construed to be the official opinions of cosmicbooknews.

 

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