The Reviewer's Take: Nova #36 by Reviewed by Chris Sims

Reviews

Chris Sims is the prolific and hilarious writer for his own blog The-ISB as well as senior writer for one of the best comics sites on the net, Comic Alliance. He does a weekly comic review calledThis Week in Ink and this week, he tackled Nova’s final issue. Here’s what he had to say:

Nova #36: You know, it’s been my experience as a comics reader that when an issue ends with “Never The End!”, what they really mean is “Oh yeah, this is totally the end.”

Such is the case with this week’s Nova, which–along with its sister book in the Grand Abnett & Lanning Cosmic Saga–sure does read like a last issue. I’ve heard, but not been able to confirm with a cursory round of googling–that the book’s going on hiatus during the Thanos Imperative, but as we all learned from the sad, limbo-bound fate of The Immortal Iron Fist, going on hiatus while another mini-series goes on is no guarantee that you’ll be coming back. And with Nova being revealed to have a slot in the upcoming Secret Avengers the stars don’t really point to a continuation of his spacebound adventures.

It’s not that I think Nova’s going away–he seems to be a character on the rise that Marvel’s willing to put in the spotlight, as evidenced by his prominence in Paul Tobin’s Free Comic Book Day story and the aforementioned role in Secret Avengers–but based on sheer storytelling logistics, it’s awfully hard to have him be Secretly Avenging when he’s also bopping around space helping out the Kymellians or the Badoon or whatever. But then, it should be hard for the Punisher to be both a Frankenstein’s Monster and a senior-citizen vigilante mass murderer at the same time too, and they manage okay, and space warps mean an easy commute. So maybe I’m wrong.

If I’m not, though, and a rebranding is imminent, it’s a real shame. This issue–and the last three years of Nova, plus the time before that in Annihilation have been unfailingly fantastic. Heck, they’re the books that made me like Cosmic Marvel more than Cosmic DC, and that’s saying something. They’re just full of fun stuff, and it makes for something highly enjoyable. But clearly, I’m not the only one saying that–maybe it’s just the company I keep, but I’ve rarely seen anyone have anything but glowing praise for Abnett, Lanning, and their various cosmic co-conspirators (by the way: Cosmic Co-Conspirators? Call me, Marvel), so I can’t imagine that the shakeup would put the lid on the entirety of Marvel’s space stuff.

Which, I suppose, isn’t really much of a review of this issue, so: It’s got evil twins, alternate dimensions, and Cthulhu being zapped with space lasers. IT’S GREAT!

So, let’s discuss Nova. From Annihilation to present, he’s become probably a top five hero in the Marvel Universe. He lead the Allied Forces in Annihilation, in Conquest he was a major target of the Phalanx and brought the means to defeat them, he’s stopped multiple cosmic level, nearly omnipotent threats and is the leader of the intergalactic police. Only Reed Richards is clearly above him and he is, at this point on par with the likes of Captain America, Spider-Man, Cyclops, Dr. Strange, Adam Warlock and Nick Fury in terms as a hero.

Of course, given how little his book sells, most people seem to niether know or care about the character’s development from impulsive teen hero to “the man.” I think ultimately, that’s why the book is going on hiatus and he’s being put in Secret Avengers. That high profile Ed Brubaker Title will make the mainstream Avenger fan of just how great a character this is. With that done, assuming he’s featured as he should be, his book can re-launch with Abnett and Lanning writing and a far greater potential audience, especially when it ties into Avengers. With Wolverine in so many books and so many places, it’s almost impossible to argue that he can’t be an Avenger and in space, so this looks like a possible renaissance for the character.

So, to this issue. This is a raising the stakes and clearing the decks exersize. We have Cthulu Universe possed Quasar, possessed scientest and guardian armor against Nova and Darkhawk. That the heroes win, preventing a “many angled one” from eating the Earth, is expected. What this does is introduce plot elements for the Thanos Imperative, our next space crossover.

With Thanos, the avatar of death and all things awesome in custody of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Adam Magus still running around being utterly evil and a galactic threat, plus the fault with Cthulu filled earth superheroes and giant Elder Gods, the decks are stacked against the heroes. The Shi’ar and Kree are united against the threat, but with Inhuman Medusa manipulating the Kree, there will be hell to pay sooner rather than later. The Shi’ar meanwhile are infiltrated by the other evil Darkhawks and won’t trust the real Darkhawk. Literally every space hero involved is compromised in some way and facing incredible odds. The Thanos Imperative is shaping up to be great. This issue sells Nova as the leader going against impossible odds (after all, be barely beat Evil Quasar), odds which he succeeded against before and is convinced he will again…. with plenty of evil twins and Cthulu Zapping to come! And that’s before we get to the cataclysmic coming battle between Adam Magus of Life (evil) vs. Thanos of Death (evil). Cosmic Marvel and Cosmic DC (Rebels and such) are where creators universe build and tell epic stories with abandon, being the best mainstream superhero comics on the stands that simply need more readers.

Next up: The Weekend Trade Review. Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/PulseGlazer for an update on when it posts and all the other ComicsNexus and PulseWrestling news!

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.