Remake & Reboot: The NOVA Comic Series

He’s the leading hero of Marvel’s cosmic comics, the tip of the spear when it comes to extraterrestrial threats… but he’s always had trouble with connecting with his homeworld, be it in comics or on comic shelves. Richard Rider, aka Nova, was recently marooned in the CancerVerse and considered dead by his colleagues. But with a new Nova, possibly Rider himself, picked to kick off this summer’s AvX storyline in the pages of Point One, 2012 could be that character’s breakthrough year.

And he should. Like I said, in the past the character has had trouble connecting with enough readers to provide sales to keep his ongoing — well, going, and has drifted in and out of ensemble books like New Warriors, cosmic crossovers and even a brief stint in Secret Avengers. Marvel’s always had trouble making any cosmis-related comics sustainable, but as DC has shown with its Green Lantern titles it’s all about evocative personalities and engrossing stories that make the comic engaging even if it takes place millions of light years away.

The Concept:

I’m as much a fan as you are of DnA’s recent run on Nova, but one of the chief complaints was it’s disengagement from the ongoing epic stories at the center of Marvel lore. Earth events have usually been far removed from things of a cosmic scale like the recent wars with the Sh’iar, the Kree and others… but if you re-examine recent events it could be different. Think about it — Secret Invasion was an alien race trying to invade earth. The crux of AvX seems to be about the Phoenix Force, another offworld threat, coming to roost here on our big blue planet. The Celestial threat as seen in recent issues of Uncanny X-Men only adds to this. In the past, Marvel’s made a brief stab at addressing this with the short-lived series S.W.O.R.D. but it didn’t have the well-known cast to win over audiences at large.  Nova could do just that.

Imagine Richard Rider spirited back to our universe by unknown benefactors with the task of defending Earth from — well — everything not Earth. The Nova Corps disintegrated when Richard Rider went to the CancerVerse, so now he’ s all that’s left and is put in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s space component, S.W.O.R.D. — remember them? Its former leader Agent Brand isn’t too happy with that, but bites her tongue for the greater good. Rider could be a more militaristic tactician wanting a relatively isolationist approach to Earth/alien relationships, while Agent Brand is more open to Earth joining the politics of the larger universe. There’s a long list of alien threats already living on Earth they could start with, beginning with the X-men’s longtime reliance on alien Sh’iar technology.

The Creators:

The Writer – Kieron Gillen: Gillen had his chance with S.W.O.R.D., but now a few years removed he’s come into his own more at Marvel with Uncanny X-Men and especially Journey Into Mystery. Gillen could do the deed of balancing the delicate nature of alien politics while also create a stunning action piece not unlike a gripping dogfight with fighter pilots — where our hero flies without a fighter plane.

The Artist – Marcio Takara: Takara’s been killing in the pages of Incorruptible, and reminds me of a young Dustin Nguyen just waiting for that chance to break out. Takara’s already shown some inherent fan appreciation for Marvel’s heroes, so I’d give him this to really define, once and for all, a Marvel Cosmic that connects with the classic Marvel U.

The Cover Artist – W. Scott Forbes: He’s become an in-demand cover artist with work on Image’s Forgetless and 27, and I’ve been waiting for the day for that demand to bleed over into the Big Two. Forbes has the potential to really kick out some amazing, iconic Nova pieces that make you step back and get a new appreciation for the book.