Cover art to NOVA #26 by Daniel Acuna
As the War of Kings rages on, Richard Rider once again finds himself as Nova Prime. Last issue, he managed to purge the Worldmind of the evil influence of Ego and rebooted the system. So now the Worldmind bears the likeness of former Nova Prime Ko-Rel.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Nova Corp, poorly-trained recruits sent to police the War of Kings by Ego, are getting their butts handed to them by the Shi’ar, the Inhumans and the Kree. They’re outgunned and outmanned. Oh, and Rich’s brother Robbie is missing in action. All in all, things aren’t looking so good for the Nova Corps.
Abnett and Lanning continue to write one hell of a space opera. We’re not even talking about war on a global scale; this is galactic. But it’s fairly easy to keep this sprawling story straight and not get too confused. Nova ties in nicely with War of Kings, but still stands on its own - it isn’t necessary that you’re following every title in the crossover in order to enjoy this book.
So now the Worldmind is a sassy lady who likes to bust Rich’s balls at every opportunity? Color me unimpressed. After only one issue, the joke is already wearing a bit thin.
Speaking of personality, while Rich and his brother are fleshed-out characters, a lot of the background Nova Corpsmen are pretty bland. I know there’s a lot of characters to deal with on a regular basis, but it seems like most of them are either devoid of personality or have very basic personalities. (I guess that’s why they’re in the background, huh?)
Cover art to NOVA #26 by Daniel Acuna
It’s a solid issue that very effectively transitions from the “Worldmind is possessed by Ego” storyline to a “oh crap, what do we do now?” story. If you’ve been thinking about reading Nova, this might actually be a good place to start. Sure, you’re in the middle of a big crossover, but the recap pages at the beginning of the book are really well done and after an issue or two, you’ll be more-or-less up to speed. One of my favorite things about this book is how easy it was to jump into the story: another testament to the DnA writing team.
Once again, it proves that this isn’t a Marvel earth, it’s a Marvel Universe; and the best stories in that universe are taking place off-planet.