For a long time now I’ve sat and wondered what Marvel’s plans were for the Nova character, since he seemingly died or was at the very least trapped at the end of the Thanos Imperative story-line. It was then that Richard Rider (Nova), Peter Quill (Star-Lord) planned to trap an enraged Thanos behind in the Cancerverse and saving the known Earth-615 universe. So that was that or was it?
Several months later Peter Quill emerged no worse for wear and no explanation as to what happened to him or his buddy-in-arms or Thanos for that matter. But if you’ve been following Marvel comics you also know that Thanos is also alive and well. So what happened to Nova? Well thanks to Marvel’s own Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness, he was replaced by a newer and younger Nova character, Samuel Alexander and has appeared in the relaunched Nova comic as well as the Ultimate Spider-man cartoon.
I got to be honest here folks, I enjoyed Richard Rider as Nova. We got to see him progress from the very first we saw him burst into the scene and watch him make a total fool of himself to a somewhat kick-ass character to a mature and more kick-ass figure, only to see Marvel not have any real ideas on how to place him in the Marvel standings (Similar to another comic powered hero, Quasar) and ultimately replaced. It’s not that I dislike the current Nova… nah, I’ll be honest. I don’t really like him. I don’t like the direction Marvel is putting him and the Nova character is more or less being dragged through the mud.
But yet fans of the original Nova still wonder what happened to him and I guess Marvel has finally given in and will finally give us an idea as to what happened to him and what’s going to happen to the Nova character. I can’t say I’m surprised as it seems Marvel has been dropping subtle hints here and there, like for example the helmet that Sam is wearing isn’t actually a Nova corps helmet but that of the Black Nova corp or Supernovas. And I never really paid attention to his helmet until the last few appearances of him actually.
So what I’m getting at if I’m getting at anything at all is……
Look who just showed up in the end of Guardians of the Galaxy #17!