Posts Tagged ‘ Nova ’

UPDATED at the bottom of the page

Marvel has announced an announcement (I hate when they do that) – Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness will be collaborating on a mini which will be titled Somebody Reborn. Given the last few we’ve had – Captain America and Daredevil - this doesn’t necessarily mean that the star of the mini has to be currently dead; they could just be in need of a bit of a push exposure-wise or a new direction. I’m also assuming that just because the promo has five dashes, it doesn’t necessarily mean the character has five letters in their name.

Well, have I got some contenders for you (in no particular order)…

10. The Aquarian

Oh, okay, this is never going to happen. But Loeb and McGuinness on a Superman-analog who became a pacifist beardy hippy instead of a defender of the world? Tell me that doesn’t pique your creative juices flowing. And the book could always co-star the Aquarian’s good buddy the Thing to provide the requisite amount of smashing.

9. Woodgood

Not as out-there as you might imagine; Woodgod – a sentient genetic experiment who resembles a satyr -actually showed up briefly in the last McGuinness-penciled issue of Hulk. Recast Woodgod as a cosmic-level environmentalist and you’ve got a sure-fire hit. Maybe.

8. The Human Torch

It seems unlikely that Johnny Storm will return in any book that isn’t currently written by Jonathan Hickman, and isn’t Fantastic Four #600, but stranger things have happened – like Thunderbolt Ross becoming a Hulk, and yet inexplicably losing his mustache when he changes. Just saying.

7. Uncle Ben

Well okay, probably not. But just imagine how awesome a preachy old guy book could be. “Why, this wouldn’t have happened in my day…” He could shake his cane at those damn kids and everything.

6. Bucky/Nomad

Not the recently-deceased Jim Barnes, but the also-recently-deceased Rikki Barnes. Originally from the Heroes Reborn universe in the Loeb/Liefeld Captain America book, this plucky young lady was brought into the mainstream Marvel U by the same team, where she had a solo mini as Nomad and some backups, joined the short-lived Young Allies, and eventually died battling Onslaught once again. Right now, the Marvel Universe is Bucky-less, and with Captain America and Bucky editor Lauren Sankovitch’s recent ‘there’s more than one Bucky‘ comment, could Rikki make a return at the hands of one of her creators?

5. Dazzler

Sure, she’s getting some panel time in the X-Men books, and there was a Jim McCann-penned one-shot that was pretty good, but what Alison Blaire really needs is a big-name creative team – and what Marvel needs is more female-led books. This could put Dazzler back in the *ahem* spotlight…

4. Crimson Daffodil

‘Who?’ I hear you say – and well you might. The Crimson Daffodil was a minor rogue who showed up in a few issue of the Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger and – wait a minute… this isn’t a Loeb/McGuinness dream project. It’s mine. Sorry. I guess this doesn’t count…

4. Nova/Starlord (tied)

Sure, Nova and Starlord aren’t so much confirmed dead as trapped in what’s affectionately known as the cancerverse battling the mad god Thanos following the close of The Thanos Imperative, and that was published relatively recently, but I can see McGuinness going all-out on a space adventure. And besides, in spite of the Butch-and-Sundance freeze frame, these guys aren’t gone for good. Right?

3. Sabretooth

Victor Creed died at the pen of Jeph Loeb in the godawful (but very pretty) Evolution arc in Wolverine, so it’s only fitting that he gets first crack at bringing the psychopathic killer back. After all, all that nonsense about the Muramasa blade blocking healing factors can be rewritten as just really slowing them down, and we can just write off the Sabretooth in hell stuff as only a part of his spirit or a hallucination. And I actually think I wouldn’t mind to see McGuinness drawing Sabretooth cut loose. I’d actually be all for this.

2. Captain Marvel

Sure, his is one of those deaths that should never be reversed, but we used to say that about Bucky and that worked out pretty well. Following the fake-Skrull Captain Marvel, there was apparently a push towards getting former Marvel Boy and current Avenger the Protector into a book as a new Captain Marvel, but it fell through. Could the time be right for the true Mar-Vell to return?

1. Wasp

Janet Van Dyne’s death was an out of leftfield moment in Secret Invasion mainly because she’d barely been featured in the book before that moment, and she’s been constantly referred to as being kind-of-alive in another dimension in both Mighty Avengers and Avengers Academy, so the Wasp’s return wouldn’t be entirely unexpected and – like Dazzler and Bucky/Nomad – any book starring a woman front and center would be a good move.

So – you have any better ideas?

UPDATE: Duh. I missed off a character whose name has five letters, who’s been dead a while, who someone senior at Marvel mentioned there was a pitch in for, who fits Ed McGuinness’ bombastic art style, and who Jeph Loeb has history with – in fact he wrote one of my favorite ever issues of any book in this character’s series – so I’m adding another to the list.

0. Cable

Yeah, this makes more sense.

Over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston posted the cover to the upcoming Secret Avengers with the cast revealed:

So as anticipated (well, okay, between the original post and one of my comments, don’t give me grief) the roster is…Steve Rogers, Nova (!), Beast, War Machine, Valkyrie and Moon Knight.

And that’s one godawful costume that Steve has on. Oddly familiar, though, even if I can’t place it.

I also worry what this means for Nova’s solo book which is going on ‘hiatus’ while The Thanos Imperative runs its course…

Be warned: this post contains spoilers.

I know, for an issue that came out a couple of days ago and has already cropped up on most message boards and the like, that’s not a big deal – and I know that as its Nova only a handful of people will care – but still.

Big spoilers.

So I’m putting it behind the jump…

An excellent pair of covers which – until I put together this morning’s post – I hadn’t even realized were mirroring each other.

Nova. Still awesome even if it spends too much time on the Corps these days.

Last week was a huge week, so let’s get to it (some spoilers below) -

Detective Comics #854 – Beautiful artwork, solid story – and that’s on both Batwoman and The Question co-feature. I have to say that I like this version of Kate Kane more than the version we met in 52. Like the look, like the base, like her dad helping…good stuff all around.

Gotham City Sirens #1 – Store I went to was out. Maybe next week.

Green Lantern #42 – A bit of a let down, partly because I find Blue Lanterns of Hope stupid, partly because I find Larfleeze a daft villain, and partly because I’m sick of all the Lanterns just assuming that the Guardians are right, or at least being unwilling to question anything. This is on the endangered list post-Blackest Night.

Justice League of America #34 – Adequate wrap-up to the Starbreaker arc – although I still don’t really get why Cowboy Batman was there and the revelation about Sun Eaters being larvae Starbreakers is pretty much nonsensical. Let’s move on, already.

Superman #689 – A so-so ‘day in the life’ issue, with Valor touring the world and having splash page adventures in every country he visits, along with a one-panel inset where he sees something beautiful. Aw. Yes, it’s as cloying as it sounds.

Amazing Spider-Man #598 – Darker than usual, with Spidey getting a fistful of torture from Bullseye while Harry flounders and Norman proves he has a prediliction for blondes around his son’s age. Also, nodbody’s surprised that this guy seems to have been forgotten by everyone. Can it be? Did OMD delete Sins Past? Because if it did, I’m all for it!

Astonishing X-Men #30 – I asked last week if anyone still cared about this title. The answer is probably not. I’m kind of pissed off that Ellis killed Forge after turning him a little more crazy, though. I always liked him. Beautiful art, though.

Avengers The Initiative #25 – Good solid wrap-up issue as we get the new status quo of the Initiative. Lots to like here – dropping Gravity into the GLA is a genius idea (mini series, please!); I like the idea of the Avengers Resistance – especially with a newly-revitalized Tigra leading it; and Gauntlet sucker punching Ares out of the window of Avengers Tower. Good stuff.

Dark Avengers #6 – So. Norman’s still insane. Sentry’s still useless as a character. Mike Deodato still draws exceptionally well. And the cover doesn’t represent a single thing that happens in the issue. Still good fun.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1 – Okay set-up issue for the crossover, but I’m becoming less and less a fan of Fraction’s work on the X-Men, and that carries over here a little. Also, I’ve never been a fan of ‘torn from the headline’ stories, and Proposition X and Proposition 8 are a little too close for me to fully embrace the story yet. Oh, and the apparent treatment of Xavier seems a little pointless given the amount of time we just spent traipsing around the world with him getting him back. And, even though I’m told otherwise, I still think the Loki thing was a screw up.

Dark Reign Lethal Legion #1 – I picked this up because Tieri promised Crusher Creel. Well, he’s in it, barely, but I’ll forgive the false advertising. The majority of the issue focuses on Tiger Shark, in prison, telling how the current Lethal Legion – him, the Grim Reaper, Creel, Mr Hyde, Nekra (who also popped up in Utopia, oddly enough), the Grey Gargoyle and a final mystery member – got together and got set up. I’m not sold on the flashback-heavy structure of the story, but it’s got potential. Oh, and the art by Mateus Santoloco is very reminiscent of Darick Robertson.

Guardians Of The Galaxy #15 – The Guardians wrap up their War of Kings involvement in typical strong fashion; Moondragon’s not the woman she used to be; Warlock might be the man he will become and used to be (look, it makes sense); Crystal’s no helpless hostage; Lockjaw might be god (at least if you’re Cosmo) and Groot is Groot. Simply awesome. What comics should be.

Incredible Hercules #130 – Slight misstep this time out as Zeus gets put on trial, simply because he’s such a pompous ass that you really don’t want him to be saved. That said, there’s some good stuff with Cho and his parents (and Aegis, of all people), and Hercules’ speech in defence of his father is great. So even when this comic’s isn’t firing on all cylinders, it’s still better than 90% of the comics out there.

Nova #26 – A great book, but I’m not a fan of the reintroduced Corps. I don’t want a second rate Green Lantern Corps, I want Rich Rider. Let’s get this back on track and I won’t even mention that Robbie Rider’s supposed to be missing a finger, okay?

Secret Warriors #5 – Best issue so far, and the first one not to feature the team. What does that tell you? That nobody cares about the team because their characters haven’t been developed at all? Probably.

Skaar Son Of Hulk #12 – Some smashing and more than a few surprises. A light, fun read – and there’s more to Skaar than meets the eye. I’ll be picking up Incredible Hulk #600 to see where Skaar and his dad land next.

Thunderbolts #133 – Okay, well…if Black Widow isn’t who we think she is, who is she? Tasha? Mystique? This just got a lot more interesting between that, her real boss, Ghost’s connivingness and Eric O’Grady potentially stepping up in a big way. On top of that there were more examples of HAMMER’s gestapo-like tactics and the welcome return of Songbird. One of Marvel’s most unpredictable titles right now.

Uncanny X-Men #512 – So. Looks like it’s not just Greg Land’s static posing that makes Uncanny a bit of a mess right now, is it? Fraction is not on good form here. The whole X-Men science team thing seems like a good idea but plays like a second rate Planetary, to be honest.

X-Force #16 – The Messiah War concludes with not so much a bang as a whimper. A pity, because it had been pretty good fun up to hear – but at this point its difficult to see what, if any, changes to the status quo of either books this story has really made.

X-Men Forever #2- It feels a little wrong that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. From a page-long soliloquy from Nick Fury to hearing a sound in a corridor, to Wolverine apparently having adamantium hair, there’s so much wrong here that it’s difficult defend. And yet…and yet…it’s still strangely great.

Proof #21 – As much as I like the concept of this book, I think I’m about done. It’s well done, but over the last few arcs it feels like its lost its way – and that’s a damn shame because for a while there it was one of my most anticipated books. I’m out after the conclusion of this arc.

Starting in Nova #23, Rich Rider has a new look that’s decidedly familiar…

Looking forward to it – Nova, along with Guardians of the Galaxy, is one of my favorite books every month these days. In fact now that I think about it, my favorites are almost entirely books that are viewed as second-string.

Wonder why? Is it the perception that more can happen in, say, Nova than in Mighty Avengers? That there’s more risk of change, more freedom to do something that stretches and explore the character?

Maybe so – whatever, I do wonder what that costume says for the recently resurrected Wendell Vaughn…

Via

Something that happened a few weeks back that I meant to blog about but didn’t concerned Nova - or, more accurately, the most recent addition to the Nova Corps…

…Ego the Living Planet.

Or kinda, because as Nova points out to the Thing, you’d have to be really stupid to put a planet in the Corps:

Not happy about that comment:

You know, I still want a DC/Marvel Mogo/Ego: When Worlds Collide! crossover…

Nothing to say here, except that this cover for February’s Nova #22 is amazing.

Okay, I didn’t see that coming.

Darkhawk’s getting a solo book – granted, it’s a two-issue mini tied into War of Kings, but, hey, from those kind of acorns we got the great trees of the current Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy books.

As WAR OF KINGS approaches, the ascension of Darkhawk begins! New Warrior…Avenger…Intergalactic destroyer?! Chris Powell has been many things over his young life, but now he’s stepping up with a new life on the East Coast and a serious job at Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S. But when his past comes back to haunt him and new information about his amulet and its legacy are violently brought to light, Darkhawk realizes he may have to face a much darker destiny that he ever realized. All this, plus the return of the Loners…and a reprint of DARKHAWK #1! You know how ANNIHILATION made you look twice at Nova (now star of a critically acclaimed series)? This is where Darkhawk takes off!

I have to admit, I thought that we might get some books out of this new event, but my money was on another Inhumans mini, not Darkhawk.

Or maybe a Wendell Vaughan mini.

One thing I do like, though, is the mention of the New Warriors front and center. With the current incarnation of that book going the way of the Dodo, Nova flying high, and survivors of the original team – presumably meaning, Counter Force (stupid name) – returning to the pages of Avengers: The Initiative, I can’t help but feel a little hopeful of a real New Warriors book sometime before the decade is up.

Hey, I can dream can’t I?

Dear Marvel,

I see that you will be celebrating 70 years of Marvel in 2009, complete with variant covers and little ’70 Years’ corner boxes.

Maybe I’m not quite as good at maths as I thought I was because when I started picking up US Marvel comics in 1986, I was fairly certain that all the corner boxes then trumpeted that that was Marvel’s 25th Anniversary.

In fact, I’m relatively sure that all your November 1986 issues carried special anniversary covers too. Of those books, only eleven are still around in some form or other (I’m counting X-Factor and New Mutants to be generous), but only three are still on the same numbering run – and of those, only Uncanny X-Men has been numbered straight through.

Sadly, Ewoks, Care Bears and Heathcliff are no longer published by you, and you’ve lost both the Transformers and GI Joe licenses since then.

But I digress.

The point I would like to make is that if you’ve got a big year planned, maybe I can give you some pointers on ways to make it a good year…

1) No deals with the Devil (or demons, imps, devil substitutes or hedge fund managers). It may actually result in a substantial uptick in quality of the title, but it’s not worth the year of pissing and moaning from people who somehow believe that this will cause mythical young readers to fall into satanism (or become accountants).

2) Stop with the status quo-shaking crossovers. Look, if you change the status quo every twelve to eighteen months or so, the new status quo doesn’t have time to become status quo, okay? I understand that BOLD NEW DIRECTIONS! result in temporary sales boosts, but eventually you’re going to lose readers because of them. I know you’ve got War of Kings and probably some mutant-superhuman war thing lined up, but try to keep line-wide ramifications to a minimum, eh?

3) If you must have a status quo-shaking crossover, try to limit the number of new titles that spring out of it. For every Avengers: The Initiative that actually succeeds, you get a The Order which will fail and a New Warriors that will flounder, or an Omega Flight which will just plain tank. Just concentrate on putting out fewer new books and making sure that they’re good ones. Like Guardians of the Galaxy, which is awesome.

4) Stop launching new titles with old title names that bear little relation to those old titles unless you actually have a plan to tie it to the team’s legacy in some way. A good way of doing this is as Abnett and Lanning have done in Guardians of the Galaxy, which is awesome. A bad way is shoehorning Rage and Justice into the New Warriors book, which only reminds us how much better the original book was.

5) I get that #1′s sell, but if you want to relaunch a character who already has a book, just do it in that book. Otherwise the existing title suddenly becomes secondary and it’s blindingly obvious that it’s being phased out. It just pisses readers of that book off. And yes, I know that Invincible Iron Man is pretty good, that’s not the point. The point is that for the past six months, Director of SHIELD has been the red-headed step child.

6) Reinventing characters is great. I for one would love a new spin on, say, Nomad. Or Rocket Racer. But leave alone existing marquee characters unless they actually need a revamp. For example, if you have a character that has had more development in the past year than in the past ten years put together, don’t revert to the most annoying take on that character and introduce a big mean new-colored version of him who, although he may make a good visual, kind of stinks up the place. Am I being too vague, or would you like to look at the cover above?

7) Quit with the Zombie and Ape variants. I know I don’t have to buy them, and I don’t. But they annoy the crap out of me*. We get it! You’re marketing geniuses! You can change any cover into a variant by changing a little bit…it’s irritating in the extreme. Next things you’ll be sticking Skrull chins onto…oh.

There are some great underused characters out there who could do with a limited series or ongoing to spotlight them. The upcoming Cloak and Dagger is a good start, but how about the main MU Power Pack? Alpha Flight? Werewolf by Night? The Shroud? And, of course, Dazzler? I realize that you must get burned on these things but honestly, don’t they sound better to you than Hellcat or The Last Defenders?

9) Not just Wolverine needs inventory stories when he’s running late. Would it kill you to line up some Fantastic Four one-shots so that by the end of 2009, when we still haven’t finished Millar and Hitch’s run, we at least have a couple of issues starring the team out there? Yes, I’m being facetious and delays have lessened over the past couple of years, but I wouldn’t say no to the odd one-shot starring Marvel’s First Family.

10) You’ve got some great books out there at the moment. Captain America, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Incredible Hercules, Captain Britain and MI:13 are all solid gold and I continue to hear very good things about Immortal Iron Fist. Don’t screw ‘em up, ‘kay?

…but wouldn’t it be great if it did?

Via

The best book this week was a no-brainer for me: Nova #17 won hands down.

Not only did we get the reappearance of long-time Marvel organization, Project Pegasus, which featured pretty heavily in Marvel Two-In-One and Quasar amongst other books before being relegated to Marvel limbo…

…not only did we have the welcome return of Rich Rider to Earth and his family…

…but we also had Kl’rt the Super-Skrull continuing to show exactly why he’s such a great creation – mainly because he’s such a sneaky-yet-honorable bastard (actually, I also enjoyed his appearance in She-Hulk this week too). Since he first started developing a personality in Annihilation, he’s become one of my favorite Marvel characters by far.

And, oh, yeah…

…Quasar’s back! Probably not for good, but I would love to see Wendell and Kl’Rt hook up with Guardians of the Galaxy.

More than this though, was the nice touch that Abnett and Lanning had regarding the Project Director:

Somewhere, I think Mark Gruenwald’s smiling at that.

Shameless pimping time – you can catch up with the excellent Nova series here…