What do you get when you cross Spider-Man with Green Lantern? Nova, the Human Rocket.
Introduced by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Buscema in Nova 1 (Sept. 1976), the character was an attempt to recapture the teenage superhero lightning of Spider-Man in a bottle 14 years later.
But instead of a bitterly alienated science nerd, Richard Rider was an ordinary high schooler, good-hearted but not overly bright. As with the Silver Age Green Lantern, his super powers are transferred from an endangered and dying alien champion.
But the dying Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, Abin Sur, had time to find the bravest man on Earth, Hal Jordan, and to use his power ring to check that he was also honest. The mortally wounded Centurion Nova-Prime Rhomann Dey just picked a kid at random.
And that angle gave the feature something of a Greatest American Hero vibe, with Rider learning to use his super powers on the job. And those were the satisfying if typical Standard Operating Procedure powers for a superhero — flight, super-speed, durability and super-strength.
His first run lasted only an unimpressive 25 issues. But I always thought Nova had potential, and at least his exit was as stylish as his entrance — for the final issue, his cover tag line was altered from “He’s here! The Human Rocket!” to “He’s gone! The Human Rocket!”
Bob Doncaster wrote: I never made it to issue 25. I gave up on the series after about 10 issues. That short of a run maybe I should finish it
ReplyDeleteDylan Crossman wrote: Always liked Nova, though I’ve read very little of his original run, only discovering him via the original New Warriors.
ReplyDeleteIt’s also fascinating that both Conway and Wolfman did “flip the script” Spider-Man like characters, both with the initials “R.R.”
Mark Engblom wrote: "In stark contrast to Marvel’s innovative and, to put it bluntly, “We’re Not DC” burst of creation in the early 60’s, Nova may have been Marvel’s most conventionally formulaic “DC-like” character. The constant comparisons to Spider-Man also made it feel a bit lazy and phoned in. As a kid, I loved Nova’s look, but found the stories themselves rather generic....and the late-career Infantino art later in the run certainly didn’t help keep readers around. A few years later, DC would also make their own run at the emerging “reluctant rookie hero” craze with Firestorm. Though obviously not lumped in with Spider-Man, I think DC was counting on the fact that writer (and longtime Spidey scribe) Gerry Conway was probably enough of a connection."
ReplyDeleteRichard Bogle said; This came out when I was 13 and was immediately my favorite comic.
ReplyDeleteJim Simants wrote:I LOVED Nova. I very much enjoyed Rich Ryder as a Peter Parker-like character, only without the super-high intelligence. He was a much more regular guy. Yes, his title lasted only 25 issues, but very few new characters in their own titles launched after 1975 lasted very long. Even long-term characters like Dr. Strange got their books canceled.
ReplyDeleteI was very happy that Nova’s story got continued in a long Fantastic Four arc and an issue of Rom. Then I later read all his later short-lives series.
Cheryl Spoehr said: Never my cup of tea. It seemed to me that after the "Silver Age" a lot of creativity was lost. New heroes seemed like watered-down versions of old heroes to me. If you check the fifties,you will see characters like The Avenger and Captain Flash who had the same issues... too little, too late.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Lenius said: What Cheryl said. And concepts post-SA tended to be non-super-heroes material. My main complaint post-SA (and near the end of the SA) is that too many talented writers and artists died, retired, were fired, or were doing lesser-quality work.
ReplyDeleteMichael Fraley wrote: I purchased as many issues of Nova as I could find, thanks to the sometimes spotty distribution at my local pharmacy / greasy spoon. The only negative thing I can recall is that Infantino was admittedly phoning in the artwork by that point, having lost his drive after losing his position at DC. Lots of giant talking heads full of teeth.
ReplyDeleteGene Popa said: It's been decades since I've seen it, but wasn't he called by a slightly different name when they first teased a Romita-drawn image of him in a Bullpen Bulletin prior to the launch of his book? I believe when Wolfman created him for a fanzine in the 60s, he was called Black Nova...maybe that's the name Marvel originally announced him as as well?
ReplyDeleteJeff Gentile wrote: I was an immediate Nova fan. I’ve never been a huge Infantino fan, but I powered through his art. The Spidey-Nova crossover whodunnit was a lot a fun. I really liked the early villains storyline, including the Sphinx!
ReplyDeleteJohn D. Hooper wrote: About the time Carmine Infantino started dong the art for Nova, I read Marv Wolfman say in an interview that he was writing Nova for the youngest readers, 12 years old or so. After that, I couldn't help but see it! "Oh, my gahd, he IS!!". Robbie Ryder and his Sherlock robot.....
ReplyDeleteThat was the beginning of the end.