Legendary Nova Richard Rider returns to the Marvel Universe in Nova: Resurrection. But how did he escape the Cancerverse - and if he made it out, did anything else creep back with him…?
Nova: Resurrection reads kinda like Green Lantern: Rebirth in that the Novas Corps are like Marvel’s Green Lantern Corps and Rich Rider is Marvel’s Hal Jordan - the best known character who wore the mantle, died, and got brought back. Except Jeff Loveness and Ramon Perez are both better storytellers than Geoff Johns so Nova: Resurrection is a finer book than Green Lantern: Rebirth - though not by much.
For a seven-issue book, there ain’t a lot of story. Rich meets current Nova Sam Alexander, they fight a tentacle monster, Rich is reunited with Cosmo and Gamora, they fight some bounty hunters on Knowhere, fight another tentacle monster (the imagination!), and Rich’s escape from the Cancerverse is finally revealed. It’s fairly generic stuff for a superhero comic.
Maybe it’d all mean more if I gave a crap about Rich Rider but the character doesn’t mean a whole lot to me so nostalgia didn’t really factor into my reading experience. I’ve never found the Novas that interesting anyway. Once they put the helms on they seem fairly invincible, which is the case here, so any dramatic tension goes out the window once that happens.
The romance subplot unexpectedly got me and I liked the subtle silent pages where Sam and Lina start dating contrasted with Rich and Gamora reigniting their old relationship - it was sweet without being schmaltzy and added some humanity to the characters. Perez’s art is always a joy to see too though it would’ve been nice if he’d drawn all seven issues instead of five, if only for consistency, though Scott Hepburn’s art for the Cancerverse issues wasn’t bad either.
Nova: Resurrection isn’t the most gripping or memorable read but it’s well-written and drawn and I found it entertaining enough. Obviously though this one’s really for Rich Rider fans.
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