Written by Zeb Wells
Pencils by Paco Medina
Colors by David Curiel
Published by Marvel Comics
Nova is the fun space adventure we all wanted to undertake when we were kids. As an 80’s child the overall tone of the book is right up my alley. In the 80’s we had The Goonies, Last Of The Starfighters and Flight of the Navigator. Movies that let kids be the hero, and that’s what I love so much about Nova, the down and out everyday kid has the role of the hero thrust upon him. How does he handle it, does he embrace it or run from it? Sam Alexander embraces it, and to the fullest!
Though this issue was light on action, we got to take a look into Sam’s home life as he tries to balance his mom, sister and school with being Nova. There’s also the invite into the Avengers that he’s dealing with. I loved the opening panels where Sam is practicing the speech he’s going to give to his mom in hopes that she will let him join, how classic was that? Also loved the bit where the helmet gives Sam’s mom the rundown on where he had been since he had gone missing for two weeks, pretty handy, but that could come around to bite him if the helmet snitches him out.
The theme of this issue was transition. How does Sam transition back into everyday life after the two weeks of adventure he just had? I liked how all these moments played out, whether it was losing a fight in school because he doesn’t have his powers, to dealing with the principal, to his mom having to accept that first her husband, and now her son are Nova. By the end Sam has embraced it fully, as has his mother, and he races off to be the hero he is meant to be.
The art side of things shines brightly; Medina’s pencils combined with Curiel’s colors hit the perfect note for this book. The panel where the helmet tells Sam’s mom all about his escapades was brilliant! I loved it even more so since I missed the last issue, it really helped bridge some of the gap for me. There was however one misstep, you can say it’s nitt-picky, but what’s up with the way Sam is landing that ollie off the stairs at school? It seems physically impossible to land it like that, and also looked like you might break your ankles doing it. I know, seems small, but if people can gripe about the way Liefeld draws feet, than this is totally fair game. Other than that, everything else was spot on. I especially love the way Sam’s facial expressions deliver that youthful exuberance of a 14-year-old hero.
Overall this was another good issue that does everything it set out to do. Though no one will be bowled over by this particular issue, it’s a good addition to the growing story overall. I think that fans of Peter Parker will especially like this book as Sam Alexander starts to come into his own as a hero.
4 out of 5 nerds
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