Nova #14

Review by Randall Smith

Writer: Gerry Duggan
Penciler: David Baldeon
Inks: Terry Pallot
Colors: Chris Sotomayer

Chapter XIV: Road to Knowhere
       
                We resume fresh off the uniting of Beta Ray Bill and Sam Alexander to pursue the space pirate Skaarn. Right off the bat, our heroes are deep in space, saving lives, and Sam's looking (and acting) much more mature for his time spent in heroics. As an off-hand comment from Nova stirs an idea in Bill's head, the Korbanite champion recants a tale of days past, and a new story of Richard Ryder's heroism that brings things together. 
               And in a nod to continuity that makes me smile, they arrive at the former base of the Guardians of the Galaxy (amongst other galactic scoundrels), Knowhere, the station inside the empty head of a dead Celestial.
              Your typical pirate betrayals and hijinks ensue, and for a large portion of the issue, the titular watchdog of Knowhere is suspiciously absent. Between Sam's fight with a Warbringer robot, and a bit of subterfuge with Bill, his control over the Nova force is on-par with a well trained Rich, showcasing some all new tricks from what I presume is the Black Nova handbook. And as this issue closes, we have Cosmo! (I wish he was in the movie. I love that telepathic cosmonaut dog.)

            As far as the art, I'm wishy-washy. When I said Sam looked more mature in this issue, he was looking far older and muscular than usual. Unless he's hit some sort of cosmic growth spurt, he should be far leaner. He was last issue. Other than that, everything's quite spot on, and I can see Baldeon is very familiar with cosmic past.
            Now the writing is where I was ecstatic. To be fair, in this title's beginnings, I was very opposed to even giving it a shot. And thanks to the evolving team's work, it's really made great strides, and I can't espouse enough just how great of a job they're doing. Their use of Cosmo, and (Finally!) a Rich Ryder reference, even in flashback shows they haven't forgotten Nova Prime, or what previous cosmic writers have done. 

Reccomendation: A fine standalone, definitely a solid issue of this book.

Nova #11

Nova #11

Chapter XI: Pawn Takes Knight

Writer: Gerry Duggan

Penciler: Paco Medina

Inker: Juan Vlasco

Chapter XI: Pawn Takes Knight resumes from the results of last issue with Sam having been stricken 'blind' as he re-entered the earth's atmosphere after a rescue effort in space. The majority of the issue is mostly just a filler story, dealing more with Sam's civilian life than his Nova exploits.

That being said, we do get far more time with his supporting cast, fleshing out the relationships, and even possibly introducing a new cast member with Sam's 'encouraged' membership in the chess club. Amusingly enough, it's taken the change in writers from Jeph Loeb to Duggan to have Sam's writing and persona feel more like the Sam Alexander in the Loeb-influenced Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.

Despite my love of Medina's space visuals, and Sam's in-costume appearance, I do believe there's something to be said for the style he draws their civilian faces. There's just something about the aesthetic that doesn't quite appeal, especially the doctor, who's nose looks as if he's been in one bar fight too many. At the same time, it is a signature style, and he does well at showcasing differences in ethnicity from character to character. The art and writing team also showcases a good grasp on how schoolchildren act and carry themselves, as is evidenced by the body language and expressions at times of the background kids as well as the main cast.

The end half of the issue is back into space, and setting the stage for an all-new Nova nemesis, and deepening the mystery of what has happened to all other non-Annihilation Wave destroyed Novas. With New Warriors around the corner, things are heating up for the title with a nice standalone issue in this age of massive inter-connected story arcs and event comics. Compared to other series, Nova's a great jumping on book for newer readers, as you're given a pretty thorough crash course in Cosmic Marvel without it being overwhelming to new readers.

Rating: Worthwhile, especially if it's in a TPB as it's dependant on previous events in the series.