Nova (comics)
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- For the former Herald of Galactus who also went by the name Nova, see Frankie Raye.
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Nova, (Richard Rider), is a fictional superhero from Marvel Comics. Becoming a member of the galaxy's Nova Corps, an intergalactic police force not unlike DC Comics' Green Lantern Corps, the youth gained enhanced strength, flight, injury resistance, and a uniform with life support built into it. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema in Nova #1, 1976.
It has been announced he will get a new ongoing book in April 2007, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and drawn by Sean Chen. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Publication history
Nova has been a main character in the New Warriors series as well as having three of his own self-titled series.
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Origins
Art by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott.
Richard Rider was born in Queens, New York. As a teenager, he is chosen at random by the alien Rhomann Dey, last surviving Centurion of the planet Xandar's elite Nova Corps, to inherit his power and succeed him in the rank of Nova Prime following the destruction of his world by the intergalactic pirate Zorr. Having been mortally wounded in the battle that tore Xandar apart, Dey suceeds in tracking Zorr to Earth but is unable to exact vengeance due to the extent of his injuries. At death's door, Dey has little choice but to transfer his power to an unsuspecting human on the planet below, praying whomever he finds will take up his cause and prove worthy of the powers he has given.
Rider gains great strength, resistance to injury, the ability to fly, and a uniform with a sealed life support system, but little instruction on how to use these new powers.
He functions briefly as "Nova, the Human Rocket," until fate calls him to space and over a year of service in the protection of the recently reconstructed planet Xandar, the same world where his great powers originated. Eventually tiring of a life of constant intergalactic war and hoping to rejoin his high school friends, the boy requests to return home to Earth. When he is told he must relinquish his powers in order to do so, Rider agrees.
For a time, Rider lives a relatively normal life, flipping burgers, and barely making ends meet due to his disrupted education. He spends his time trying to pick up the pieces of the life he had left behind, all the while wishing he can find a way to regain the powers he lost. Unknown to him, during this period, the planet Xandar is destroyed again in an attack by the space pirate Nebula.
[edit] New Warriors
In a bid to secure new super powered allies, the superhero Night Thrasher deduces that Rider's powers are not gone forever, but simply lay dormant inside the young man. Sure that a high-stress situation will be enough to reignite Rider's powers, Night Thrasher kidnaps Rider and drops him off the top of a building, risking Rider's life on nothing but his educated guess. The theory proves to be correct, however, as Rider is returned to full power before hitting the ground. This incident causes severe friction between the two of them, but they eventually make peace with each other.
In gratitude, Rider joins Night Thrasher's superhero group, the New Warriors, and fights alongside them for quite some time. Their adventures together include encounters with Nova's old foe the Sphinx and a brief stint during which the Warriors work with Cable and X-Force. During this time, Rider begins dating fellow teammate Namorita and becomes close friends with Speedball, whom he nicknames "Toothpick".
The Sphinx also causes an alternate reality where Egyptian culture is the leading force in the world. Nova is the focus of this new reality and comes to realize what is going on. Here, he is part of the Avengers but quits and joins the resistance when he sees the brutal murder of Wolverine. A couple days later he and versions of his friends restore reality to normal
During this time, a revenge scheme by a criminal gang leads to Nova's brother having his pinky finger sliced off. This, of course, causes Nova a great deal of guilt, until his brother tells him it was a sacrifice he does not mind, in return for Nova having saved so many lives over the years.
With no connection to the Nova Corps, Rider eventually tangles with three Xandarians who had survived the destruction of that planet: Firelord, Air-Walker, and Garthan Saal, a former Nova Corps Centurion who has been driven insane by attempting to absorb the entirety of the Xandarian Nova Force, the source of the powers of all Nova Centurions. This confrontation indirectly leads to the repopulation of Xandar, reformation of the Xandarian Nova Corps, and Rider's appointment to Centurion Prime.
Returning to Earth, Rider is confronted with dual lives as Centurion Prime and as a member of the New Warriors. He encounters another Nova Corps member from an alternate timeline named Nova 0:0, who attacks him in an effort to prepare him to do battle with the mysterious force that had destroyed his own Earth: "the Deathstorm." Defying the direct order of Xandar's Queen Adora to return to Xandar to quell an emergency, Rider succeeds in stopping the Deathstorm and saving Earth. His success is short lived, however, as Rider finds himself stripped of his powers once again and replaced as Centurion Prime by Nova Omega (Garthan Saal), who has been chosen by the Nova Corps to take control of Rider's sector of space as a result of his insubordination. After several months, Saal is killed by Volx, Queen of the Dire Wraiths, returning the Nova force to Rider with his final breath.
[edit] Annihilation
Nova briefly travels the US with the reformed New Warriors as part of a reality television show. After the first season of the show, however, he leaves the New Warriors for space, having been summoned by his Xandarian superiors to stand with the rest of the Nova Corps in the fight against the forces of Annihilus. In short order, the clustered world of Xandar is decimated and the entire Nova Corps is massacred by a surprise attack of the Annihilation Wave, newly arrived in this universe from the Negative Zone.
Miraculously, Rider survives the onslaught, awakening on the ruined surface of Xandar among the broken bodies of his fallen comrades. Drawn deep under the surface of the planet, Rider makes contact with the Xandarian Worldmind, a living supercomputer that is the regulator of the Nova Force and caretaker of the entire collective database of Xandarian civilization. The attack on Xandar has destroyed the Corps and secured the demise of the Worldmind, unless it can be transported to a location that has not been compromised by the Annihilation Wave. As Rider is the only Nova Corps Centurion left alive, the Worldmind explains that there is no choice but to upload itself and the entire Nova Force into his being, transforming him into the only remaining caretaker of Xandar's last great weapon and protector of that world's grand legacy. This act also tremendously enhances his already superhuman strength and durability as well as granting him control of the nearly limitless energies of the Nova Force.
Rider's continued status in this capacity, however, remains to be seen. According to the Worldmind, a new home must be secured for the Nova Force as soon as possible due to dangers to Rider's continued long-term psychological and physiological stability under the stresses of containing such an enormous amount of power. Tasked with this mission, Rider encounters Drax the Destroyer and his female companion, Cammi, also survivors of the attack. After consulting the Worldmind on Rider's problem, Drax offers to help him keep his mental health until a suitable home can be found to accommodate the Nova Force, in return for safe passage from the war torn planet. Against the Worldmind's nagging recommendations to the contrary, Rider agrees.
Later, in an effort to buy more time for the evacuation of the beseiged planet Nycos Aristedes, Nova and Quasar punch through the Annihilation Wave to meet Annihilus face to face on his own command ship. In the ensuing battle, Quasar is killed and, though Rider is forced to flee, his efforts succeed in driving the Annihilation Wave to retreat from the sector and secure the planet's complete evacuation. Faced with the universal threat Annihilus now poses, Rider and the Worldmind agree to abandon the search for a safe haven and remain joined together to fight the Wave head on.
In the months that follow, Rider forms an army under the watchful eye of Drax, who has promised to instruct Rider on how to become a destroyer himself. Under Rider's leadership, the United Front, created from the remains of the Kree and Skrull empires and joined by heroes and refugees of worlds devestated by the Annihilation Wave, becomes the last line of defense against the total destruction Annihilus seeks to bring across the universe. Their bitter war is cut short, however, when Annihilus brings to bear his greatest weapon, a planet destroyer designed by Thanos, the Mad Titan which derives its power directly from Galactus, whom Annihilus and Thanos hold captive. Routed, the United Front disbands and Rider turns his attention to planning a surgical strike against Annihilus himself, in an effort to perform a "head shot" that will cripple the entire Annihilation Wave.
Driven to avenge the countless deaths by Annihilus' hand, the total destruction of the Nova Corps not least of all, Rider succeeds in using the United Front's limited and unreliable phase technology to transport himself deep within the borders of the Annihilation Wave's conquered territory to confront Annihilus face to face for a second time. Though Rider has at his disposal the entire Nova Force and the determination to end the threat of Annihilus once and for all, he still proves unable to overpower the villain, who is using the Quantum Bands he stole from Quasar's lifeless body to boost his own already considerable power. Realizing this, Phyla-Vell, who had accompanied Rider into the fray along with Peter Quill, intervenes by seizing the Quantum Bands and distracting Annihilus before he is able to land a killing stroke. Taking advantage of this momentary weakness, Nova plunges his hand down Annihilus' throat and rips his insides from his body, killing Annihilus instantly.
[edit] Civil War on Earth
- See also: Civil War (comics)
Leading the United Front against the Annihilation Wave, Rider remains unaware that soon after he left Earth, two of the founding New Warriors were killed in a televised fight with the villain Nitro, whose explosion destroyed a large portion of Stamford, Connecticut, killing hundreds of people, including many children. Among the New Warriors killed was Nova's former lover, Namorita. The "Stamford Incident" leads to a break within the super hero community over whether or not heroes should be forced to register with the government in an effort to prevent similar tragedies. Rider's former teammate and close friend Speedball, the sole survivor of the incident, became a public scapegoat for the carnage.
However, after the destruction of Daedalus 5 by the Annihilation Wave, Nova and the few surviving members of the United Front are forced to flee, emerging from hyperspace by chance within hailing distance of Earth. Seizing the opportunity to warn his fellow humans of the Annihilation Wave's imminent arrival, Nova prepares a message for Reed Richards whose portal to the Negative Zone, Nova believes, stands as the greatest advantage the Earth's heroes have against Annihilus. Rider is dismayed to learn that Earth's many heroes are so bitterly divided that they may serve as no threat whatsoever to Annihilus if the Wave is permitted to reach Earth itself. It has been mentioned that "within the first three issues" of his upcoming on-going, we will see Nova's reaction to the death of the New Warriors. [2] and he will also meet up with his former teammate Speedball (now the Thunderbolt Penance)
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Spider-Girl
Richard Rider appears frequently in the Spider-Girl series, which is set in an alternate future. By the time of the series, Nova has served as a temporary Avenger. He also appears in the Last Hero Standing and within the Avengers Next limited series.
The Nova in the MC2/Spider-Girl future is eventually confirmed to be Richard Rider in Avengers Next #2. His attitude toward Spider-Girl is often arrogant and dismissive, bordering on the contemptuous; but later he becomes impressed toward her, after her surviving a battle against the Avengers' enemy Seth.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Nova derives his powers from an energy source called the Nova Force, which all Nova Corps Centurions wield. Nova's small measure of the Nova Force gives him superhuman powers including flight, enhanced strength, speed, and durability, as well as the power to absorb and re-release projected energy directed against him in an omni-directional gravimetric pulse, dubbed a "Nova-Burst".
Nova wears a standard Xandarian StarCorps uniform, designed to accommodate his powers without being damaged by them. In addition, the uniform has a built-in life support function that can sustain Rider under the most extreme environmental conditions, including acting as a space suit by locking off the mouth and eyes of the helmet. The helmet can also pick up radio transmissions, as well as overlay a visual heads-up display for tracking energy signatures. Nova's helmet has a rigid construction and shape when worn, but becomes as malleable as cloth when it is not, allowing Rider to hide it in his civilian clothes when desired.
Rider can also alter the appearance and nature of his uniform to suit his needs. However, as Rider learns the hard way, the StarCorps keeps a strict dress code. When he makes major cosmetic changes to his uniform after rejoining the New Warriors, Nova is summarily ordered to conform to standard.
Nova's uniform is not only extremely malleable, it is also designed with specific weapons and functions to aid Rider in his role as a Nova Corps Centurion. Among these features are an electromagnetic discharge that can nullify gravity and access to StarGates that allow him to enter hyperspace, where he can move at velocities exceeding the speed of light.
During Annihilation, Rider's uniform is altered and enhanced to house the Xandarian Worldmind and aid him in containing the Nova Force. As host to the entire Nova Force, which was previously used to empower all members of the Nova Corps throughtout the universe, Rider is now possessed of tremendously augmented strength and durability as well as near limitless control of its vast stores of energy.
[edit] Bibliography
- Nova (vol. 1) #1-25 (September, 1976 - May, 1979)
- New Warriors (vol. 1) #1-75, Annual #1-4 (July, 1990 – September, 1996)
- Nova (vol. 2) #1-18 (January, 1994 - June, 1995)
- Nova The Human Rocket #1-7 (May, 1999 - November, 1999)
- New Warriors (vol. 2) #0-10 (October, 1999 – July, 2000)
- New Warriors (vol. 3) #1-6 (July, 2005 - December, 2005)
- Annihilation: Prologue #1 (May, 2006)
- Annihilation: Nova #1-4 (June, 2006 – September, 2006)
- Annihilation #1-6 (October, 2006 – March, 2006)
- Essential Nova, V1 (reprints Nova #1-25, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #3, The Amazing Spider-Man #171)
