{"id":33479,"date":"2025-08-05T15:13:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33479"},"modified":"2025-08-05T15:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:13:43","slug":"nova-classic-volume-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/08\/05\/nova-classic-volume-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Classic volume 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Marv Wolfman<\/strong>, Bill Mantlo<\/strong>, Carmine Infantino<\/strong>, John Buscema<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, John Byrne<\/strong>, Gene Colan<\/strong>, Mike Vosburg<\/strong>, Dave Hunt<\/strong>, Steve Leialoha<\/strong>, Mike Esposito<\/strong>, Klaus Janson<\/strong>, Joe Sinnott<\/strong>, Bob McLeod<\/strong>, Josef Rubinstein<\/strong>, Tom Palmer<\/strong>, Frank Springer,<\/strong> Al Milgrom<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-6028-1 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

By 1975 the first wave of fans-turned-writers were well ensconced at all surviving US comic book companies. Two former fanzine graduates – Len Wein & Marv Wolfman – had achieved stellar success early on, risen through the ranks of writer\/editors at Marvel: a company at that moment in trouble both creatively and in terms of sales.<\/p>\n

After a meteoric rise and a virtual root-&-branch overhaul of the industry in the 1960s, the House of Ideas and every other comics publisher except Archie Comics were suffering a mass desertion of fans who had simply found other uses for their mad-money. Whereas Charlton and Gold Key dwindled and eventually died, and DC vigorously explored new genres to bolster their flagging sales, Marvel chose to exploit their record with superheroes: fostering new titles within a shared universe it was increasingly impossible to buy only a portion of\u2026<\/p>\n

As seen in previous compilations (Nova Classic<\/strong> volumes 1<\/a> & 2<\/a>), The Man Called Nova<\/strong> was in fact a boy named Richard Rider<\/em>: a working-class teen nebbish in the tradition of Peter Parker<\/em> – except he was good at sports and bad at learning – attending Harry S. Truman High School, where his strict dad was the principal. His mom was a police dispatcher and he had a younger brother, Robert<\/em>, who was a bit of a genius. Other superficial differences to the Spider-Man<\/strong> canon included girlfriend Ginger <\/em>and best friends Bernie<\/em> and Caps<\/em>, but Rich of course did have his own school bully, Mike Burley<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

This culminatory compilation gathers Nova <\/strong>#20-25, Fantastic Four<\/strong> #204-206 & 208-214 concluding the first run of the earthborn star cop\u2019s exploits. An earlier version – \u201cBlack Nova\u201d – apparently appeared in Wolfman &Wein fan mag Super Adventures<\/strong> in 1966, but with a few revisions and an artistic makeover by John Romita the Elder, a \u201cHuman Rocket\u201d launched into the Marvel Universe in his own title, cover-dated September 1976. Borrowing as heavily from Green Lantern<\/strong> as the wallcrawler, \u2018Nova\u2019<\/em> rapidly introduced its large cast before quickly zipping to the life-changing moment in Rider\u2019s life when a colossal starship with a dying alien aboard transferred to the lad all the mighty powers of an extraterrestrial peacekeeping warrior.<\/p>\n

Centurion Rhomann Dey<\/em> had been tracking deadly marauder Zorr<\/em> to Earth after the brute destroyed idyllic planet Xandar<\/em>, but the severely wounded, vengeance-seeking Nova Prime<\/em> was too near death and could not avenge the genocide. Trusting to fate, Dey beamed his powers and abilities towards the planet below where Rich was struck by an energy bolt and plunged into a coma. On awakening, the boy realises he has gained awesome powers\u2026 and the responsibilities of the last Nova Centurion.<\/p>\n

Thus started a frantic but frequently embarrassing heroic learning curve packed with guest star meetings here and now culminating in a voyage to the stars after a long campaign against a hidden group victimising Rider\u2019s dad final get what\u2019s coming to them…<\/p>\n

Here and now it\u2019s Nova<\/strong> #20, and a steadily improving junior hero at last deals with the cabal who nearly destroyed dad. \u2018At Last\u2026 The Inner Circle!\u2019<\/em> (by Wolfman, Carmine Infantino & Dave Hunt) then leads to a minor breakthrough in comics conventions as the Human Rocket reveals his alter ego to the family in \u2018Is the World Ready for the Shocking Secret of Nova?\u2019<\/em> – illustrated by John Buscema, Bob McLeod & Joe Rubinstein – before a long-forgotten crusader and some very familiar villains resurface in \u2018The Coming of the Comet!\u2019<\/em> (#22, by Infantino & Steve Leialoha)…<\/p>\n

Next, long-hidden but always lurking cyborg mastermind Dr. Sun<\/em> (an old Dracula<\/strong> foe, of all things) reveals himself in \u2018From the Dregs of Defeat!\u2019<\/em>, executing a complex scheme to seize control of the Nova Prime starship and its so-tantalising super-computers. A vast epic was impressively unfolding, but sadly, the Human Rocket\u2019s days were numbered. Penultimate issue #24 (Infantino inked by Esposito) introduced \u2018The New Champions!\u2019<\/em> with Dr. Sun battling ancient nemesis the Sphinx<\/em> for control of the starship, with Crime-Buster<\/em>, the Comet<\/em>, Powerhouse<\/em> and Diamondhead<\/em> all dragged along on a voyage to the lost ruins of Xandar, the apparently destroyed home of the Nova Centurions.
\n\"\"
\nThe series abruptly ended with #25, a hastily restructured yarn as the cancellation axe hit before matters could properly conclude. Wolfman, Infantino & Klaus Janson delivered \u2018Invasion of the Body Changers!\u2019<\/em> with the unhappy crew lost in space and attacked by Skrulls, and all somehow implicated in the destruction of Xandar. However, answers to the multitude of questions raised would be resolved in the pages of the Fantastic Four<\/strong> and licensed property Rom: Spaceknight<\/strong>: the latter of which is not included here.<\/p>\n

Happily the FF are here and hot to go, so…<\/p>\n

After surviving another clash with Doctor Doom<\/strong> and their own in-house computing crisis, the family of Imaginauts encounter scurrilous shapeshifting Skrulls after intercepting an errant teleport beam. In FF<\/strong> #204, Wolfman, Keith Pollard & Joe Sinnott address \u2018The Andromeda Attack!\u2019<\/em> as Johnny goes out gallivanting and governess\/guardian\/witch queen Agatha Harkness<\/em> picks up little Franklin Richards<\/em>. With only grown-ups in residence, Reed\u2019s supercomputers pick up an astral anomaly and materialise an alien princess in the lab. She\u2019s instantly followed by a Super-Skrull who blasts her before falling to the team\u2019s counterattack. Interrogating the wounded woman, they learn she\u2019s come seeking help for her shattered world: a near extinct civilisation called Xandar\u2026<\/p>\n

Already illicitly supported by the local Watcher<\/em> breaking his hallowed non-intervention oath, the last survivors of Andromeda\u2019s most benign culture have been reduced to four self-contained domed globes linked together and careening through space, defended only by the last of their peacekeeper Nova Corps<\/em>. Now the fugitives are targeted for extinction by rapacious Skrulls and desperately need someone\u2019s\u2026 anyone\u2019s\u2026 assistance\u2026<\/p>\n

The FF are keen to help Suzerain Queen Adora<\/em> return and happy to assist the Xandarians, but the Human Torch<\/strong> has just got a new girlfriend and opts to stay behind for now to woo mysterious Frankie Ray<\/em>. The flaming kid\u2019s also set on finally following up on his long postponed higher education commitments and has enrolled in specialist academic institution Security College. Johnny promises to catch up later, but no sooner do his partners beam out to the stars than he\u2019s attacked on campus by an old foe\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018When Worlds Die!\u2019<\/em> in #205, Reed, Sue & Ben arrive with Adora at New Xandar. The planetary remnants under attack by a Skrull war fleet, and they join the Nova Corps to repel the assault, consequently driving closely-monitoring Skrull Emperor Dorrek<\/em> insane with fury. Although Xandar\u2019s physical resources are almost gone, he actually wants their greatest asset and treasure – a vast repository of their knowledge and power stored in an awesome array of superprocessors linking countless generations of expired citizens together\u2026 the Living Computers of Xandar!<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite ever-diminishing forces Chief administrator Prime Thoran<\/em> and severely wounded Nova Centurion Tanak<\/em> have been holding back the storm but now need the FF to turn the tide. Meanwhile back at Security College, Johnny has stumbled into mystery and peril too, as a strange force seizes control of the students. Sadly, that mystery won\u2019t be solved here as FF #207 – an all-Torch, all-Earth yarn – is omitted from this collection\u2026<\/p>\n

In Andromeda, his family\u2019s first foray against the Skrulls leads to their defeat and capture. Humiliated, tortured and put on display in a show trial, they are ultimately blasted with a ray that will inescapably result in \u2018The Death of\u2026 The Fantastic Four!\u2019<\/em>, rapidly aging them to the end of their natural lifespans in a matter of days. Dorrek\u2019s gleeful gloating is spoiled, however, by the arrival of his ambitious, terrifying and extremely capable wife Empress R\u2019kylll<\/em>, increased resistance from the Xandarians and, inevitably, the escape of the fast-aging earth heroes\u2026<\/p>\n

Ordering all-out assaults on the battered prey, Dorrek is further frustrated when Prime Thoran gains astounding power after merging with the Living Computers as well as the arrival of that colossal ship from Earth. Here the saga dovetails with that recently ended run and cliffhanger from Nova<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

The newcomers\u2019 arrival piles on the pressure and concatenates the chaos as both the magical ancient immortal The Sphinx and futuristic Sino-cyborg Dr. Sun abandon ship, each resolved to possess the limitless power of Xandar\u2019s Living Computer network\u2026
\n\"\"
\nIt\u2019s not here but just so you know, missing FF<\/strong> #207 saw Johnny and Spider-Man<\/strong> expose the scandals of Security College, deprogram its students and fight B-list villain The Monocle<\/em> before the Torch decides to check on his team in Andromeda. His arrival coincides with their escape from Dorrek and Sphinx\u2019s absconding…<\/p>\n

Aghast at the death sentence they\u2019re enduring, Johnny is just as helpless before \u2018The Power of The Sphinx!\u2019<\/em> (Sal Buscema pencils & inking by gestalt pinch-hitters \u201cD Hands\u201d AKA Al Milgrom & Franks Giacoia & Springer), after the Egyptian upgrades his energy even further by stealing all the wisdom of the Living Computer system. With hyper-energised Prime Thoran busy battling Skrulls, the Sphinx solves the various secrets of the universe and heads back to Earth, intent on turning back time and preventing his agonising eons of existence from even happening. With all reality endangered, increasingly elderly Reed has only one gambit to try\u2026<\/p>\n

John Byrne begins his first tenure on the Fantastic Four<\/strong> with #209 (August 1979) as the reunited team seek to enlist the aid of cosmic devourer Galactus<\/strong>, pausing only long enough for Reed to construct – with Xandarian aid and resources – an all-purpose aid to bolster his fading faculties. The result is the H<\/strong>umanoid E<\/strong>xperimental R<\/strong>obot, B<\/strong>-type, I<\/strong>ntegrated E<\/strong>lectronics (latterly, a H<\/strong>ighly E<\/strong>ngineered R<\/strong>obot B<\/strong>uilt for I<\/strong>nterdimensional E<\/strong>xploration. Don\u2019cha just love nominative deterministic acronymics? At this time, an FF<\/strong> cartoon show had rejected fire hazard Johnny for a cutely telegenic robot, and Wolfman cheekily made that commercial rejection in-world canon here, dividing fans forever after, as the bleeping bot is pure Marmite in most readers eyes\u2026<\/p>\n

Riding the mile-long starship Nova & Co arrived in, the FF\u2019s search takes them across the universe and leaves them \u2018Trapped in the Sargasso of Space!\u2019<\/em>, facing murderous aliens determined to use the new vessel to escape their static hell. Meanwhile, New Champions and Xandar\u2019s last forces prepare for final battle, just as impatient R\u2019kylll divorces her husband, changing the course of history with a single gun blast\u2026<\/p>\n

Despite odd, inexplicable increasingly hazardous incidences, the FF continue \u2018In Search of Galactus!\u2019<\/em>, at last locating him and causing chaos in his colossal world-ship. They even convince the Devourer to stop the Sphinx, but only by rescinding the vow preventing him from consuming Earth, and only if the humans first bring him a new herald\u2026<\/p>\n

That occurs in \u2018If This Be Terrax\u2019<\/em> on a distant world enslaved by brutal despot Tyros<\/em>, where the pitiless killer is painfully subdued by the humans and converted by Galactus into a cosmic-powered being who will rejoice in finding worlds to consume irrespective of whether civilisations are condemned to be consumed with them\u2026<\/p>\n

Earth trembles as the Devourer unleashes his herald to cow humanity in #212, whilst his master faces The Sphinx, but \u2018The Battle of the Titans!\u2019<\/em> is subject to mission creep when the immortal wizard sees his new knowledge as a way to restore his own past glories. With Galactus occupied in cosmic combat, Terrax the Tamer<\/em> seeks to settle scores with the humans who toppled Tyros\u2019 kingdom, only to fall \u2018In Final Battle!\u2019<\/em> for a ploy devised by Reed and executed by H.E.R.B.I.E.<\/p>\n

It’s the last hurrah as Reed – seconds from death – joins Sue & Ben in cryo-suspension, barely aware that Galactus has triumphed at immense cost\u2026<\/p>\n

FF<\/strong> #214 (January 1980) reveals \u2018\u2026And Then There Was\u2026 One!\u2019<\/em> as Johnny frantically seeks a cure for his family. When S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers<\/strong> and others all prove helpless, a fortuitous attack by vengeful cyborg Skrull-X <\/em>offers a germ of hope, but one necessitating a huge gamble: defrosting Reed and hoping he can use what the defeated alien revealed before decrepitude ends the Smartest Man on Earth. Of course, it all works out, and a revived and even excessively rejuvenated team are in fine fettle.<\/p>\n

With covers by Milgrom, Sinnott, Pollard, Dave Cockrum, Frank Giacoia, Walter Simonson, Byrne, Ron Wilson & Joe Rubinstein, and Rich Buckler, also on show is a framing sequence from What If?<\/strong> #36 (December 1982) by Bill Mantlo & Mike Vosburg revealing how the Xandar war ended, the fate of the Champions and how Rich Rider returned home with his superpowers apparently stripped from him forever. Yeah, right…
\n\"\"
\nBoosted by pages from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe<\/strong> (Nova<\/em>, Champions of Xandar<\/em>, The Corruptor<\/em> & Sphinx<\/em>); the covers for Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four <\/strong>#2 by Rich Howell & Jack Abel, and original art pages and covers by Infantino, Austin & Janson and Pollard, Byrne & Sinnott before closing with a gallery of previous collection covers by Infantino, Milgrom, Byrne and more.<\/p>\n

Of course, Rich Rider did return in a range of impressive Nova<\/strong> and New Warriors<\/strong> reboots but here there\u2019s plenty of solid entertainment and beautiful superhero art to enjoy. Nova has proved his intrinsic worth, returning again and again: a fine fights \u2018n\u2019 tights star to while away time with. These extremely capable efforts are probably most welcome to dedicated superhero fans and continuity freaks like me, but will still thrill and delight a generous and forgiving casual browser looking for an undemanding slice of graphic narrative excitement – especially if there\u2019s always the potential of later movie momentum\u2026
\n\u00a9 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Carmine Infantino, John Buscema, Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Gene Colan, Mike Vosburg, Dave Hunt, Steve Leialoha, Mike Esposito, Klaus Janson, Joe Sinnott, Bob McLeod, Josef Rubinstein, Tom Palmer, Frank Springer, Al Milgrom, Frank Giacoia & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0-7851-6028-1 (TPB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Nova Classic volume 3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[383,54,79,234,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-carmine-infantino","category-fantastic-four","category-marvel-superheroes","category-nova-graphic-novels","category-spider-man"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8HZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33485,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33479\/revisions\/33485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}