Nova #4
Sam Alexander has had his Nova powers for one night and he’s already going up against the Chitauri? No pressure for a kid, none at all…
Writer: Jeph Loeb | Artists: Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, & Marte Gracia
Cover: McGuinness, Vines, & Gracia | Publisher: Marvel
So far, Nova’s been a surprisingly entertaining read. Sam Alexander’s voice is fresh. Sure he’s a teenager due to have bouts of whining once in a while, but for the most part his voice holds excitement and a young wit that’s easy to relate to. It’s certainly Sam’s voice that carries on the good energy throughout the issue.
He’s had extremely little training, but that doesn’t stop him from going after a fleet of Chitauri, after all he’s had loads of training from playing video games (even if you can’t commend his rationale, you’ve got to at least love his spirit). And in all honestly, his video game training pays off pretty decently.
The plot also develops rather substantially without being over done or into the realm of soap opera dramatics. Sam runs into a character of his dad’s past and fingers are pointed as to who the real traitor was to the Black Nova Corps (not to be facetious but I think I’d trust the scary looking talking tiger with an eye missing less than our hero’s own dad—but it’ still there, and what a plot twist it would be if it were actually the other way around).
The flashbacks involving previous owner of the Nova helmet, Jesse, gives a nice insight as well. He’s no Richard Rider, but it’s nice to have a small reprise of a more adult Nova once in a while, despite Sam’s youthful charms becoming more likeable with each issue as he grows into his responsibilities of Nova.
The paneling and art is striking and definitely holds up to the rest of the issue. The paneling and composition especially is diverse and holds a reader’s attention without being too distracting to the point of confusion. (I’m convinced that Gracia’s colouring instantly increases an issue’s aesthetics and makes it that much more interesting). As clean as the art was, the lettering didn’t match up. Fancy fonts are one thing, but when the Chitauri are speaking and their speech bubbles are near illegible, it’s frustrating—it could have been done on purpose, but in that case having it totally undecipherable would have been preferred over scratchy, scrawled out English.
Overall though, Sam Alexander’s youth is a charming prospect to have as our new Nova. His brashness is what one would expect of a teen given the power of flight (among other things) and has yet to become tiresome as he tries to fill in not only his father’s helmet, but the rest of the Nova Corps.
Writer: Jeph Loeb | Artists: Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, & Marte Gracia
Cover: McGuinness, Vines, & Gracia | Publisher: Marvel
So far, Nova’s been a surprisingly entertaining read. Sam Alexander’s voice is fresh. Sure he’s a teenager due to have bouts of whining once in a while, but for the most part his voice holds excitement and a young wit that’s easy to relate to. It’s certainly Sam’s voice that carries on the good energy throughout the issue.
He’s had extremely little training, but that doesn’t stop him from going after a fleet of Chitauri, after all he’s had loads of training from playing video games (even if you can’t commend his rationale, you’ve got to at least love his spirit). And in all honestly, his video game training pays off pretty decently.
The plot also develops rather substantially without being over done or into the realm of soap opera dramatics. Sam runs into a character of his dad’s past and fingers are pointed as to who the real traitor was to the Black Nova Corps (not to be facetious but I think I’d trust the scary looking talking tiger with an eye missing less than our hero’s own dad—but it’ still there, and what a plot twist it would be if it were actually the other way around).
The flashbacks involving previous owner of the Nova helmet, Jesse, gives a nice insight as well. He’s no Richard Rider, but it’s nice to have a small reprise of a more adult Nova once in a while, despite Sam’s youthful charms becoming more likeable with each issue as he grows into his responsibilities of Nova.
The paneling and art is striking and definitely holds up to the rest of the issue. The paneling and composition especially is diverse and holds a reader’s attention without being too distracting to the point of confusion. (I’m convinced that Gracia’s colouring instantly increases an issue’s aesthetics and makes it that much more interesting). As clean as the art was, the lettering didn’t match up. Fancy fonts are one thing, but when the Chitauri are speaking and their speech bubbles are near illegible, it’s frustrating—it could have been done on purpose, but in that case having it totally undecipherable would have been preferred over scratchy, scrawled out English.
Overall though, Sam Alexander’s youth is a charming prospect to have as our new Nova. His brashness is what one would expect of a teen given the power of flight (among other things) and has yet to become tiresome as he tries to fill in not only his father’s helmet, but the rest of the Nova Corps.
A Look Inside
