I'm not that far into Essential Nova Vol. 1, but ... it's like it's trying to be bad.
Naturally I remember Nova from its original run. I bought the issue with Spider-Man on the cover -- probably because it had Spider-Man on the cover -- and I remember being haunted by the Nova-in-deathtrap cliffhanger which closed out the issue. [Caution: memories may not be accurate to particular issues.] Other than that, though, it didn't leave much of an impression. I sure didn't remember Marv Wolfman writing it.
Actually, I'm not sure Marv would have wanted people remembering he wrote Nova. The character might be described as "what if Peter Parker were Green Lantern?" but that's not really fair to Peter Parker. Richard Rider, the 17-year-old who gets zapped with the powers of the Nova Prime Centurion, is a paragon of mediocrity. He makes average grades, he has a genius younger brother, his nerd friends are each funnier than he is, and -- and this is clearly meant to be Marv's crowning achievement in the field of characterization -- the school bully who picks on him is not only the head jock, he's better off academically too. After a few issues we learn that the bully picks on Richard as an outlet for the pressures of high expectations, so right there our hero's chief antagonist becomes more interesting, if not more sympathetic. This is not the same Marv Wolfman who wrote Tomb of Dracula, Fantastic Four, or even those goofy late-'60s Teen Titans. He's trying so hard to craft the ultimate teen superhero -- right in Spider-Man's back yard, mind you -- that Richard comes across like George Costanza's intern.
To be fair, the "Marvel manner" of superheroics centered around characters who were outcasts of one sort or another, and/or whose powers got in the way of their having regular lives. Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Thing, and even more traditionally-positioned heroes like Captain America and Doctor Strange were each alienated from society to a certain degree. Also, when Richard is zipping around as Nova, he's much easier to take (although his dialogue still makes Marv's Beast Boy/Changeling sound like Noel Coward). Still, there is an air of frustrated greatness around each of Marvel's classic characters, like their superheroic careers are making up for ... well, probably for the accidents which facilitated their superheroic careers. I'm waiting for the issue which explains in detail why Richard, and not one of his friends or enemies, was zapped with the Nova bolt. As it stands now, Marv seems to be equating "completely average" with "relatable," and I'm just not seeing it.
Oh well. At least Marv is starting to spell "cannot" as one word. When I was reading Tomb of Dracula, that particular habit got real old real fast....
Naturally I remember Nova from its original run. I bought the issue with Spider-Man on the cover -- probably because it had Spider-Man on the cover -- and I remember being haunted by the Nova-in-deathtrap cliffhanger which closed out the issue. [Caution: memories may not be accurate to particular issues.] Other than that, though, it didn't leave much of an impression. I sure didn't remember Marv Wolfman writing it.
Actually, I'm not sure Marv would have wanted people remembering he wrote Nova. The character might be described as "what if Peter Parker were Green Lantern?" but that's not really fair to Peter Parker. Richard Rider, the 17-year-old who gets zapped with the powers of the Nova Prime Centurion, is a paragon of mediocrity. He makes average grades, he has a genius younger brother, his nerd friends are each funnier than he is, and -- and this is clearly meant to be Marv's crowning achievement in the field of characterization -- the school bully who picks on him is not only the head jock, he's better off academically too. After a few issues we learn that the bully picks on Richard as an outlet for the pressures of high expectations, so right there our hero's chief antagonist becomes more interesting, if not more sympathetic. This is not the same Marv Wolfman who wrote Tomb of Dracula, Fantastic Four, or even those goofy late-'60s Teen Titans. He's trying so hard to craft the ultimate teen superhero -- right in Spider-Man's back yard, mind you -- that Richard comes across like George Costanza's intern.
To be fair, the "Marvel manner" of superheroics centered around characters who were outcasts of one sort or another, and/or whose powers got in the way of their having regular lives. Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Thing, and even more traditionally-positioned heroes like Captain America and Doctor Strange were each alienated from society to a certain degree. Also, when Richard is zipping around as Nova, he's much easier to take (although his dialogue still makes Marv's Beast Boy/Changeling sound like Noel Coward). Still, there is an air of frustrated greatness around each of Marvel's classic characters, like their superheroic careers are making up for ... well, probably for the accidents which facilitated their superheroic careers. I'm waiting for the issue which explains in detail why Richard, and not one of his friends or enemies, was zapped with the Nova bolt. As it stands now, Marv seems to be equating "completely average" with "relatable," and I'm just not seeing it.
Oh well. At least Marv is starting to spell "cannot" as one word. When I was reading Tomb of Dracula, that particular habit got real old real fast....
5 comments:
"I'm waiting for the issue which explains in detail why Richard, and not one of his friends or enemies, was zapped with the Nova bolt."
Hmmm...did they toss this into that collection?
Nope, but that sounds like a fun premise.
I remember the issue being a letdown -- there was also a "What if different people had been bitten by the radioactive spider?" and it was equally disappointing -- but your comment brought it to mind immediately.
Marvel should leave the "What Ifs" to DC as DC seems to be much better with speculation than Marvel (as evidenced by their "Elseworlds" titles).
I especially enjoyed the British Superman, Colin Clark, which even had a bit of John Cleese-ian humor thrown in for good measure.
That being said, I'm biased. I've never really been able to get into Marvel titles (other than Groo, but does he really count as he's not part of the regular Marvel continuity?). I tried Punisher, Captain America, the Avengers, even Spidey... but none of them grabbed me like the Flash, Nightwing, Batman, Robin, the Titans, or any of my other DC favorites. Heck I even prefer Slade Wilson's Deathstroke over Frank Castle's Punisher (I may be in the minority on that one).
Oh my goodness, it's weird to see "Dc vs. Marvel" stuff here. Well, I hated all the Elseworlds...seriously, who needs to see "What If Mowgli Had Really Been Superman"?
That said, most of Marvel's "What If"s weren't very good either. I think I kind of liked both the "different Novas" and the "different Spideys" ones...
Well, I was young. And they weren't great, but they were comics, so.
Nova itself I really have a soft spot for -- it caught me at just the right time, and in just the right place, but I think I'd have trouble articulating just what that pleasure consisted of...
May come back a bit later and try, though!
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