I love old comics… and thanks to Marvel putting them out for the last 70 years, there’s a lot of them. For example: on stands right now you can find NOVA: THE ORIGIN OF RICHARD RIDER (fig. 1). The current NOVA series is a really fun series that F.O.O.P.O.* Bill Rosemann puts out every month, and this special gives fans of the series a chance to see where the human rocket got his human rocketiness. They’ve taken issues 1 and 4 of the original NOVA series from 1976, wrapped a new frame story around them and, most interestingly, given them a fancy new-fangled coloring job. I think it is neat to see old-school pages shined up in this way. No slam on the colorists who did the books back then, of course—they did a great job with the limited resources they had—but it adds something to them, or at the very least, brings a new angle to them. But the thing I think is most interesting about old comics is the writing. Comics were very different then, and I enjoy reading old ones and seeing how different they are, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. So, let’s take a look at these NOVAs!
One thing about issue 1 I really love is that it’s a true old-school Marvel Issue #1. You get the origin, you find out everything you need to know about the hero, you meet the entire supporting cast… you basically get a blueprint for the entire ongoing series. They lay it out for you, “Here is what this series is going to be. If you liked this issue, you’ll like the rest.” Nowadays, the first story of a new series usually lasts 5-6 issues. If a book has a “status quo” now, it can be a half a year or more before it is firmly established.
Here, we have Richard Rider, lovable high school loser who becomes a hero. And he’s not even a genius like Peter Parker**! Just some random kid. You learn all about his powers, where they come from and what they are. We get his lady friend, his school pals, his bullies. My favorite part, actually, is the fact that his “Flash Thompson” character*** is not a dumb jock—he’s smarter than Richard is. He’s just also a jerk.
I am sure you will be surprised that a book about a man who can fly at rocket speeds plays it fast and loose with science. In this issue, the Nova Centurion who gives Richard his powers is in a space ship. On the last page, you see an image of it in space (fig. 2). Around it are the images of some 15-20 multicolored planets. There is a similar image earlier in the issue (with even more planets, actually) but this one actually says the ship “orbits our world”. I guess the Marvel Universe has a slightly different solar system than we do.
Issue 4 is a classic “two heroes fight” issue, in which Nova fights Thor because the Thunder God is possessed by a villain. Interestingly, it makes a specific effort to fit the story into Thor’s continuity at the time. It was probably mainly done to advertise, but still, interesting. But that is not what I wanted to mention about the issue. I mostly wanted to talk about time discrepancies and fashion sense.
First up, time discrepancies. Or perhaps time anomalies. I suspect that reality 616 was experiencing some sort of strange time variances at the time of the issue—how else to explain what happens here? There are two examples in evidence. First off, as Nova flies at the window of his school (fig. 3). As you can see in the three-panel sequence Nova gets a LOT of thinking done when travelling a distance of maybe… 20 feet? And he flies at the speed of a rocket. He is a human rocket. But wait! I guess he could keep turning away and doubling back, since we can see the trail of his turn each time. He may be flying in little circles. OR, maybe he is able to think really, really, really fast. OK, I guess that one does not HAVE to be a time anomaly. But this next one…
This one is from the fight scene. As I said, Thor was possessed by The Corruptor, but in the middle of the fight, it suddenly wears off! At which time, as you can see (fig. 4), Nova has just decided to put everything he has into one punch! Now… take a look. Between him making this decision and his fist connecting with Thor (fig. 5), a lot happens. Nova talks smack, the possession wears off, Thor calls a halt, Nova notices that something is wrong, decides to not hit him, realizes it is too late to stop from punching, bemoans this fact, and then Thor gets Spangged****. Eight-and-a-half sentences are said aloud*****. It seems like that would be plenty of time to stop the swinging of your arm, no? Clearly, some sort of minor chronal gravity well was formed around them to give them enough time to say so much.
Speaking of The Corruptor, I had to mention his fashion sense. When he first appears, he’s wearing rags, regular clothes torn in his transformation. Obviously, this will not do. He says, “…I must rid myself of these tattered RAGS! I must DON clothing FIT for the EMPEROR OF EVIL! Such attire as only MY FORCE OF MIND can create!” Wow, that’s some big talk! Emperor of Evil, huh? Something only he can create? Man, this is going to be great! The result? (fig. 6) Either his force of mind is not as strong as he thinks, or mine is so weak I cannot appreciate such impressive designs. You decide!
But, let me just clarify: I love old comics. Sometimes they are genius, and sometimes you slap your head wondering how they could possibly believe anyone would accept their premises. But they are classics, and without them, we would not have the Marvel Universe we know and love. I, for one, am very happy that they put out this special, it was a fun read. Oh, and I should mention that if you liked it, you can read another 23 issues of that series in the ESSENTIAL NOVA collection. None of that fancy color, just black and white reprints, but tons more craziness (like a villain named Diamondhead and Nova telling Hulk he’s “been gonged”******). What more could you ask for?
I will try to blog more (and maybe shorter) soon. And yes, I am still going to try to do a “Continuity Watch” so send me more suggestions for continuity mistakes and discrepancies to debunk!
Be seeing you!
-Jordan
*Friend Of the Ol’ Panic Office.
** See the line “Even my YOUNGER BROTHER makes the honor roll, while I barely pass lunch.”
*** Mike “Calls Everyone Punk” Burley.
**** Then skragged! Bad day to be Thor.
***** OK, more like five-and-a-half sentences and three fragments.
****** That’s a “Gong Show” reference. Can you handle it?
Good blog I love old books, especially cosmic ones!
Which is part of why Nova is one of my favorite characters. I was just reading the oversize hardcover of the current series last night. SO GOOD! I have both the issues in that Origins trade. After reading your blog and seeing the discrepancies, I need to go bust open my buried long boxes and give them a read.
Posted by J.Williamson on 2009-01-23 15:54:28
neat ? what is the problem with the original coloring jordan ?
Posted by notapotatoe on 2009-01-26 06:12:35
Array
Enter a response to this blog post:
About this blog: Jordan loves reading comics, and he loves thinking about them way too much. Super Hero morality, quirks of continuity, and the daily grind of putting out funnybooks… it’s all fair game.
About the author: Jordan D. White is an assistant editor at Marvel. In his free time, he reads way too many comics. Seriously.
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
)
save this link
