Comic Review: Marvel Now! Point One – Nova

Issue: Marvel Now! Point One – Nova

Name: Diamondhead
Published: 2012 by Marvel Comics

Creators:

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Dexter Vines
Colorist: Marte Garcia
Letterer: Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne

Characters:

The Good: Nova
The Bad: Diamondhead

My Reading:

Marvel Now! Point One is a set of stories that feature some of the personalities of the Marvel universe and is basically a kicking off point for titles. This issue contains 6 stories with this one, Diamondhead, featuring Nova. Right after seeing Peter Quill take up the space gun from his mother’s home we’re introduced to Nova. Streaking across the night sky, Nova zips from New York to St. Louis to Littleton, Kansas, only to run into some guy with a jetpack over Utah. And he doesn’t just run into Diamondhead over Utah, he gets punched by him and grappled until they hit one of the monuments in Monument Valley. Apparently, this crystalline looking guy knew the last incarnation of Nova…the one who blew off his hand…and he thought all of the Nova Corps were dead. That is, until he saw this Nova on the news with the Avengers. Seeing him, prompted a desire for vengeance so Diamondhead went out and bought a jetpack with the last of his money and took off to kill Nova (or at least take his helmet as a trophy). Things were going well for the bad guy until Nova used some kind of…well…Nova ability and a huge burst of energy went out of him which knocked Diamondhead senseless and blinded him temporarily. Nova then admonished that if Diamondhead ever came after him again, he’d unleash the Avengers on him.

My Thoughts:

This was not a bad bit of a tale. The only knowledge I’ve had about the Nova Corps is from Guardians of the Galaxy but I also knew there was a singular hero named Nova out there in the Marvel Universe too. I guess with this Marvel Now! brand, the old Nova has gone away – either he died as Diamondhead mentioned or he’s waiting to be retconned at some point in the future. In any case, the new Nova seems to be a teenager who’s kinda snarky and surprised that the Avengers are interested in recruiting him. He’s got some power though, and even though I’m not sure of the name of it, it does a number on Diamondhead. The bad guy in the story, Diamondhead, seems to be a blockhead and there isn’t too much characterization put together for him other than he had a run-in with the previous Nova and wasn’t some kind of rich millionaire. Somehow though, he got his hand repaired after it was blown off so he either has some powers or some powerful friends.

My Rating: B-

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited, Comixology or at your local comic book shop.