Jeph Loeb launched a brand new NOVA series with a new hero soon be under the helmet. Sam Alexander is a small town teen who just learned his father’s delusions of space adventures were no illusion. This week in Nova #2 Sam gets recruited by a talking racoon and a green warrior woman!
Loeb likens Sam to another famous teen hero with great power and responsibility:
“If we’re lucky, we’re taking on the type of stuff Peter Parker did in the earliest Spider-Man stories trying to be a super hero and a normal kid.”
“That story of Sam Alexander being 16 years old and already having given up is something I think people can relate to. But in the Marvel Universe, when we’re at our worst, that’s when the hero comes forward.”
Outer space adventurers like Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy are reborn franchises and the future of Marvel.
“The relationship between Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy is very important to where we’re going. Brian Bendis and I have talked about it since the beginning. It’s on the first page of the first issue. It’s really cool to see Ed drawing the Guardians.”
“It will be a little bit of a surprise who Sam is up against in this first arc, but it’s very much in the world of Nova, yet a bit next level. By the end of the second issue you’ll know what’s at stake, who the villains are and what will be threatening all of Earth.”
You could call Richard Rider (the original Nova) Marvel’s eternal teenager until his sacrifice in The Thanos Imperative. Loeb explains the difference between Rich and Sam:
“What would you do if you found Iron Man’s armor and Tony Stark wasn’t around to explain how it worked? After Thanos Imperative, there is no Worldmind, there is no Nova Corps and there is no Rich Rider.”
“We’re telling the story of a 16 year old kid. You can tell a very dark and adult story about that, but that’s not the story we’re telling. From the beginning, Nova was a fun character. Rich Rider loved being Nova. We want to keep to the spirit of that character. You don’t get to be a rocket and not smile about it at some point.”
NOVA #2 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness hits this week!
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
By Editor