Nova #4

X here with my final solo review of the week.  Well, final current review, as I still have a Throwback review coming up on Tuesday.  If you remember, I had no clue what comic was going to be my Saturday review, but as you can see, problem solved!  After a flip of a coin, which came up heads, fyi, we'll be tackling Nova.

Nova #4:

Summary: Nova has been cut off from any contact with Rocket Raccoon and Gamora, so he decides to go after the mothership of the Chitauri.  While in there, he is confronted by an old ally of his father, a former Supernova named Titus.  And yes, Titus has gone heel and joined up with the Chitauri.  Titus gives a story as to why he went bad, and also takes credit for killing Nova's father.  After Titus's origin tale, he reveals that he had managed to create an Ultimate Nullifier and was planning on using it soon.  Nova realizes he has to get the Nullifier away from Titus and the Chitauri, and manages to snatch it and make his way back to Earth.  After hiding the Nullifier in the garbage, Nova spots a light outside his home and rushes outside figuring it was Rocket and Gamora.  Instead, it's Titus, who is demanding the Nullifier in exchange for not destroying Nova's entire town.

Thoughts: Eh, this issue kind of fell flat for me.  I think my problem with it was the heavy focus on Titus, and the lack of focus on Sam.  I've said it in past issues, it's more the character than the story that I'm enjoying here, and this issue really hammers that home for me.  Besides that, what the hell happened to Rocket and Gamora?!  They send an untested Nova after the Chitauri and then vanish?  What a pair of jerks!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Best of the Rest! April 17th edition.

Hey all, X back again with a new Best of the Rest post.  Between myself and JT(whose reviews with be in a blue text), there should be plenty of comics to check out.  So instead of talking about it, let's get to it!

Venom #34: Yes!  This is exactly what I want from this series!  This issue starts off with Toxin kicking Venom's ass, which leads to the mysterious cannibal showing up to join the fight.  However, Toxin is all, "Who invited you, bitch?!" and proceeds to BITE the head off of the cannibal!  That in turn leads to Venom biting off one of Toxin's arms!  Excellent!!  Toxin shrugs that off, grows a new arm and continues the ass-kickery.  Venom finally halts the assault by injecting Toxin with the serum that keeps his own symbiote under control.  Toxin rushes off since his symbiote was acting up, and Venom drags his battered ass to a rooftop to recuperate and prepare for round two. So yeah, Cullen Bunn just needs to keep doing this.  Every single issue.  Because this issue rocked.  Score: 8 out of 10.

Iron Man #8: 451 manages to get Tony his armor before Tony is murdered by Death's Head.  That leads to a massive brawl between Iron Man and DH, which 451 uses as a distraction to deactivate the cloaking device the Voldi had been using to hide from the Celestials.  The Celestials arrive and obliterate the planet and everybody on it.  Needless to say, Tony doesn't appreciate 451's actions and announces that he would have vengeance.  This issue was a meh for me.  It wasn't awful by any stretch, the fight between Tony and DH was cool, and I enjoyed 451's swerve, but I'm not going to remember this issue past tomorrow.  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Daredevil #25: Matt finally comes face-to-face with one of his tormentors, a guy wearing a facsimile of his original yellow attire named Ikari(which means 'Fury' in Japanese).  Oh, and Ikari?  He has all of DD's enhanced senses.  The two have a spectacular battle across the rooftops of Manhattan, ending up in a sporting goods shop.  DD manages to set off the sprinkler system, and hopes that his foe's inexperience with his hyper-senses will cause him to become totally disoriented by the noise and falling water.  And it's a great plan.  Except for one thing...  Ikari isn't blind!  Ikari beats the ever-loving hell out of a shocked Matt, who has no choice but to turn tail and run away, all while Ikari yells taunts after him.  Yeah, this issue?  Awesome.  I NEVER saw the swerve with Ikari having his sight coming, and when Matt realized Ikari COULD see?  Amazing!  I wanted to scream FOR Matt!  That's how perfect the reveal was.  Amazing work by the incomparable Mark Waid.  Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

X-Factor #254: Hey, this "Hell" storyline is still going on...  Okay...  Tier decides he doesn't want to kill the Hell-Lords, which pisses Polaris off since Tier kind of has to or everybody is screwed.  Meanwhile, Mephisto is unsurprisingly knocking off the other Hell-Lords, polishing off Hela right after she had killed Asmodeus.  Jezebel, Possessed Madrox and Guido attack X-Factor since Jezebel needed Tier if she had any hope in defeating her father(Mephisto).  That leads to a showdown between Monet and Guido.  This issue was solid.  Much like most of this storyline.  It's okay.  It's not great or anything, it's okay.  To be honest, I'm to the point where I'm waiting for this storyline to just end already...  Score: 7 out of 10.

Nightwing #19: So Dick Grayson is in Chicago now, as he's decided to track down and capture Tony Zucco, who, in case you were unaware, killed Dick's parents.  The cops hate Nightwing because the cops in Chi-town hate costumed heroes, and Dick is broke because he won't ask Bruce for money.  Because they're feuding again after Death of the Family and Damian's death.  But honestly, do those two really need a reason to feud?!  They're almost always pissed at each other for one reason or another!  But I digress...  So yeah, Dick has no money and has to take a roommate in his apartment...  Because that's smart for a masked hero like Dick...  Anyway, it seems Zucco, who was the person who murdered Dick's parents, is the mayor's chauffeur or something...  The mayor is corrupt, it seems.  On top of that, the Prankster is punishing criminals.  So yeah, Dick's first issue in Chicago?  Not perfect.  But hey, it wasn't awful, so there's that!  I have to say, even though he appeared on a grand total of one page, the Prankster seems extremely interesting.  I liked the costume and I liked his brand of vigilantism.  So I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Prankster and less of Tony Zucco, who was the man responsible for the deaths of Dick Grayson's parents.  In case you hadn't heard...  Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

Dark Avengers #189: This is the penultimate issue of this series, and I have to admit, I won't really miss it...  It started off with such promise, but man did it fall apart quickly...  Basically Evil Dr. Strange dies when he randomly explodes.  That frees Skaar from Evil Strange, so Skaar can finally attack Evil Thing.  Ragnarok picks up that dimension's Thor's hammer(wait, how?!), which makes him turn into a guy who looks like the Executioner...  And AIM is still up to something, but damned if I know what!  Yeah, I don't have anything else to add to that issue...  Score: 4 out of 10.

Nova #3: In this issue of Nova, we see our protagonist run into The Watcher. He eventually is able to see through the Watcher's eyes that there are a ton of ships in the distance, but since he doesn't know what to do with that knowledge, he heads back to Earth. On Earth, Sam's mom hints she may know about Sam using his dad's helmet and says he can talk to her about anything. After that, Sam is approached by Gamora and Rocket Raccoon, who tell him he's the last of the Nova Corps and they start training Sam. In the midst of training, the Guardians mention the army that's on the way to attack Earth, and Sam tells them he saw it, thanks to the man on the moon, so they send Sam on recon since his Nova helmet can see the cloaked ships. The issue ends with Nova getting blasted in space by the ships, so I guess they can see him. Oops. I enjoyed this issue, it was nothing spectacular but it was a solid read. Score: 6.5/10

Captain Marvel #12: This issue focuses on Cap Marvel and Deathbird's aerial fight with Cap confined to her flying bike. After a long, tough battle, Cap finally defeats Deathbird, but has to fly at the end to due so, which weakens Cap due to the lesion on her brain. Throughout the issue we see her doctor talking to another doctor, the new one having dealt with a case like this before. It turns out his patient was Captain Marvel's friend, Helen Cobb, although she supposedly died in a fire. The doctors meet Cap at home to give her some news that we aren't privy to until the next issue. The issue ends with the mysterious man in the park revealing himself to be Yon-Rogg, now fully powered due to Captain Marvel's fights with Deathbird powering him. This was another solid issue, I enjoyed the fight with Deathbird but all the Doctor mumbo jumbo kinda slowed things down for me. I'm not familiar with Yon-Rogg but after looking him up and seeing he's the one that kidnapped Carol which led to her getting her powers, I'm excited to see where this goes. Score: 7/10

Justice League #19: This issue opened with Jason Todd and Alfred talking, so yeah, that's a free point from me. The two are attacked as some mysterious man who makes his way through the scan and past Batman's retinal scanner somehow to Bats' contingency room, as he has a case with a plan to beat each member of the League. The mystery man steals Superman's case, which has Kryptonite. Batman eventually returns and Jason is beating himself up for not hearing the intruder sneak up on them but Bruce says she's just glad Jason and Alfred are okay. After some help from Aquaman and Cyborg, they aren't able to figure out how this person got in or what they were after, Batman seems to know but plays dumb. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman fight some terrorists in Kahndaq, but Americans aren't allowed there, so Kahndaq is contemplating waging war on America. Batman meets with Supes and Wondy and they discuss how they went about things when he reveals he knows their dating, and also that someone came to the Batcave and took something to hurt Superman. The issue ends with Firestorm and the Atom, two of the newest Leaguers being attacked in the Watchtower by none other than Despero, wearing a Kryptonite ring. I enjoyed this issue surprisingly. I definitely didn't expect for this review to be so long. I enjoyed seeing Jason and Alfred, so... do more of that, Geoff Johns. I also enjoyed seeing Supes and Wondy fighting crime, and the odd way they influence one another, kinda reminds me their relationship in of Injustice: Gods Among Us. Lastly, this mystery man that knows Bruce could be interesting if done the right way, I'm curious to see who he is and why he'd help Despero, since I don't think it's him. Oh, and I like the new Atom, she rocks. Score: 8/10

Alright gang, that's it for me and mi amigo. Tomorrow, expect a new type of review from X, which he'll explain then, but until now, on behalf of buddy X, this is JT, signing off!

Nova #2

Last review of the night is the second issue of Nova.  I liked the first issue and am intrigued to see where Jeph Loeb takes this story.

Nova #2:

Summary: Picking up from last issue, Sam freaks out, what with being confronted by a talking racoon and a green assassin and all, and makes the mistake of calling Rocket Raccoon a talking raccoon...  But his name has raccoon in it!  Anyway, Rocket takes great offence at that and blasts Sam's pillow to pieces, which leads to Sam running out of the hospital room in terror.  Gamora chides Rocket for his behavior since Sam was their "last, best hope."  Sam fetches a nurse, and when he returns to his room with the nurse, Rocket and Gamora are naturally gone.  Sam falls asleep, but is awakened by his father's Nova helmet, which fell under his bed when Rocket started shooting up the place.  Sam takes the helmet outside(what kind of hospital would let a kid in a gown wander outside in the middle of the night?!) and punts it away, but that leads to the helmet shooting energy up into the air.  Sam decides to put the helmet on, and becomes Nova.  It also activates a message from his father telling him the standard, "I'll miss you, should have spent more time with you, etc" stuff that holographic recordings tend to say.  After hearing that(and crash landing in the parking lot), Sam heads back inside.  The next morning, Sam's doctors tell his mother that he was 100% healed, so she takes him home.  Sam decides to put the helmet back on later in the evening, and turns into Nova again.  This time he flies around, but ends up going too fast and winds up on the moon.  This issue ends with Sam looking up to see the Watcher staring down at him.

Thoughts: Good stuff here. Sam is still really likable, and I like the pace at which Loeb is telling this story.  I like the focus being on Sam, and not on any villains.  Build up the character first, and then bring on the bad guys!  If I had a complaint, it would be Rocket going all rabid on Sam, but maybe he IS rabid...  I mean he is a raccoon and all...  But yeah, good strong work here leaves me with no complaints.

Score: 8 out of 10.

So wait, you can't call him a raccoon?

Nova #1

Second review of the week is the first issue of the new Nova series...  Now, I LOVED the old DnA Nova series, and have been a fan of Richard Rider for quite a few years now.  This comic?  It isn't the Richard Rider Nova...  It looks to be a brand new Nova.  So, who is he?  How did he get the powers of the Nova Force?  And most importantly, will this suck?  We shall find out soon enough...

Nova #1: 

Summary: We get things started by meeting Sam Alexander and his father, Jesse.  Jesse is a high school custodian, but likes to tells stories about back when he was a member of a select group of Nova Corpsmen called Supernovas.  Besides talking about his space exploits, Jesse also likes to drink, so Sam doesn't believe a word that comes out of his father's mouth.  His younger sister, Kaelynn, however, believes all of her father's outlandish tales.  One day Sam comes home and discovers that his father had vanished, which angers him since he thinks his father had cut out on the rest of the family.  Sam takes off, but takes a nasty fall from his skateboard and ends up in the hospital for several days.  One day he wakes up and finds Rocket Raccoon and Gamora in his hospital room.  The two Guardians of the Galaxy tell Sam they had some news concerning his father...

Thoughts: So Sam's dad wasn't a delusional lush after all it seems.  This was an interesting issue for me...  On one hand, the story never really grabbed me...  It wasn't really what I'd call interesting.  Jeph Loeb set stuff up, we met Sam and his family, but none of it was riveting   On the other hand, I liked all of the characters here.  I liked Sam and his family.  So yeah, I was into the characters, but not the story.  Not yet anyway.  I'm gonna guess that Sam finds out that his father died during the Thanos Imperative, and he'll be asked to step in and fill his shoes...  Probably.  I mean, that seems to be the way this one is setting up.  And if that's the case, I'm fine with that.  But regardless, I'll be sticking around for the next few issues to see what comes next.

Score: 7 out of 10.

That raccoon's eyes sure do creep me out...

Nova #36... In three sentences or less!

Nova #36: Nova and the Cancerverse version of Quasar(Vaughn)battle in the Project PEGASUS facility, where Vaughn has managed to brainwash most of the scientists and guards there. Vaughn manages to make good his escape, after Nova becomes distracted having to kill some big old UGLY Cancerverse creature(as well as freeing the scientists from their mind control). If this is the last issue of Nova, this series went out STRONG! Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.See, I told you it was UGLY!

Deadpool #21, Nova #35 & Wolverine Origins #45

I really don't have much of an introduction tonight... I spent my first day of vacation exactly how I expected to, playing video games, reading comics and doing a little mountain biking for exercise. Yeah, pretty boring, but that's me. Tomorrow I'll have the always special Random Scan of the Week, but for now, here are a few Marvel comic reviews. See, I told ya I didn't have much of an intro!

Deadpool #21: Writer: Daniel Way. Pencils: Carlo Barberi.
Last Issue: 6 out of 10.

After being shot up by the Hit-Monkey last issue, Spider-Man brings Deadpool to the Baxter Building where Reed fixes DP up as good as new... Or as good as Deadpool could be anyway. Spidey takes DP back to his apartment(Really?)and DP winds up stealing a Spider-Man costume and getting himself(as Spider-Man)killed by the Hit-Monkey, so the Hit-Monkey would leave Spider-Man, Deadpool and NYC alone. The Hit-Monkey attends Spider-Man's funeral(as does a puzzled Peter Parker), and DP pops out of the coffin, ready to kill the Hit-Monkey. Before DP can pull the trigger, Spidey arrives on the scene and bends all of DP's guns, so he can't kill the homicidal primate. Spidey manages to disarm the Hit-Monkey, and DP has a change of heart while looking at the Hit-Monkey, since he could see a lot of himself in the assassin monkey. While DP is trying to make nice with the Hit-Monkey, the monkey bites him in the face and steals one of DP's bent guns. DP also grabs one of his mangled guns, and the two shoot at each other, which causes the damaged guns to explode. It appears that the Hit-Monkey managed to escape the explosion, while Deadpool wakes up in Rykers Island, and is broken out by Spidey, who tells DP to get out of NY, since he has deduced that DP is only trying to be a hero for the accolades, not for the heroism.

Eh, I guess this was a pretty good story... I'm just glad the Hit-Monkey story is over. I won't go into one of my anti-monkey rants, but yeah, at least this story is over... With that said, I'm looking forward to the next issue, which hopefully will be monkey-free!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Damn monkeys...

Nova #35: Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning. Pencils: Mahmud Asrar.
Last Issue: 8 out of 10.

This issue opens with the Sphinx reveling in the fact that he now owns TWO Ka Stones. With one Ka Stone, he was able to rewrite reality, and was pretty much a god. With two Ka Stomes, I guess he'd be a double god or something... Anyway, the gathered heroes and villains decide to put aside their differences and attempt to assault the Sphinx, but since he was now a DOUBLE god, their attacks do nothing to him, and he brushes them aside. Since the heroes have no real plan to stop the Sphinx besides the old tried and true, “punch/blast him”, they decide to allow Reed Richards to concoct a plan. Reed figures that since only one Ka Stone is supposed to exist at a time, sending the Sphinx out of the inter-dimensional Fault(which is where the Sphinx set up shop)before he had mastered the power of both Ka Stones would cause reality to destroy him since he shouldn't exist. Armed with these calculations from Reed, Nova flies at the Sphinx, who is only partially aware of Nova, since Nova was more or less a bothersome insect to him. Upon getting close enough, Nova opens a stargate near the Sphinx, which brings him out of the Fault prematurely, causing reality to swallow him up. With the Sphinx gone, his base in the Fault begins to fall apart, and the heroes and villains present begin to go back to their proper places in the timestream. Realizing that Namorita would wind up dying with the New Warriors if she was returned to her proper place in the timestream, Nova rushes over to her and holds on, hoping she would wind up going with him instead of back to the past. Nova wakes up back at the Nova Corps headquarters, and is told that the Corps discovered him, Darkhawk and Namorita floating in space. Nova rushes to be by the still unconscious Namorita's side, and this issue ends with Darkhawk telling Nova that although his actions were noble, stealing Namorita from the timestream would almost definitely come back to haunt them.

First off, I am overjoyed that Nita is back among the living! I hated the way she(and the other New Warriors as well)died, so I'm quite pleased to see that she is back. As for the rest of the Sphinx/Fault storyline, it was simply OK, nothing more, nothing less. I can't say it really thrilled me, but then again, I was never all that fond of the Sphinx, so that probably had a lot to do with my feelings. Still, this was a perfectly acceptable comic, and Nita's return easily adds an extra 1/2 to the score!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I have to admit, whenever Reed uses one of his old man expressions(Great scott! or My word!)my mood automatically improves!

Wolverine Origins #45: Writer: Daniel Way. Pencils: Doug Braithwaite.
Last Issue: 7 1/2 out of 10.

This issue picks up from last issue, with Romulus standing over Ruby Thursday, demanding to know what Wolverine's plan was. At first, Ruby doesn't give in to Romulus's demands, but Romulus winds up threatening her daughter, which leads to Ruby spilling her guts. Later on, Ruby meets with Wolvie and the rest of his anti-Romulus team, and she launches into an attack against Wolvie and his allies. Wolvie's team eventually manage to take down Ruby(although it took a surprisingly long battle to do it!)and send her back to prison. With it painfully obvious Romulus got to Ruby, and that she almost definitely revealed Wolvie's plans against Romulus to him, Wolvie reveals that he figured that was going to happen all along, and that Wolvie's plan was simply a red herring, used to get Romulus looking the other way... Huh? Wolvie then admits that he didn't even think up the plan, because he understands that anything he thinks up would be easily countered by Romulus, since the two of them think so much alike, telling his crew that some c-list villain called the Answer concocted the plan. With his first, fake plan out of the way, Wolvie decides it is time to enact his real plan against Romulus, and as this issue ends, we discover that the mastermind behind Wolverine's real anti-Romulus plan is none other then Deadpool!

Umm, OK... So everything I've been reading for the past 5 or 6 issues was simply Wolverine messing with Romulus's head. I guess that makes sense to a certain extent, now that Wolverine's plan has been exposed, Romulus will probably figure he has nothing to fear from Wolvie, which means the time is ripe for Wolvie to make one final thrust to defeat his long-time puppet master. I will say I was kind of annoyed to see that Deadpool was Wolvie's secret weapon/planner... First off, who would EVER go to Deadpool for a plan?!? The guy isn't really wound all that tightly, if you know what I mean! I guess that means that whatever DP comes up with will be completely unpredictable, but still, I don't think I'd entrust my life to Pool... Secondly, when did Deadpool become the new Wolverine??? As much as I like the character, does he have to appear EVERYWHERE?!? Sheesh... Anyway, this was a good, if not great comic, that has me looking forward to the next couple of issues, which should give us our final Wolvie/Romulus showdown, most likely in the upcoming issue #50.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I'd have to guess that getting impaled by Ruby Thursday would be among Wolvie's more embarrassing moments...

A Quick Look at: Green Lantern #51, Green Lantern Corps #45 & Nova #34

Thanks to the massive amount of snow we received here in upstate New York, my school was surprisingly shut down today. I wasn't planning on going even if it was open, so I'm glad that my attendance is still unblemished thanks to the snow day. As for what I did today, I shovelled a LOT of snow(20 inches worth!), watched the American hockey team destroy Finland to make it into the gold medal game at the Olympics(Sunday at 3:00 Eastern time is the rematch against Canada for the gold!)and of course read a few comics. All in all, I can't complain. I'm hoping my package of new comics comes tomorrow, but with the snow, I'm not holding my breath. Hmm, I know there was something else I wanted to add here, but I'm drawing a total blank... Oh well, it'll come back to me eventually. As with the last batch of reviews, I'm going to try to keep the wordage down... Will I succeed? I guess we'll know soon enough!

Green Lantern #51: Writer: Geoff Johns. Artist: Doug Mahnke.

We kick things off with Larfleeze and Lex Luthor fighting over the Orange Power Battery(God do I wish Lex would have killed that pest!)before we head to the main event, a Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan vs. the Black Lantern Spectre. Parallax Hal tears out one of BL Spectre's eyes and hops inside the giant, finding the black ring that was corrupting BL Spectre and destroying it, reverting BL Spectre back to the plain old Spectre. Spectre decides to attack and punish Parallax Hal since Spectre hates Parallax, so the two once again begin to fight. Realizing that this battle isn't helping in the defeat of Nekron, Ganthet and Star Sapphire Carol Ferris manage to separate Hal from Parallax, and Parallax is pulled away by an unknown entity. Spectre decides to punish the one responsible for the whole Blackest Night mess, Nekron, but the Spectre is unable to harm Nekron, since Nekron is dead and has no soul. With that, Nekron banishes Spectre and rallies his forces to attack the New Guardians.

Although I did like this issue, it suffered from Blackest Night formula syndrome... In other words, we've seen this battle play out in almost the same way in dozens of other comics already. A Black Lantern attacks our heroes(in this case, the Spectre attacks the New Guardians), the heroes are hapless at first, but eventually they figure out a way to defeat the Black Lantern. The main Blackest Night storyline wasn't furthered at all here, so in a way, this issue(although enjoyable)was a waste of time...

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Why look, it's Nekron! It seems like so long since I've last seen him actually say something...

Green Lantern Corps #45: Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Patrick Gleason.

On Mogo, the Green Lanterns and Red Lantern Guy Gardner open this issue by having a good, old fashioned stand-off. Most of the GL's want to attack Guy, but Kyle stops them since he still wants to try to reason with Guy. That strategy doesn't work out, and Guy attacks his friends and teammates. Mogo decides to intervene, and uses it's emphatic abilities to draw all of Guy's good and bad memories from his head, with the hope that the good memories would overpower the bad, which would fix Guy. This doesn't work either, so the GL's attack Guy again and Kyle ties him up. The Indigo Lantern who was assisting the GL's explains that the only way to reverse a Red Lantern transformation is to either kill the Red Lantern, or expose it to the power of a Blue Lantern. Since the GL's don't want to kill Guy, and a Blue Lantern isn't available, Mogo decides to cleanse Guy's Red Lantern blood, temporarily curing him of his affliction and turning him back into a Green Lantern. This issue concludes with the Indigo Lantern getting the summons from Indigo-1 to collect as many GL's as he can find and bring them to Earth to attack Nekron, as seen in the Atom & Hawkman comic.

I really enjoyed this comic, although I will admit to being a bit let down by Guy losing his Red Lantern abilities. With that said though, I am glad that Peter left the door slightly open in case he wanted to turn Guy back into a Red Lantern, since his cleansing was only temporary. So until Guy is cured by a Blue Lantern, the possibility of Guy reverting back into a Red Lantern still remains. Next issue should give us the huge Black Lanterns vs everybody else issue that leads into the final part of Blackest Night, so if nothing else, the next issue should have some awesome action scenes.

Score: 8 out of 10.I'm sorry, but Red Lantern Guy>Green Lantern Guy.

Nova #34: Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Mahmud Asrar.

This issue has the old Sphinx and the younger Sphinx deciding to pit their forces against one another, with the victor claiming both Sphinx's Ka stones. The old Sphinx's forces are basically composed of heroes, while the young Sphinx has selected more villainous characters. After a few one-on-one battles, the old Sphinx's side wins and Darkhawk tears the Ka stone away from the young Sphinx, robbing him of his powers. Old Sphinx then mentally takes control of Darkhawk and forces him to hand over the Ka stone, giving the older Sphinx two, which pretty much makes the older Sphinx a god.

I'm a sucker for one-on-one battles, ala the Contest of Champions mini-series, so it should go without saying that I enjoyed this comic. While the outcome of some of the battles definitely surprised/stunned me(Basilisk defeated Black Bolt? Really?!?), for the most part, the battles shook out the way I expected them to. I'm still not a real big fan of the Sphinx, but this storyline has been good enough to make me overlook my natural dislike of the Sphinx, which is definitely the sign of good writing.

Score: 8 out of 10.The Age of the Sphinx? Can we have another Age of Apocalypse instead?

The Best of the Rest... Part 1!

If you read my Comic Gazing post yesterday, I mentioned that I have a lot of comics to get around to reviewing before my next shipment of books arrive(which will probably be Monday). Since I have SO many comics to read/review, I'm not going to be able to dedicate a whole lot of time to each comic(there are only 24 hours in a day!). So tonight, I'm going to review not one, not two, not even four comic books, I'm going to take a quick look at SEVEN(!)comics! Since I'm planning on going through so many books in just one night, don't expect very in depth reviews. Hell, for that matter, don't expect them to be very coherent! OK, let's get this horror show on the road, beginning with:

The Phantom Stranger #42: Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Ardian Syaf.

The Phantom Stranger and Blue Devil try to take on Black Lantern Spectre, but that doesn't exactly work out very well for our heroes. BL Spectre eventually figures out where Hal Jordan is(he's in Green Lantern #50!), and leaves Stranger and Devil behind. Stranger and Devil then head to Nanda Parbat and help Deadman reclaim his dead body from the Black Lanterns because that's really important or something... Anyway, this issue ends with Deadman leaving to help the heroes battling Nekron, Devil standing guard over Deadman's dead body and Stranger acting cryptic, 'cause that's how he rolls!

Eh, I'm kind of going through Blackest Night overload right now, and this issue didn't really help with that. It was MORE zombies, MORE Deadman, MORE BL Spectre, plus the Phantom Stranger ran around speaking Cryptic-ese, which is a language I'm not fluent in at all. If you like the Phantom Stranger(why?!?)you'll probably like this issue, if not, then you'd probably want to avoid this one.

Score: 5 out of 10.See, he walks alone because he's a STRANGER!!!

Magog #5: Writer: Keith Giffen. Pencils: Howard Porter.

The Warden tries to torch Magog, but right before Magog gets fried, he gets teleported to a strange world where he eventually meets the woman in charge of the whole shebang, Alba. Oh, and Alba claims Gog wasn't really a god, and that she is Magog's mother. Plus she's also fluent in Cryptic-ese... Ugh. After saying a whole lot of nothing, she sends Magog back to Haven, where he decides he's going to take out the Warden, once and for all. Warden sends a distress signal out to the JSA, and it seems this storyline is going to continue in the JSA annual.

Can't say I really enjoyed reading this comic. I don't think Magog needs to have his origin radically altered, Geoff Johns did a good job creating the guy, but I guess Keith wants to put his own stamp on Magog. Whatever I guess. I'll probably keep reading this series until the current storyline ends, then I'll be dropping it.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10."Unacceptable"? Yeah, that's how I felt about this comic!

The Power of Shazam #48: Writer: Eric Wallace. Pencils: Don Kramer.

This issue deals with Osiris rising from his grave as a Black Lantern, but with a twist. Thanks to Black Adam's magic, BL Osiris isn't a crazed, heart eating ghoul, he seems to have kept his regular, good guy personality. Instead of eating hearts, he walks through Kahndaq wondering where his sister and brother-in-law were. He discovers they were turned to stone, and his old friend/evil alligator who killed and ate him, BL Sobek arrives. BL Sobek gets pissed that Osiris isn't running amok and eating hearts, so he attacks him. Ultimately, Osiris gets BL Sobek close to him before saying Black Adam's name, which causes a huge lighting bolt to strike them both down, re-killing them.

I actually really enjoyed reading this issue. It wasn't the regular, "Dead hero rises from the grave as a Black Lantern, runs wild and is re-killed." story, this one was actually different, and I for one appreciated that. Then again I always liked Osiris anyway, so I have to admit that I was pleased that he didn't rise as a bland, cookie cutter, Black Lantern, but that he was a Black Lantern with a heart of gold. If you're getting tired of reading the same old, same old Blackest Night story, then you might want to give this comic a read.

Score: 8 out of 10.I love Sobek's reasoning for betraying Osiris!

Green Lantern #50: Writer: THE Geoff Johns. Pencils: Doug Mahnke.

With Black Lanterns running wild through the streets of Coast City, Hal and his strange mix of allies are trying to eliminate as many of the buggers as they can. For the most part, everything is going well, that is until BL Spectre arrives(from Phantom Stranger #42 I guess!). BL Spectre shrugs off the combined attacks of EVERYBODY, and basically beats the hell out of Hal and his allies, even going so far as to eat Ganthet and another Guardian of the Universe! After freeing Ganthet and his gal pal, Hal decides the only way to defeat BL Spectre is to become Parallax again... Uh-huh... Sinestro scoffs at that, since HE wants to become Parallax, but since this is Hal's comic book, Hal gets his way, and allows Parallax to repossess him, setting up Parallax Hal vs. BL Spectre.

Don't get me wrong, this was a real good comic, but I HATED Hal resorting to becoming Parallax again to defeat BL Spectre... I literally JUST finished reading the Emerald Twilight story, which details crazy, Parallax possessed Hal marauding through the cosmos, killing friend and foe alike, so Hal voluntarily deciding to become Parallax again was quite vexing... I know the Spectre is supposed to be uber-powerful and all, but still, Hal becoming Parallax to defeat the Spectre is kind of like smacking yourself in the head with a hammer to kill a fly. Sure it'll get the job done, but it's probably not the best way to go about it! Had I not just read about all of the atrocities Hal committed while under Parallax's thrall, maybe I would have enjoyed this issue more, but as it is, I can't forget the terrible things Parallax Hal had done before, so I have to say, Hal's actions in this comic were a bit of a letdown.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Well, that's one way to deal with bothersome Guardians of the Universe I guess...

Nova #33: Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning. Pencils: Andrea Divito.

While trying to figure out where they are and why the Sphinx transported them to a replica of ancient Egypt, Mr. Fantastic, Nova, Namorita, Black Bolt and Darkhawk are attacked by a younger version of the Sphinx. Unable to defeat the younger Sphinx's forces, the heroes retreat into a pyramid and are transported to the older Sphinx, who explains that his younger counterpart is trying to steal his all-powerful Ka Stone, which would give the younger Sphinx two Ka Stone's and WAY too much power. The young Sphinx arrives and attack his older self, but the two stalemate each other. The heroes decide to attack the younger Sphinx, so he responds by summoning villains from various points in the timestream to deal with the time-lost heroes.

I've got to say, I've never been a big fan of the Sphinx. Whether it was in the Fantastic Four, Nova or the New Warriors, he's always been a really annoying(and confusing!)foe. This issue didn't change my opinion of him at all! He's still annoying AND confusing! Somehow this is all tied into the Realm of Kings storyline, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how! Even with all that said, this was still an above average comic book, just not as good as a few of the previous issues of this series have been.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Umm, nice dress there, Sphinx...

Superman #696: Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Bernard Chang.

Following the explosion at Science Police Headquarters in Action Comics #885, Mon-El and Guardian are sifting through the rubble trying to find survivors. Nightwing wants to help with the rescue effort, but Mon-El, Lois Lane and Flamebird convince him to leave, since General Lane was prowling around the devastated building. Gen. Lane orders his soldiers to attack the fleeing Kryptonians, but Mon makes the save before confronting Lane. Lane tells Mon that by saving the Kryptonians he had committed a treasonous act, but Mon scoffs at that, stating that since he's not an American, he can't be charged with treason. The two bicker for a while and Mon for some reason has a flashback to when he was in Gen. Lane's custody and was being tortured by a damn talking monkey. Guardian snaps Mon out of his flashback sequence by requesting his help at the control center of the SP Building. It appears that the woman who was running the SP was actually Chameleon from the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Eh, this was another comic that didn't really move me one way or the other. I'm actually not sure what exactly this comic accomplished to be honest. I guess we now know that Chameleon was running the SP for some reason, but I really could care less... Chameleon isn't exactly one of the more interesting members of the Legion. When somebody major like Saturn Girl or Cosmic Boy show up, I'll take notice, but Chameleon and Bouncing Boy aren't exactly what I would call Legion a-listers.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.What's worse then a talking monkey? A CREEPY talking monkey!

Blackest Night Flash #2: Writer: THE Geoff Johns. Artist: Scott Kolins.

The story in this one follows Flash's Rouges, as well as Saint Barry Allen, God of the Speed Force, and Savior to all things Flash. I'll hit the Saint's part of this comic first. Saint Barry, now sporting a snazzy Blue Lantern ring tries to separate the current Firestorm from BL Firestorm, but winds up getting interrupted by BL Kid Flash. Saint Barry is almost able to stop BL Kid Flash's rampage, but BL Professor Zoom arrives on the scene to attack the Sainted One. Luckily, Wally(the OTHER Flash)West shows up and makes the save. However, one of those damned talking apes, in this case, BL Solovar, arrives on the scene, laying the Saint(and the other, WAY less important Flash)out. As for the Rouges, they enter Blackgate Prison, looking to destroy the resurrected BL Rouges, but the BL Rogues prove to be a tougher challenge then the Rogues originally thought. After a give and take battle, the son of the original Captain Boomerang(also named Captain Boomerang... Very creative...)arrives on the scene and tells the Rogues to leave his BL Daddy alone! With that, he spirits BL Capt. Boomerang away, promising that he knows a way to bring him back to life.

As expected, I liked the parts of this comic that featured the Rogues, while I was apathetic towards the parts with Saint Barry. Well, that's not fully true, I did enjoy seeing BL Bart attack the Saint. For a Blackest Night x-over, this issue was pretty good.

Score: 8 out of 10.Yeah, yeah, yeah, as long as YOU'RE around, all will be well, Saint Barry...

Whew, that's it for me tonight. I'll either post a whole mess more reviews tomorrow, or I might do another one of those "Let's Talk About..." posts to change things up a bit. I guess it'll all depend on what kind of a mood I'm in tomorrow. Anyway, if you've managed to read through this entire post, give your self a pat on the back, you've earned it! Long Live The Legion!

Speed Review for: Nova #28

Nova #28: Writers- Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Artist- Andrea Divito.
This is yet another "War of Kings" x-over.

What Happened: Rich rips into Strontian after he found her standing over his brother Robbie's lifeless body. Rich's fellow Nova Corps members alert him to the fact that Robbie is still alive(barely)but before they can clear out, Strontian's Shi'ar teammates arrive on the scene to assist their leader. After a surprisingly brief battle, Rich and the Nova Corps manage to take out the Shi'ar forces. As Rich goes to leave, he discovers that Blastarr's forces have completely overrun the planet of Kree-Lar. Blastarr agrees to let Rich and his Corps leave, but he refuses to allow Rich to take Ravenous, the now former king of Kree-Lar off world. Rich winds up convincing Blastarr to allow him to leave with Ravenous and his Corps, but Blastarr isn't exactly pleased about the way things went down between Rich and himself. Back on Nu-Xandar, Rich decides to reestablish the Nova Corps, but only after a very meticulous selection process. Robbie gets placed in a healing tank and when he regains consciousness, Rich officially makes him a full-fledged Nova Corps member. This issue ends with Rich and the Corps discovering the tear in time/space from "War of Kings #6". As they investigate, a very old Nova Corps starship emerges from the tear.

What I thought: Things wrapped up a bit to neatly for my tastes here. I didn't like the ease with which Rich was able to defeat Strontian, or how he was able to trick/threaten his way off of Kree-Lar. Blastarr had Rich dead to rights, allowing him to leave Kree-Lar with Ravenous in tow just seemed very weak on Blastarr's part. I will say I'm VERY surprised to see Robbie survive this storyline. After the events of last issue, I thought for sure he was a goner. To me things would have been more interesting for Rich had Robbie died. Usually Nova is among my favorite Marvel books, but this issue just didn't do much for me.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.The utter bewilderment of Blastarr in this scene was some pretty funny stuff.

A Quick Look at Nova #27

This comic is written by the stellar writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and drawn by Andrea Divito. Oh yeah, this is also a War of Kings x-over issue.

-Nova(along with two other Corps members)arrives on Kree-Lar, searching for his missing brother, Nova Corps member Robbie Rider. The Shi'ar forces on Kree-Lar are being supplemented by King Blastarr's troops from the Negative Zone. Needless to say, Lord Ravenous, the leader of Kree-Lar is in BIG trouble.

-Robbie is still holding Strontian down in Ravenous' palace hoping that some members of the Nova Corps will arrive to help him arrest the insanely powerful Strontian.

-Nova bumps into King Blastarr and tells him he is only looking for his brother, and that he'll be out of Blastarr's hair once he locates him. Blastarr allows Nova 15 minutes to find Robbie and get off Kree-Lar before he sends his own army into the palace to kill Lord Ravenous for his Shi'ar allies. Blastarr's Shi'ar allies complain about Blastarr's deal, but Blastarr reminds them he only promised HIS troops wouldn't attack the palace, leaving the Shi'ar troops to attack Rich and his fellow centurions.

-As Rich approaches Ravenous' palace he finally hears from Robbie through his communicator. While Rich is speaking to Robbie, he hears screaming coming from the other end of the communicator and then silence. Rich charges into the palace and is met by the sight of Strontian standing over his lifeless brother and Lord Ravenous, ending this issue.

Needless to say, it's on next issue! I enjoyed this issue a lot, as a matter of fact, this is the first issue of Nova since the War of Kings x-over stuff began that I've really enjoyed. If Robbie is indeed dead, as the conclusion of this issue suggests, I have to say I'm not overly surprised. Robbie doesn't really serve any purpose now that Rich is Nova Prime again, and his death will provide Rich with a few issues of grief and guilt, which is always fun to read about. Plus, it gives Rich a mortal enemy in Strontian, who is powerful enough to take Rich on, even with him powered by the full Nova Force. For a score, I'll give this issue a 8 1/2 out of 10.Kneel before King Blastarr!!!(Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Nova #26

Tonight my reviews should be a lot shorter than they usually are. Why? Because I'm beginning to drown in comic books! I'm buying more books than I can read and post. So the three options I have are to either buy less books(NOT going to happen)stop posting reviews for some books(a possibility)or rush through the reviews. For now I'm going with the third option(at least until I get somewhat caught up!). As for this comic book, it's another War of Kings x-over, and is written by the stellar team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

-Now in full possession of the Nova force, Rich is rescuing the under trained and unprepared Nova Corps members the previously Ego possessed Worldmind sent into the middle of the Kree/Shi'ar war. After returning many of the Corps members to base, Rich turns his attentions to his missing brother, Nova Corps member Robbie.

-Rich heads to Robbie's last known location(a Kree world)and runs afoul some Kree soldiers and Triton of the Inhuman Royal Family. Luckily, one of the Kree soldiers worked with Rich during Annihilation: Conquest, and convinces Triton that Rich is a friend. Rich doesn't find his brother, instead he finds the Corps member Robbie left base with. Qubit(the Corpsman Robbie left with)is banged up and can't recall what became of Robbie.

-After talking to Qubit, Triton shows Rich hundreds of discarded Nova Corps helmets, proof the Shi'ar were slaughtering the Corpsmen they were capturing.

-As for Robbie, he's lending Ravenous a hand against Strontian, who was sent by Emperor Vulcan with the sole purpose of assassinating Ravenous(the rular of Kree-lar). And that's the end of that issue!

-Other developments: There really weren't any other developments. This issue was pretty straightforward.

Now that's a quick review! I enjoyed this comic, it was fast-paced and right to the point. Rich is in command of the Corps, Worldmind is back(sort of))and everything makes sense. Can't complain about that. I'm trying to think of a critique, but nothing is coming to mind. The only negative thing I can think of is the fact that within a few days I doubt I'll be thinking about what happened here. This was a good comic, but nothing in particular really stands out. For a score, I'll go with an 8 1/2 out of 10. This was a very good(if forgettable)comic. Hey, not bad, from start to finish this entire review only took me 25 minutes!

Nova #25

This is one of those comic books I've been waiting all month to get my hands on. For the record, this is a "War of Kings" x-over issue and is written by the always brilliant team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

-This issue begins the way the last one ended, with Ego/Worldmind beating the holy hell out of Rich, who is currently in possession of the Quantum Bands of Quasar since he is no longer a Nova centurion. Rich tries to fight back(UNsucessfully)until the ghost of Quasar arrives on the scene to help. Quasar explains to Rich that the Quantum Bands are not really supposed to be used as weapons of blunt physical force, they need to be used on all levels, not just physically, but emotionally and intellectually as well.

-Rich manages to create a sanctuary for himself with the Bands and grabs a breather while trying to figure out what to do next.

-While this is occurring, Rich's brother Robbie decides to leave the control center where he was stationed by Worldmind and charges towards the scene of the conflict between the Shi'ar and the Kree in order to help any centurions captured by the Shi'ar.

-While Rich is pondering how to help Worldmind, Worldmind sends two avatars from Rich's past to help him in the form of Ko-Rel, the Kree woman who took the role of Nova while Rich was infected by the Phalanx and Rhomann Dey, who was the centurion who originally recruited Rich into the Nova Corps. Oh, and they're both dead. Just figured I'd get that out of the way.

-The two avatars explain to Rich that the problem here is the fact that Worldmind went insane, and then was corrupted by Ego. It seems that while Worldmind was trying to keep Rich sane while he was carrying around the totality of the Nova Force(remember, a human mind isn't supposed to be able to hold the entire Force)Worldmind wound up going crazy from the strain of helping Rich. The avatars conclude the conversation by explaining to Rich that he has to retake the Nova Force into himself, so that Ego can be purged from Worldmind and Worldmind can be rebooted.

-By this point Ego has broken into Rich's sanctuary and Rich turns tail and runs, trying to reach the main control hub of Ego in order to re-access the Nova Force. Rich winds up reaching the hub, but Ego takes control of all of the Nova centurions present and sends them all after Rich.

-Rich realizes that there is NO way he can defeat Ego plus a mess of centurions, so he makes a last ditch effort to reach Worldmind's personality by telling Ego/Worldmind that all along everything Worldmind has done has been in an effort to save Rich's life. Ergo, killing Rich would be contrary to Worldmind's original intentions. This logic causes Ego/Worldmind to freeze and gives Rich the time he needs to re-access the Nova Force.

-Rich returns the Quantum Bands to Quasar's ghost and hits Ego with a blast so powerful that it basically lobotomizes Ego. With Ego finally gone, Worldmind reappears to Rich and explains that after being corrupted by Ego the the personality guide(that creepy head that talks to Rich)would have to be deleted. Rich is obviously upset about this turn of events(that guide had become his friend!)and after some flowery words from Worldmind it deletes itself and uploads a new guide for Rich. The new guide? The Kree woman from earlier, Ko-Rel!

-This issue concludes with the previous Nova Prime, Malik Tarcel being tortured by Emperor Vulcan of the Shi'ar. After Vulcan has had his fun, he leaves Tarcel hanging from some chains in a prison cell. Garthan Saal, Rich's enemy from the old Nova series, shows up to rescue Tarcel from his predicament.

I'm a bit conflicted regarding how I felt about this comic. On the one hand, Rich is once again the Nova Prime, but on the other hand the original Worldmind is gone. I have to admit I really liked that bossy bastard! I'll miss you original Worldmind.

The next issue should deal with the newly re-powered Rich taking off after his brother in an attempt to save him before he runs into the deadly menace that is the Shi'ar. Plus Garthan Saal is back. Jeez, I think the last time Garthan was around was when he took Rich's place on the original New Warriors. It's been a while since I read those comics, so my memory may be somewhat off, but Garthan was the person before Rich to house the entire Nova Force in his body and wound up going totally insane from it. Personally, I'd love to see Andy and Dan craft Garthan into a Sinestro type of character. That's really the one thing Nova is missing, a recurring thorn in his side. For a score, I'll give this comic an 8 out of 10. This was definitely a good comic book, one I'd have no problem recommending, but not quite at the level of greatness this series has attained before.

Nova #24

How did I let this comic slide for so long??? Usually once I get Nova, I read it almost immediately. Oh well, better late than never I guess. This is a "War of Kings" x-over issue and is written by the dynamic writing tandem of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

-Robbie Rider(that's Rich's little brother)has been assigned communication duty for the duration of the Shi'ar-Kree war. Needless to say, Robbie is far from pleased, since his main aspiration is to take after Rich, which would mean fighting on the front lines.

-Robbie is mentally connected with a female Nova Centurion named Suki, who he is giving advice and direction to. Suki and her battalion of Centurions arrive at a Kree planet that was being overrun by Shi'ar forces.

-After a bit of a battle, the Centurions manage to chase the Shi'ar from the planet. The Centurions are happy, Nova Prime Tarcel(he's the field leader of the Nova Corps)is happy and Robbie is happy... That is until Gladiator and the Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar Empire launch a retaliatory attack.

-Gladiator's forces utterly crush the Centurions and Gladiator even manages to force Nova Prime Tarcel to surrender(!). After Gladiator rounds up the Centurions for imprisonment, Shi'ar Emperor Vulcan sends Strontian and her Praetorians to take over the operation from Gladiator. Not one to disobey orders, Gladiator takes Nova Prime Tarcel and leaves. Strontian then orders her men to execute every last one of the Centurians, leaving Robbie helpless to do anything except listen in as the Centurions are killed off.

-The other part of this comic dealt with Rich(now in possession of the Quantum Bands)deciding to attack Worldmind. However, in order to get at Worldmind, Rich has to make his way onto Ego the Living Planet.

-With Quasar's ghost leading the way(don't ask!), Rich manages to enter Ego and eventually makes his way to Ego's brain. Upon arriving, Rich is met by the shocking sight of Ego wearing Worldmind's "clothes".

Wow, that ending really threw me for a loop! It seems that somewhere along the line Ego has managed to corrupt Worldmind, which would explain the extreme actions Worldmind has been making as of late. This revelation will undoubtedly lead to Rich taking on Ego for control of Worldmind next issue. Now, Ego by itself is a nearly unstoppable foe, but Ego powered by the Worldmind should be completely unbeatable! I'll be very interested to see how Dan and Andy have Rich overcome those odds next issue.

The secondary story with Robbie and Suki was good, but obviously paled in comparison to Rich's story. I'm not really sure what the stuff with Robbie is leading to, maybe he'll finally realize that being a Nova Centurion isn't all fun and games and he'll head back to Earth. Hopefully after next issue when all of the smoke clears there will still be some sort of Nova Corps patrolling the Marvel Universe. I like Rich and all, but I would prefer to see him operating with other Centurions, similar to the way the Green Lantern Corps works in the DC Universe. For a score I'll give this issue a 9 out of 10. Prior to the last page, I probably would have given this comic an 8 or so, but that final revelation was just excellently done. I didn't see it coming at all, which really says a lot!

Nova #23

Overall- I guess I should have read Guardians of the Galaxy #12 before I read this comic book... Whoops. Oh well... Here's a quick review of Nova #23. Rich is(trying)to come to terms with the fact that within 48 hours he'll be dead, due to the fact that his body was holding the power of the Nova Corp Worldmind for so long. Basically, a human body wasn't meant to hold that sort of power, so now that the Worldmind has left Rich to inhabit Ego, Rich's body is breaking down. Rich tells Quasar(Wendell Vaughn)these facts and is actually pretty detached about the whole situation. Quasar is way more freaked out than Rich about the news. While Quasar is trying to convince Rich that there must be SOMETHING to help him, Quasar suddenly senses something and abruptly teleports away. Rich wanders outside the Project PEGASUS labs, where he was staying, and realizes the place is swarming with Norman Osborn's HAMMER cronies.

One of the HAMMER officers begins to accost Rich because he doesn't have proper identification. Before Rich gets arrested, Dr Necker(she's one of the scientist who was trying to help Rich)steps in and gets Rich out of trouble by claiming that Rich was helping her move stuff out of the Project. After Rich and Dr Necker leave, she reveals that Osborn was shutting the Project down and as such, she was fired. Dr Necker takes Rich to an old drive-in movie theater, which is actually a front for a secret laboratory. So that's why those old drive-in movie theaters are still around!

Rich figures Dr Necker must be an undercover SHIELD agent, until he realizes he's standing in an AIM base. Yep, Dr Necker is really an undercover AIM agent! For those of you who don't know, AIM is basically an organization of mad scientist types who dress in what looks like yellow beekeeper outfits. Necker tells Rich that she still wants to help him, but Rich refuses her help, since he doesn't want to owe AIM anything, even at the price of his life. Necker tries to convince Rich to take her assistance, but he staunchly refuses and leaves.

As Rich is walking away, Necker chases after him and gives him the Quantum Flask that stores Quasar's powers/essence. Rich gives Necker a kiss, and proceeds to throw the flask at a wall, not wanting it to fall into the wrong hands after his inevitable death. The Flask explodes in a blinding flash, and when the lights fade, we see Quasar standing there. Quasar is holding the Quantum Bands(see, THAT'S why I should have read Guardians #12 first...)and offers them to Rich. Rich is obviously confused by this entire scene, but winds up putting the Bands on, which produces another brilliant flash of light. When the light fades this time, we see Rich dressed in Quasar's outfit, and powered by the Quantum Bands.

The other part of this comic dealt with the "War of Kings" storyline. Worldmind is monitoring the increasing amount of hostilities between the Kree and the Shi'ar. After deciding that at the rate things were moving, a full scale inter-galactic war might break out, Worldmind decides to take the entire Nova Corps, via Ego, near the Kree inhabited worlds to see if the Nova Corps could help stem the violence.

I liked this comic. It wasn't as good as I've seen this series, but it was solid. The idea of Rich becoming the new Quasar is kind of interesting. I actually like the idea a lot, since it opens the door for a spin-off series. If Marvel wanted to, they could focus the Nova series on the actual Nova Corps, and have a new Quasar series dedicated to Rich, like how DC has a GL Corps series that is focused on the entire Green Lantern Corps and a solo GL comic that focuses on Hal Jordan. I know I'd happily buy both titles. Other than that, I wasn't especially blown away by the events of this issue and at times Rich's lack of emotion towards his plight bugged me... Rich, you're going to be dead in less than 48 hours! Show some emotion or something!!! For a score, I'll give this issue a 7 out of 10. This issue was OK, but it kind of left me wanting something more. Something seemed just a bit off here... Maybe it was the "War of Kings" tie-in stuff, but I just didn't enjoy this issue as much as I usually enjoy this series. Oh well, there's always next month.

Nova #22 + A Green Lantern/Nova comparison.

Overall- I can't heap enough praise onto this comic book... I read something like thirty new comic books a month(really!)and that's not counting the many back issues/tpb's. In my honest opinion, Nova is EASILY one of the 5 best new comics I read on a monthly basis. This series is that damn good! Before I write up a review of what I just read, once again, I implore anyone who gives this post a read to give this series a try. Don't be intimidated that it's a "cosmic" comic book. This comic is easy to follow and infinitely satisfying. I was half way done reading this comic when I realized I had a huge smile on my face. This comic book is that enjoyable. Now, onto the review.

Since Worldmind fired Rich Rider(Nova)from the Nova Corps last issue, Worldmind has been "recruiting" literally thousands of human beings from across the Earth and transforming them into Nova Centurions. The big problem with this is the fact that not only is Worldmind not asking these people if they want to join the Corps, Worldmind is mentally coercing them into WANTING to be Centurions, even if they don't want to join.

Rich travels to Project PEGASUS because ever since he was stripped of his Nova powers, he's been feeling off. Rich explains to Dr. Necker and Dr. Gruenwald of the Project that he fears that carrying Worldmind around in is head for so long may have caused him brain damage. Rich asks the people at the Project to test him to see if there is something wrong with him. The geniuses at the Project decide to test Rich, but are also interested in testing an active Nova Centurion as well, in order to see if Worldmind is somehow impairing the judgement of the Centurions, as Rich fears. Rich decides the best Centurion to lure to the Project is his brother Robbie, who has always secretly lusted after Dr. Necker while he was working at Project PEGASUS.

Robbie and another Centurion respond to a summons from Dr. Necker, and she flirts with Robbie in order to get him to enter an isolation chamber. Once in the chamber, Robbie and the other Centurion realize they no longer hear Worldmind's voice in their heads. Apparently, Worldmind is constantly persuading and reassuring the Centurions that whatever Worldmind tells them to do is the right thing to do. Robbie then realizes that Worldmind is choosing so many earthlings to be a part of the Corps because since Worldmind was stuck in Rich's head for so long, it understands the working of the human mind better than any other race, and can manipulate the minds of earthlings with ease.

Before Rich can do anything about this revelation, a bunch of Centurions tear the roof off of the isolation chamber, which places Robbie and the other Centurion back under Worldmind's control. The Centurions, including Robbie violently warn Rich not to mess in the business of Worldmind and the Nova Corps again, or else. With that, the Centurions leave en masse. This issue concludes with Dr. Necker breaking the news to Rich that his body has been altered down to the molecular level, due to carrying Worldmind inside himself for so long, and that he only has 48 more hours left to live!

Whoa! Not only did the story in this comic rule, but the ending came so far out of left field that I NEVER saw it coming! The way Worldmind was continually reassuring the thousands of humans it abducted from Earth, while filling them with endorphins to keep them calm was ingenious, as well as being downright creepy! This is one of those comic books that is so well written that you can look at things from the point of view of several different characters and understand what motivates each one. Rich is obviously shocked and appalled that Worldmind is taking away the free will of human beings and forcing them to serve in the Nova Corps. As a human, to Rich, there is nothing more important then having your own free will, while Worldmind, being an artificial intelligence doesn't understand the concept of free will, but does understand that the universe needs to be defended and that the Nova Corps must be re-established at any cost, even if the Centurions are coerced into joining up.

The similarities between this comic and DC's Green Lantern comic is pretty obvious, since the Nova Corps and the Green Lantern Corps both serve as police forces for their respective universes. Rich Rider and Hal Jordan also share several similarities as well(women, disobeying orders when they feel the orders are wrong, etc.). However, it would be wrong to call Nova a blatant rip off of Green Lantern without first giving Nova a read. While Hal has to deal with a bunch of self-appointed Guardians of the Universe, who have tried their hardest to remove all emotion from themselves, Rich has to deal only with the Worldmind, which is an artificial intelligence, and therefore has no emotions at all. While most of the Guardians attempt to keep emotion out of their decision making process, some of them do show emotions. The Worldmind on the other hand is a cold, emotionless machine, with the primary command function of keeping itself from being deactivated(killed)and the secondary function of re-creating and maintaining the Nova Corps. While the GL's are proud to become members of the GL Corps, the recent Nova Centurions have no say in the matter, Worldmind is forcing them to join up whether they want to or not. Imagine if the Guardians of the Universe suddenly just began snatching people from various planets and forcing them to serve the GL Corps for the "greater good". That is exactly what Worldmind is doing and that is one of the biggest differences separating GL and Nova right now. Personally, I love both Nova and Green Lantern and I would think that any fan of the Green Lantern comic books should definitely give Nova a shot. With all that said, for a score, I'll give this issue a score of 10 out of 10. Yes, I enjoyed reading this comic book that much! Once again, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have written another awesome issue of this spectacular series.

READ NOVA!

Nuff said!

Nova #21

Overall- Ahhhh.... I sure love this comic book. Here's the story. To the shock(and horror)of Nova, Worldmind has managed to possess Ego, the Living Planet, basically making Ego serve as a host for Worldmind. Worldmind goes on to rename Ego Nu-Xandar, after Xander, the original planet that housed the Nova Corps, before it was destroyed during Annihilation. On top of that, Worldmind introduces thousands of new Nova Corps recruits from all over the universe to Nova.

All of this was done without Nova's knowledge or cooperation, and needless to say, he's a tad pissed at the situation, besides being highly concerned about Worldmind using Ego as a base. For those of you who might not know, Ego the Living Planet is basically a crazy sentient planet that roamed the universe destroying other planets and being a major nuisance. Ego has fought against the Fantastic Four as well as Thor, so Ego can be considered a major threat. Worldmind assures Nova that Ego is no longer a threat, and that it was long overdue for the Nova Corps to be reformed.

Nova storms off of Nu-Xandar to clear his head and runs into the Fantastic Four, who are(naturally)alarmed by the sudden appearance of Ego in the sky. Nova heads to the Baxter Building with the FF and explains that Ego isn't a threat and that Worldmind has erased Ego's mind and transplanted its own sentience into Ego. Mr. Fantastic seems to think the reformation of the Nova Corps is a good thing, but Nova just can't shake the feeling that something is horribly wrong.

While Nova was speaking to the FF, Nova's brother Robbie, who became a Nova Centurion a few issues back arrives. Robbie provides a holographic image of Worldmind, and Worldmind and Mr. Fantastic talk science for a while. Worldmind offers Mr. Fantastic any information he wants, in order to allay any fears the FF may have about the Nova Corps. Worldmind then accuses Nova of basically going insane. Needless to say, Nova doesn't take this news well, but Worldmind explains that since the destruction of Xandar, Nova has been housing the entire Worldmind computer/Nova Force in his brain. Worldmind tells the FF that there is a possibility that the massive amount of information/power Nova has been storing might have damaged his brain.

Nova doesn't want to believe this, and asks Mr. Fantastic for his advice. Mr. F says that Worldmind doesn't seem malicious, just concerned about Nova's mental well being. Nova decides to trust Worldmind and returns to Nu-Xandar with Robbie to transplant the remainder of the Nova Force into Worldmind/Nu-Xandar. As Nova approaches the power cell that will absorb the Nova Force from him, he has second thoughts and decides this whole situation, from Worldmind reforming the Nova Corps without consulting him, to the recruitment of his brother into the Corps, to the possession of Ego, just seems too wrong. Nova tells Worldmind he won't return the Nova Force, so Worldmind orders the Centurions to attack Nova. Nova easily overpowers the Centurions thanks to the Nova Force, but this distraction was all Worldmind needed to forcefully tear the Nova Force from the body of Nova. After Nova has been completely de-powered, Worldmind basically fires him from the Corps and teleports the now powerless Richard Rider to the front of his home on Earth.

What can I say that I haven't already said about this comic book? Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are continuing to do a stellar job on this comic, and with the exception of Ed Brubaker, these two guys are the best writers currently working at Marvel. That's some lofty praise, but I truly mean it. If you want to read a great Marvel comic book, or just a great comic book period, read Nova. Like I said, just read my last couple of reviews for this comic, and you'll see this series has been great month in and month out.

As for the story, I can't wait to see where Dan and Andy are going here. Worldmind must be possessed or something, which would explain Nova's ominous feelings, but Dan and Andy are doing a great job of painting Worldmind as a more benevolent force. While Worldmind's actions seem overly harsh at times, in reality, Nova HAS been rather careless in protecting Worldmind, and he hasn't bothered to try to rebuild the Corps. While it would be easy to just say Worldmind is evil and leave it at that, in truth, much of what Worldmind said this issue rang true. It's comics like this one that really help me remember why I love reading comic books. For a score, I'll give this issue a 9 1/2 out of 10. I can't fricking wait to see what happens next issue!

Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1

Overall- This comic book was a HUGE treat to read! I would implore everybody to pick up any of the comics that Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning write(Nova or The Guardians of the Galaxy), because these two writers really know their stuff. These two guys are fast becoming two of my favorite writers. To be perfectly honest, besides Geoff Johns and Ed Brubaker, Dan and Andy ARE my next favorite writers. This comic really pleased the old school Marvel fan in me and has my mouth watering in anticipation for the upcoming "War of Kings" crossover event.

This comic deals with Black Bolt returning to the throne of the Inhumans after months(years?)of being held captive by the Skrulls. Black Bolt has decided that the Inhumans would no longer sit idly by and allow other races to manipulate and attack them. Black Bolt and the royal family turn Attilan(the Inhuman's home on the Moon)into a spaceship and the Inhumans chase after the Skrull forces retreating from the planet Earth after the failure of the Skrull Secret Invasion. The Inhuman ship gains on the Skrulls and Black Bolt gives the order to annihilate the retreating Skrull armada down to the last ship.

The Skrulls, while fleeing the Inhumans, cross over into Shiar controlled space(the Shiar are the most powerful alien race in the Marvel Universe)hoping the Inhumans would stop pursuit. Instead, the Inhumans follow the Skrulls and destroy the last of them. Three Shiar warships approach the Inhuman ship and demand them to leave Shiar airspace or face the consequences. In response, the Inhumans destroy the Shiar warships.

After these events, the Inhumans begin to approach Hala, the home planet of the Kree(the #2 alien race in the Marvel Universe). Millions of years ago, Kree scientists took cavemen from Earth and altered their DNA, in the hopes that they would be able to eventually use the altered humans as weapons against the Kree's mortal enemies, the Skrulls(Marvels #3 alien race). The Kree ultimately abandoned these experiments, but the cavemen who were experimented on wound up becoming the Inhumans of today. So you see, the Inhumans have strong ties to the Kree.

Ronan the Accuser, the de facto leader of the Kree, puts up a massive force field to halt the Inhumans approach, but the Inhumans manage to find a way past the Kree defenses and tear through the Kree forces with ease. Ronan stands ready to battle the Inhuman's royal family to the death, but is surprised to learn the Inhumans would rather join with the Kree and combine forces, the way the Kree originally intended to do millions of years ago. However, Black Bolt would have to be recognised as the King of the Kree empire. After contemplating things, Ronan bows to Black Bolt, thus transferring power to Black Bolt.

In the epilogue, we see Vulcan, the brother of Cyclops and Havok of the X-Men, as well as the King of the Shiar, learn that the Inhumans had destroyed the 3 Shiar warships earlier, before moving on to Hala. Vulcan smiles, realizing he can use this action as justification to start a war with the Kree, in an attempt to conquer them and expand his empire.

"War of Kings" is shaping up to look f###ing AWESOME!!! So, we have Black Bolt and the Kree empire about to go to war with Vulcan and the mighty Shiar empire. Besides this, we have Blastaar ruling the Negative Zone, and sure to make a power grab when the opportunity presents itself. On top of that, Adam Warlock and Gamora are attempting to conquer the Universal Church of Truth(which is over a billion members strong), while the Badoon wait in the wings. Nova and his peacekeeping Centurions are sure going to have their hands full!

Like I said earlier, this comic really appealed to those of us who grew up reading(and studying)the Marvel Universe. It was really just a matter of time before the Inhumans said "enough is enough", and the prospect of them joining with the Kree was unexpected, but brilliant. Besides the Kree, who have always been my favorite Marvel alien race, the inclusion of Vulcan and the Shiar is also great. While I've never really liked the Shiar, I've always loved Vulcan, from his initial appearance in the Ed Brubaker penned "X-Men: Deadly Genesis". Throw in Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and this "War of Kings" is starting to look like a dream crossover for me. It's like Marvel is going out of its way to make up for all of the storylines/crossovers I've hated lately by including some of my favorite characters and having two of my favorite writers plot the entire story. Umm, needless to say this comic book was easily a 10 out of 10. If you are currently or ever have been a fan of Marvel's alien races, a fan of any of the characters I have listed in this post, a fan of the Green Lantern Corps over in the DC Universe or are a fan of great storytelling in general, I'd really recommend giving "War of Kings" a try. I have a strong feeling this story is going to become a real classic!

Nova #20

Overall- This comic book is so f###ing amazing that I think I'll name my first born child Nova... Well, maybe I won't go that far, but this comic is heads and shoulders better than most of the other comics I am currently reading.

The main gist of this story deals with Rich learning that Worldmind has empowered Rich's little brother Robbie with the powers of a Nova Centurion, as well as making Robbie an official member of the Nova Corps. Needless to say, Rich is less than pleased that Worldmind did this behind his back and Rich tells Robbie that he isn't ready to wield the awesome power of a Nova Centurion. Robbie absolutely rips into Rich, telling him that he's just jealous that Robbie finally has some powers, which means that Rich isn't so special anymore. With that, Robbie curses his big brother out and storms away, leaving Rich at a loss as to what step to take next.

Rich decides to get some of the old New Warriors(!)together, and only Firestar and Justice show up, since the other founding members of the NW are either dead or crazy. The three former New Warriors begin to reminisce about old times and I realize that this comic book is just layer upon layer of spectacular. I don't think anyone reading this post realizes just how much I loved the old New Warriors series. Anyway, Rich asks his old teammates for their advice on what he should do about the entire situation, and both Firestar and Justice tell Rich that since he has trusted Worldmind with his life before, he should probably trust Worldmind's judgement with regards to making Robbie a Nova Centurion.

Rich admits that he is just worried about his little brother's safety, but decides to back off and give Robbie the chance to be his own man, as well as trusting Wordmind's decision. The three friends part ways, and Rich notices some extremely strange weather occurring. Rich tries to get in touch with Worldmind, but Worldmind either can't or won't respond, so Rich leaves on his own to locate the source of the strange weather. Rich flies up into the air and spots Ego the Living Planet staring down at him from the heavens. Let me repeat that, EGO THE LIVING PLANET!!!! Oh, and just to really keep me salivating for the next issue, upon looking closely at the final page of this comic, Ego seems to have the symbol of the Nova Corps on it's head. What have you done now Worldmind???

I can't stress how much I love this series. It's one of my favorite monthly comic books by far. I absolutely loved this comic book from beginning to end. Rich's interaction with Robbie, the playful verbal jousting between Rich and Vance, everything about this comic was perfect. This comic book actually makes me remember what I used to love so much about the Marvel Universe.

My God, I was such a New Warriors fan as a kid! I can see that I still am after all these years, and I don't mean that pathetic excuse for a New Warriors that Marvel put out last year, I mean the real, old school New Warriors. Night Thrasher, Kid Nova, Marvel Boy, Firestar, Namorita, Speedball... I miss that team SO much... All I can do is thank the marvelous writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for indulging me in this mini New Warriors reunion.

As for a score, do you think I could possibly give this comic anything less than a 10 out of 10? If you were a fan of Marvel in the 1990's there is absolutely no reason for you not to pick this comic up. Hell, even if you weren't a fan of Marvel in the 90's, please, buy this comic book. Nova is one of the real gems in the Marvel Universe right now, and that is very HIGH praise coming from me, considering how dissatisfied I've been with Marvel in general lately. God, I really loved this comic book...