Nova #28
Marvel
Written by: Gerry Duggan
Art by: David Baldeon, Terry Pallot & David Curiel
Nova has been in the Black Vortex event for some time now, but if you’re someone like me who is still needing to catch up on Legendary Star-Lord and Guardians of the Galaxy before you can even start the Black Vortex event, then this book may be a bit confusing. Never the less, I fight against Marvel’s attempt to make me buy six different comic book series’ every week just for one crossover event by reading my normal picks nevertheless.
This issue starts off with Sam flying through space with the object everyone apparently is after during this cosmic event, the so called Black Vortex itself, which looks like a gothic mirror. Throughout this issue Sam is struggling with the idea of using the power this vortex mirror could grant him to become the hero he so desperately wants to be. It shows him in its reflection that it could give him the power to save his Dad, to defeat Thanos easily and they even showed a bit of Rich Riders fate in this issue as well. Luckily, Sam Alexander is what Mr. Knife calls a simpleton and his simple morals and values keep him from perusing the mirrors power. Keeping with his young but ignorant character, Nova ends up taking the mirror to the worst place he could have, and by doing so begins the point of no return for this Black Vortex event.
The story in this issue was fine from what I could tell. Having not kept up with the Black Vortex event (I’m waiting for the collection), it’s hard to judge whether Gerry Duggan did the event’s story justice or not. From the stand point of this issue just being a regular Nova comic, it kept true to the character and gave us some pretty cool Nova action. The art was okay as well. The drawings have varied quite a bit on this series, and while I’m very sad to not see John Timms name on this issue, David Baldeon has been on this series earlier in the run and did a fine job with it. David Curiel as always did an outstanding job coloring this issue. He is what makes the art in the Nova series feel so alive and full of energy no matter who’s doing the drawings.
While this isn’t the best issue of Nova, it was enjoyable from the perspective of someone who hasn’t followed this event. I couldn’t help but smirk at the irony of Sam having such huge responsibility in hiding this mirror, and the naive hero that he is brings it back to his bedroom under a bedsheet. It’s moments like that, that make me like Sam more and more. This isn’t your bad ass Richard Rider Nova, this is a young Nova who hasn’t had the guidance from an AI mentor to save the universe… He just does it the best he knows how.