Saturday Showcase: Nova (Richard Rider)

Nova (Richard Rider)

    Today's showcase is on a character I loved as a child, a character that I always believed to be Marvel's answer to a Green Lantern.  That man is named Nova.  The original concept of Nova started in the 60's but was later tweaked when Marv Wolfman joined forces with John Romita, Sr. to give us the Nova we all know and love in the 70's. Richard Rider aka Nova, first made his appearance in The Man Called Nova #1 by Marvel Comics (September 76 to be exact).  

    Nova has fought alongside with the Avengers, Guardians, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, and the New Warriors.  He has fought the Yellow Claw, Skrulls, Spider-Man (long story), Thanos, Kang, and a multitude of other cosmic villains.  So needless to say when the Guardians film was announced I was super excited, only to see a Nova Corps without a Richard Rider Nova.  To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Galactic Booty Call

    Then, I heard about the MARVEL plans for an Infinity War, and I was like and this is where Richard will make his debut, but Nooooooo!  It never happened.  Now we have Captain Marvel coming to the big screen and there will be Skrulls.  Does this mean we may at least hear a mention of Richard or his alias Nova?  I sure hope so.

    I mean let's look at the facts.  

  Team Affiliations:

United Front

New Warriors

Defenders

Champions of Xandar

Secret Avengers

Nova Corps

Panel from the Thanos Imperative

Abilities:

Flight

Superhuman strength, speed, and durability

Expert hand to hand combatant

Infinite control over the Nova Force granting energy projection and absorption

Ability to exert influence over gravitational forces and open wormholes

Nova Force at Maximum

    How the hell has he not been in a Marvel Studios film or had his own film by now?  This is ridiculous!  He fought Thanos for Pete's Sake!  What is going on in the movie world?  You want an intergalactic champion?  Instead of talking about who will replace Henry in the Superman franchise, we should talk about who is worthy of playing Richard Rider in a Nova film.  Okay, I am finished with my rant and I am officially off the soap box.

    Do yourself a favor and get yourself some issues of The Man Called Nova and Annihilation so that you can truly understand why a film is needed.

Until next time, Unleash your inner NERD...

and as always, get your READ on!

The Man Called Nova #1 (September 1976)

Happy 42nd birthday Richard!