Broken Frontier

The human rocket is back at Marvel Comics to police the universe. Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, along with artist Sean Chen, are taking Nova across the galaxy in a new ongoing series, of which the first issue went on sale this past Wednesday. Abnett stopped by to give you some behind-the-scenes comments.

The solicitation for Nova #1 reads:

Exploding from the pages of ANNIHILATION, Nova rockets into his own ongoing series! In the wake of the chaotic Annihilation Wave, a desperate galaxy cries out for law and order. In the past, an army of peacekeeping Centurions delivered stability. But the Nova Corps are dead and gone – now there is only Richard Rider, the man called Nova. But can a lone human police an entire universe? He has near limitless power – now he must do all he can to bring punishment to the wicked, help to the oppressed, and justice for all! Strap in as the acclaimed writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (ANNIHILATION: NOVA), superstar Sean Chen (SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN) and cover artist Adi Granov (IRON MAN) slam your mind into hyperdrive!

Marvel editor Andy Schmidt asked me and my co-writer Andy Lanning to produce a Nova mini-series as part of last year’s Annihilation event, and we jumped at the chance. We’d pitched a Nova concept to Andy S. previously, but the time hadn’t been right, so we were pleased when he came back to us.

We were also pleased to be working with artist Kev Walker, and even more pleased when the mini series was greeted enthusiastically by the readership. The new Nova ongoing grew out of that success and, tying in with the Nova launch, we’ll be writing the core books of this summer’s Annihilation sequel - Conquest!.  Andy S having moved on to the X books, our editor for both Conquest! and the Nova ongoing is the excellent Bill Rosemann, and we also welcome aboard new artist, Sean Chen.

PAGE ONE

You have to approach any issue of a comic with the assumption that it’s going to be the first issue for someone, and never more so than, uhm, when it IS the first issue.

Put simply, we couldn’t just assume everyone reading the book was going to know what Nova had been up to, what Annihilation had been, or even who Nova was. So this issue had to include a little Nova 101, without boring the socks off all those readers who knew PRECISELY what was what, and wanted us to just get on with it, already.

Andy and I opted for a ‘jump right in’ approach. From the top of page one, we’re already moving. We’re moving at light speed. Literally. It’s hold on tight and find out what you need to as we go on.

Most of the book’s narrative comes in the form of conversations between Rich Rider (Nova) and the Worldmind, an alien supercomputer currently inhabiting Rich’s mind.  The first few panels are designed to clearly establish that narrative, so we don’t confuse anyone. We felt that was important to get that done right up front. There would be plenty of time (page two, for example) for big splash shots of the human rocket rocketing around. Bang, panel one: Nova’s face so we peg that it’s him doing half of the talking. Bang, bang, panels two and three: what he’s seeing, and how he’s travelling. It sets it all up in plain, simple terms so that as the issue progresses, we can use the narrative to fill in all the backstory without readers being puzzled by the actual NATURE of the narrative itself.

PAGES TWO AND THREE

And here’s the splash to ice that set-up cake.

I wanted there to be a real sense of impatience about this book. Nova is a human rocket, so he doesn’t slow down for a second...”What’s next? What’s next?”  The galaxy is in tatters after the Annihilation War, and thousands of planets are in dire need of help, sending out emergency signals (“8x8”s as we named them).

Everyone wants help from the Xandarian Nova Corps, the galactic equivalent of the police force. Trouble is, they were wiped off the map in the war. Rich is the only one left. He’s trying to do the job of the Corps all on his own, rushing from emergency to emergency without taking time to draw breath or rest (this breakneck pace informs the story that plays out over the next two issues).

Nova’s conversation with the threatened aliens here and after the fight fills out a lot of that backstory as Nova brings them up to speed. Good old disguised exposition, huh?

On the plus side for Nova, he’s currently loaded up with the combined strength and power of the entire Nova Corps, making him one of the most potent beings in the galaxy. In order to show and not tell that, we...

PAGE FOUR AND FOLLOWING

...give him a dirty great threat to deal with. Chunky, crunching action, but there’s also a moment of insight into Worldmind’s growing concerns about Nova (some of them rather selfish, admittedly).  Note too that Nova’s approach to the threat is clinical: we wanted to fix the idea he is a trained cop, not an ad hoc hero. It’s matter of fact, calm, decisive, rational, not an improvised scramble. He knows what he’s doing.

This notion of him as a highly trained, very competent player is going to be important in the next two issues when he gets tangled up in the Superhuman Registration Act and its effects. The Act’s whole schtick is that superheroes need to be properly trained and accountable. Rich is the Initiative’s dream recruit.

By the way, you gotta love the Guru eFX coloring, haven’t you? This issue just looks soooo good.

PAGE NINE

We had fun with the alien’s dialogue, incidentally. My hope is that it reads as phrase by phrase substitution translation.

And he’s off again... “What’s next?” That all-pervasive impatience once more.  Not only are we emphasising Nova’s constant rush, we’re setting up, by repetition, his basic m.o. This is what Nova does. This is what it’s like to be a one-man police force. No tea breaks.

Over the next few pages, we fill in a little more background, and enlarge upon the tension between him and Worldmind. Nova’s got a job to do, and no time to waste or think about anything else. Worldmind wants him to stop, take stock, and rebuild the Nova Corps.

Note the way Sean shows Nova flying frame left to right when he’s in transit here and elsewhere. By moving with the eye’s natural reading order, it emphasises the uninhibited speed.

PAGES NINETEEN AND TWENTY

The old Nova, the young apprentice hero, was prone to rash mistakes and hot-headed behaviour. He may have matured into a first class hero, but those character traits are still there, and they come out now while he’s under pressure (in the same way that his wise-ass humour resurfaces now and then to cut the tension). In trying to redeem himself (though no one’s blaming him except himself), he takes a terrible risk... and barely survives.

Love that punctuating crater. What a wake up call.

So, the first issue sets the stage for the next two parts and Rich’s not entirely comfortable return to his home.  Nova is now such a force to be reckoned with, even Earth’s mightiest will be alarmed by his reappearance. He’s not the second rate kid hero they used to know.

We’re hoping the headlong rush of the first issue revs you up so much, you’ll HAVE to come back and find out where the story goes. Andy and I are really pleased with the way issues #2 and #3 turned out too. We think Nova fans will love them, and Sean’s artwork, especially the reunion scenes with Rich’s parents, is fantastic.

Nova #1 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Sean Chen is in stores now.