Broken Frontier

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning conclude Nova's current story arc, one that saw him on the planet Orbucen attempting to capture the psionic entity named Harrow. When readers last left Nova, Galactus was in the process of devouring the planet. Nova was able to get all the refugees off the planet, but now he's waited too long and the Worldmind's ability to open a stargate is being disrupted by Galactus' feeding.

Nova has spent his current series bouncing between epic Marvel events (Annihilation, Civil War, etc.), whereas this current arc represented another kind of obligatory Marvel event: an encounter with Galactus. It seems as though any Marvel book set in space will feature Galactus at least once or twice. Personally, I find series like this a little less enjoyable. I'm going to make the prediction now that Galactus will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy by issue 15.

It's not as if Galactus' appearance in Nova is especially original, either: Nova answers a distress call from Orbucen because Galactus is going to devour it soon. Marvel readers have seen this plot line many times before. Thankfully, Galactus isn't the center of attention in Nova. Abnett and Lanning choose to focus on Harrow while using Galactus almost as if he is a plot device—with great success.

For various reasons, comic book writers will sometimes sacrifice their characters' personalities and will have them do or say something out of character in order to fuel the drama or suspense. This occurs in Nova #15 in regard to the Worldmind, and even though the misstep is brief it's worth mentioning because it stands out so blatantly. In issues past, readers have seen the Worldmind make snide, half-sarcastic remarks to Ryder, but this time around he goes a step further and begins belittling him. The reasoning for this may be that the Worldmind realizes that Ryder has finally, after all the near misses, put the two of them in a situation that they cannot escape.

Nova shines brightest when he's on his own, so it's a shame that he's spent a majority of his current series either mixed up in a Marvel event or in the shadow of Galactus. Here's hoping that he can stand on his own after dust settles from Secret Invasion.