Nova, what else do you need to know?

Richard Rider, The Human Rocket, Bucket Head, Nova Prime, in short the legend that is Nova.

Now here is a character that has seen some changes, permanent changes, not those easily reversible changes that happens to the Earth bound heroes of the Marvel universe. You should see his conversation with Iron Man regarding the whole civil war thing. Also, a character to have one of the best series known to man spinning out of the Annihilation saga (which if you haven't read yet you really should) both of which come courtesy of that beautiful pairing of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. (I may have mentioned something about them previously...)

We have a man, who previously wasn't much of a player, he could fly about and shoot some stuff, but then that all changed he got hyped up, given a new costume, bombarded with tragedy and personal conflict and thrown out to the farthest reaches of the universe, not just ours either. The things he goes through, we go through, and he actually has a human reaction to the tragedy that surrounds him, he doesn't just shake it off. And it is this small detail that allows the reader to connect far more with him than you may have thought going in. Nova the boy became the Nova the man, and through both the Annihilation run and his spin off series we got to see this transformation. In all its beautifully drawn detail. Seriously, not a single bad looking panel from start to climax, at least that seems to be the case to my untrained eye.

I know, I know, you want me to give details, to tell you what happens, to be specific, but I just cant. Not because I don't want to, but because you need to read it for yourself. You really need to read it, it is, in my opinion at least, one of the finest comic books of recent years, it shows how truly cosmic Marvel can be. It has everything, violence, bugs, superpowers of a cosmic scale, humour, a bucket shaped helmet, unbelievable team ups, true tragedy, surprises and even sex. Yep, ole' Richie goes and gets the girl, or to be more accurate the deadliest woman in the universe goes and gets him.

What Would Doom Do you ask? He would read this series so hard it would melt in his hands, then start drawing Nova and writing his name in a girly school crush kinda way. I encourage you to do the same. What's the worst that could happen?

The Hypernaturals follow up as promised.

Right, as mentioned previously, in the post I'm sure you all read, here is the follow up post regarding 'The Hypernaturals' issue one. Which if you haven't read by now then I really don't know why I bother. Though I feel I should also say here that spoilers may possibly occur, so no complaining.

Anyway, back to the point at hand, now, if you did read the previous Hypernaturals themed post then you'll know that I left a clue as to the topic of this discussion which I can now reveal to be, 'the desire to leave a mark on the world'. Something that many people desire, and some even achieve, within The Hypernaturals we can see three different ways of leaving a mark, and three different characters.

For the first, we have Thinkwell exampling leaving a mark by way of intellect.Now this is very wide ranging, from creating a new equation to explain everything to writing a book or creating a painting. The ability to leave a mark on the world by making people think, or changing the way things are done, using creativity, imagination and intellect to be remembered and live on. Not only does Thinkwell use his intellect to fight, he also teaches, leaving a mark by sharing knowledge. He, like some of us wants to be remembered for his intellect, not his ability to fight, his ability to share knowledge to better the world through intelligence

Then we have Bewilder, who shows us the more personal way of leaving a mark, through our direct relationships with others. She builds close personal relationships ensuring she will leave a mark on others and live on in memories. She even goes as far to work in public relations, working with the media and so constantly being seen and heard. We want to be loved, thought about and remembered, which in today's world can be accomplished through appearing in reality TV. Relationships can be created with the masses through which a mark can be left, not always positive, but still left.

There is even the literal,  a mark can physically be left, perhaps through building,creating something that can live on and be seen by people. This could be something as complex as a building to something as simple as a shelf or chair. Then there is also destruction, you may be remembered for destroying something as well as creating it. Just like Sublime, literally leaving his mark on the world, ensuring that he will not be forgotten. Sublime, just as others do, just want to be remembered, they want to be able to point to something and say they did that, they need a mark of their existence to justify their lives.

We can also see what happens when you leave a negative mark, a mark that you didn't want to leave, what happens when you are remembered for something that you just want to forget. A mark that haunts you, that destroys you, a mark that was unintended, such as that left by Hatch Groman, and if you want to know what that mark is start reading 'The Hypernaturals'.

And with that I will leave you to get on with whatever it is you were doing or are meant to be doing. (Hint: Reading The Hypernaturals)

The Hypernaturals

Relatively new in the comics world, but already of great standing (and one of my new personal all time best series) is the new collaboration from the dynamic duo Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett 'The Hypernaturals' with science fiction, inky alien fingers, a smokey mouth and a mystery to say the least.

Which if you haven't picked up the first copy of yet you really should, it has gone to multiple printings. i wont give much away here since the fun is in the reading yourself, especially for the final page. Though what I will give particular mention of how DnA have expanded the universe of 'The Hypernaturals' through the very clever use of adverts, namely by not having any, or at least none that are real. Hopefully something we will see more of. The creativity and imagination of this pair continues to astound me, and whats more is they have the talent to back it up, in terms of both writing and artwork. And not only here, take a look at their run on Guardians of the Galaxy, some of the best Cosmic Marvel I've read in a long time.


And now for some homework for the next post, also regarding The Hypernaturals, read it, and have a think about what it tells us about our selves. I'll give you a hint as to my idea and hence what the post will be about, 'marking'.
I'll see you back here whenever I get round to writing the next post.