Nova, Vol. 3: Secret Invasion

Nova (2007)

by Dan Abnett (Writer), Andy Lanning, Wellinton Alves (Illustrator)

Beginning an all-new adventure starring Galactus and the Silver Surfer.
Nova has received an emergency call from a planet in peril - but how do you save a world from being devoured by a force of nature? Is there any way to stop the big G from eating, or do you instead try to save as many refugees as possible? And do you reach out to your former ally, who is once again a feared Herald? Whatever Nova decides, nothing will prepare him - or you - for the horror known as Harrow.
With all these awesome ingredients (Galactus Silver Surfer Nova A new villain A killer creative team), this is your chance to check out what Wizard calls "one of Marvel's most consistently entertaining monthly books".

Collecting: Nova 13-18

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages

First published March 4, 2009

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a blast (pun intended) reading these Nova back issues. They're high stakes, action-packed space opera, with a hefty dose of nostalgia and some obscure Marvel UK elements that leave me grinning like a Nova-lovin' fool. Bring on volume four; I've got some more human rocketing to do!

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh cosmic Marvel.

So Nova, aka Richard Rider, is the last living member of the Nova Corps (Marvel's Green Lanterns but cooler). He goes around answering distress calls in the universe with help from Worldmind, the entity in the helmet which houses the Xandarian Culture. Here, RR saves a planet on Galactus' menu.

It involves a showdown with the Silver Surfer, a mass murderer called Harrow who's living on Galactus' ship and murdering people on planets Galactus is killing...

Cool shit.

Sadly, Worldmind is fucked up by going up against the Surfer and Galactus...

Then we go into Secret Invasion, which doesn't feel forced or anything, just fits right into logically the path of th book. I love it.

We get the original Super Skrull, Kl'rt, who seems to play Sinestro to Nova's much better Hal Jordan. In the New 52 version team up.

They work together and then he tells Nova of the invasion...

He ends up going to save his brother at Project Pegasus, and SS isn't seen again...he goes looking for his daughter I think.

Anyhow, Nova, Darkhawk defend against the Skrulls, but it isn't until the energy form of Quasar (Wendell Vaughn, the one I know) is brought to,life that they defeat them.

In so doing, Quasar also reboots Worldmind...but what else happens when Worldmind reboots?

Very fun, Surfer, Galactus, Super Skrull, Quasar, wow. Also not at all forced Skrulls, and I like the ones where the Tieins don't just have a bunch of heroes replaced by Skrulls fighting themselves. This is why there aren't many good stories, too much trying to shoehorn things in that don't fit....Nova is a contrary tale.

So far, cosmic marvel has great tie ins to secret invasion, and maybe cause they'd be used to aliens....


Oh and original Vance Astrovik! Justice...

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Centurions of the Nova Corps were once the protectors of peace and order in the universe. But then the Annihilation War destroyed them-all except one. You earthman Richard Rider, now imbued with the super-intelligent Worldmind computer and the combined power of the Corps, wages a one-man battle for justice as...NOVA"
The style of this comic was very generic for the medium, nothing great, nothing bad, 2 1/2 🌟
This fitted into the Secret Invasion Saga quite nice and had a few Skrull related twists, but the further in we got the story just spiralled and got more and more 'out-there' 2 🌟
Relevance to SI, 2 🌟 So overall for this TPB 2 1/2🌟

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a simple, great book. There are two storylines here, and they both work pretty well. At first, Nova is called to help a planet that Galactus is eating. Instead of focusing on a fight between Richard and Galactus or Silver Surfer, where he might be a little out of his league, the story introduces a new villain called Harrow who is a parasite on Galactus' ship. I thought it was done really well and showed Richard's determination and commitment to doing good. The second storyline follows Richard on Earth, in a laboratory with his brother. He fights off Skrulls with Darkhawk. These issues kinda made me miss Worldmind, which is a feat.

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esse volume possui 2 histórias bem distintas. A primeira é mais uma missão no qual o nova faz sempre o inverso do que a worlmind recomenda, sendo mais uma repetição que mostra uma falta de evolução do personagem. A história envolve o galactus e o surfista prateado e, apesar de ter visuais belíssimos, parece mais um filler.

A segunda historia é um pouco melhor, focado na terra e na invasão skrull. Cumpre um papel de tie in melhor que a invasão dos guardiões, porém sofre por ser tie in. Abre vários plots que não vão ser fechados e termina em um cliffhanger bem importante pra história do nova.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galactus (Nova #13-15). A big fight against the Silver Surfer and a strange being called Harrow. It's got a nice finale, but overall, there's not a lot depth to it [5+/10].

Secret Invasion (Nova #16-18). Nova's return to Earth allows for some nice continuity, including the returns of Nova's brother, Quasar, and the whole of Project Pegasus. But the fact that it's big long fights with skrulls keeps it from attaining too much emotional depth [6/10].

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever happens in a rift of the fabric of spacetime stays in the rift of the fabric of spacetime. Interesting story, but more of a sideline in my mind.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abnett and Lanning's space Marvel books were real bright spots of the early 2000s. Without them, who knows if anyone would have cared enough to make a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. Their books were epic in scope, but with great dialogue that made you feel like the gigantic universe was filled with a ton of normal people just trying to do their best. Their god-villains were powerful but didn't speak like prehistoric man imagined gods. It was glorious.

I recommended these books to everyone at the time. But for some reason, I never got around to reading any of the Nova books.

My loss.

This works the way event tie-ins are supposed to. It has a connection to the main event that draws you in, but the focus is so tight around the characters and their lives that you not only want to keep reading once the event is over but you want to go back and see how they arrive at this moment.

I think I'm going to do a reread of the full Abnett & Lanning space saga before the year wraps up, that's how much I enjoyed dipping my toe back in their creative stream.

I recommend this to all Marvel fans, particularly fans of the cosmic Marvel universe.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading Nova, and one of the first Cosmic Marvel books I've read and enjoyed it hugely. Collecting six issues covering two story arcs, the pacing is fast, the artwork is bright, clear and perfectly suited to the stories. In the first of these, Nova gets a distress call from a planet about to be eaten by Galactus, ends up in a brief scrap with the Silver Surfer and fights an insidious, psionic parasite. In the second story, Nova learns of the Skrulls' Secret Invasion and heads to Earth to help save his brother. Even on Earth, big, cosmic things happen and, like the first story, this is fast-paced, doesn't outstay its welcome and it feels like big, significant things are going on. My only real issue with it is getting the feeling that important events like characters dying and being revived, and Nova losing access to the Worldmind computer get resolved too quickly and too neatly. Aside from that, great fun.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this collection up while reading through the Secret Invasion storyline. While I'm a fan of Abnett& Lanning, I found the three-issue arc uncharacteristically dull. As I completed it, I noticed that this collection actually began with a preceding three-issue arc about Galactus. What the concluding three-parter lacked in ingenuity was found in the preceding story. Fun and exciting, I found what I wanted there and I'm pleased that I did.

[Trevor Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another blast of a trade for Nova. Some dark stuff going on here, but still fun. The Secret Invasion end is a great example of how to implement an event into the natural progression of a character and their storylines.

[Judith Groen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was intense! Wow, I loved this volume! Nova is so amazing... More please!

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story with Galactus and the Silver Surfer is great (I'm always happy to see the Surfer). The Secret Invasion tie in was ok, but was mostly just one long fight scene.

[Jack Morelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picking up from where I left off a few months ago. This series is great. I enjoyed the Galactus half more than secret invasion but they were both strong

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Nova (4) #13-18 (July 2008-December 2008). Nova tries to rescue the population of a planet doomed by Galactus and faces off against a creature named Harrow. After coming in conflict with the Silver Surfer, Nova loses contact with the Worldmind and returns to Earth with the Super-Skrull to discover the Skrulls are invading. Now Nova faces off against the Skrull hordes and fights with Darkhawk to defend Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S.

Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Nova Volume 3: Secret Invasion features art by Wellinton Alves. Following Nova Volume 2: Knowhere, the series ties in to the Marvel big event series Secret Invasion. The issues were also collected in War of Kings Prelude: Road to War of Kings Omnibus.

Nova is one of Marvel’s stronger comics. I generally don’t like “big event” tie-ins because they often disrupt the flow of a creator’s series. Abnett and Lanning however manage to tell a concise story that does tie-in to give it an epic feel.

The first part of the story involves the destruction of the planet Orbucen by Galactus. This puts the super-powered Nova in battle with the galactic powered Silver Surfer. As mentioned, the Wellinton Alves’ art is fantastic, and Galactus has always been one of my favorite characters. The Harrow character introduced in this storyline is kind of weak, and I would have enjoyed the focus to be more on the rescue. Harrow does serve to show Galactus’ power and a nice warning for Nova not to get involved.

The ability to separate their titles from big multi-series crossovers is Abnett and Lannings best ability. Most series nowadays are bogged down by the big crossovers and the comics become unintelligible. You have to read the crossover to understand the comic, but Abnett and Lanning skirt that issue by telling a story that is almost incidental to the Secret Invasion. They reunite Rich with his brother Robbie and his former New Warrior teammate Darkhawk. This is a nice homecoming for a comic that has mostly been set in space thus far and served as a good backdrop for Quasar’s return (granted he didn’t die long before this storyline).

Nova continues to be a strong series and this collection of sets up the next story arc nicely with Nova’s conflict with Worldmind. I always worry about series like Nova because they feature a fringe character and fringe characters in the competitive comic market often don’t survive long without buzz and backing. Lanning and Abnett’s space titles continue to impress and even if you aren’t a fan of the “space opera” comic book stories, Nova manges to feel a bit different. Nova 3: Secret Invasion is followed by Nova 4: Nova Corps.

[Hrishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this certainly proved a fun, breezy read. When last we met Nova, he'd just finished helping liberate Kree space from the Phalanx/ Ultron infestation, and this volume, collecting Nova #13 - 18 has him diving headlong into yet another invasion - the Skrull 'Secret Invasion' of Earth. But first, he has to help an entire civilization escape while Galactus feeds, and has to contend with a very "Fallen" (the movie) like space serial killer!

As I said, a fun and breezy read :)

Dan Abnett continues to show his soap opera writing chops, as Nova progresses along what looks like a pretty consistently written character arc. Old friends and foes all make appearances in the two stories (although the second is unfinished and has a cliffhanger or sorts). The volume also proves, yet again, that "dead" is more a pit-stop for getting more awesome powers than a final state in the Marvel U. In terms of cool concepts, I really enjoyed the Worldmind-less issues, because they really put Nova in a corner. The art is consistent and fantastic, although some of the panels (as usual) had a bit too much going on for my taste.

This is another Cosmic Marvel story that hits close to home, as the Skrull Invasion quite understandably becomes a priority for Nova as soon as he finds out about it. I'm tempted to dip into the Earthbound 616 stories, as I was with Civil War - but I'm too engrossed in the Cosmic tales now (reading up to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy) to do that. For now.

Brilliant read, and given the name of the next volume (Nova Corps) I suppose it is not a spoiler to say I'm curious about these characters that have shown up at the end!

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of this volume is pretty alright. I enjoy the Galactus story even if I feel the real villain of the piece, Harrow, is unneaded. It is interesting reading a Galactus story where the hero isn't trying to stop him, but rather save as many people as they can before the world ends. It really treats Galactus as a force of nature, which make Harrow feel all the more tacked on. Harrow is one of those villains like Will O' The Wisp from late 70's Spider-Man that exists solely for the hero to have something to punch in that issue.

Then the Secret Invasion tie-in happens and holy heckins does the quality of this series fall off a cliff that I don't think it ever really recovers from. The art begins to noticably look cheaper as the book begins to look and read second tier. These issues and the next volume very much feel like nobody's A game. It also really highlight how uninteresting Nova is when he spends any sizable amount of time on Earth, a similar problem the early issues of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run had as well.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of Nova wasn't my favorite. The opening arc involving Harrow was a weird little side story that demonstrated the challenge of wanting to give Nova threats that provided a challenge for his greater power levels while still keeping things moving along. And with Secret Invasion around the corner, they really couldn't muster some huge threat.

The Secret Invasion part started interestingly enough and brought back a key character in an unusual way. But the ending is still pretty weird and it didn't sit totally well with me then and it still feels weird after re-reading the book after so many years.

[Randy Lander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting off with one of the best stories of the run, where Nova goes up against the undefeatable Galactus and Silver Surfer, this volume then leads into another of my favorites, as Nova helps Darkhawk defend Project Pegasus from Skrulls. The nod to Quasar writer (and one of my favorite writers) Mark Gruenwald in the new director of Pegasus is a nice bit, too, and Nova is very much in keeping with the cosmic-but-accessible stories of the '90s Quasar, albeit with much, much stronger art and more modern writing.

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Graphic novel was firmly dated in the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War event. The third one here takes place smack dab in the middle of the Secret Invasion thing where the Skrulls invaded in masse and all that. So our wandering hero returns to earth and has family drama, and gets caught up in other things. I don't know. I still enjoyed it, but I suppose I like my cosmic heros to, you know, actually be in space a bit more.

Okay, but really this was riding my wave of goodwill after how much I enjoyed the first two graphic novels. I don't think this one stands on its own so well.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun. Nova gets two arcs in this short book and that's probably for the best. If either arc had been stretched to be a full trade long they would've worn out their welcome. That's how you know Dan Abnett really knows what he's doing. The stories are just as long as they need to be.

I really want to read more about the Surfer during this time. He's a character that I just haven't read much with.

Nova's involvement during the Secret Invasion is a perfect tie-in. It furthers his story while also making sure he's still involved with what is happening in the Marvel world.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two engaging arcs exploring the cosmic universe around Nova. The first has him playing detective--and search and rescue--as Galactus destroys a world, while the second throws him into the Secret Invasion event in a way that's appropriate for his character and background. The pacing, writing and art are good throughout, and it impressive to agree that the main character has grown by the end of the trade.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the adventures of Nova after the Annihilation war, we get to some more interesting adventures that go to different places (including Earth at the end) and covers more things, which I found more interesting. There is a moment where the Worldmind shorts out, and I found that, like the main character, I sort of missed him. The series is definitely starting to grow on me, which is saying something, since Nova was my least favorite part of the Annihilation War stories.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great change of pace showing how Nova can manage without Worldmind. Another great piece of the resurrection of Marvel's cosmic universe.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technically, only the second half of the book relates to the Skrull Secret Invasion. The first half features an appearance by Galactus and the Silver Surfer, though, so that was nice.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time liking DnA's Nova until this volume. Richard Rider finally developed into a confident leader despite his 40? years as a character.

[Jon Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole run of Nova is great fun and really nice artwork here too. Just burn through this stuff.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not a vital addition to the main storyline but it was a hell of a fun ride. Nova may just be one of my favourite new characters now.

[Jedhua · Rating 3 out of 5]

ABSOLUTE RATING: {3/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <3/5 stars>

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as single issues