Marv Wolfman was one of the first of the comic book fans to become a professional in the 1960's as the Golden Age talents were reaching retirement. He brought with is a great enthusiasm for a form which most thought was on its last legs. He and his close friend Len Wein made their first marks at DC but soon were shuttling back and forth between there and Marel. Wolfman would write one of comic's greatest with The Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The Man Called Nova burst onto the comic racks in the late Bronze Age and was a breath of fresh air. Marv Wolfman had the notion of Nova rumbling around in his imagination since his boyhood but brought the idea to Marvel with fantastic effect. He'd first used the character in fanzines, magazines of his own creation.
(You can see the back of Nova in this fanzine cover.)
The character combines aspects of Spider-Man (angst-ridden teenager struggling to be a superhero) with aspects of Green Lantern (part of a space-spanning police force). I really loved the villains in Nova, they all had a nifty retro glow to them. The creators really worked overtime to make the villains distinctive and colorful. Diamondhead, Condor, Powerhouse, and the mastermind the Sphinx all tingle the memory.
Sal Buscema inherited the book from his brother's debut and "Our Pal" Sal was the perfect artist for the title, his style clear and light. Later when Carmine Infantino took over, I was less enthusiastic as his artwork at that time was exciting but felt muddled to me somehow. In retrospect, he was an ideal choice.
Nova only lasted a couple of years, but the character like most all Marvel characters became a part of the broader universe and has been revived and revised more than a few times.
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Sal Buscema inherited the book from his brother's debut and "Our Pal" Sal was the perfect artist for the title, his style clear and light. Later when Carmine Infantino took over, I was less enthusiastic as his artwork at that time was exciting but felt muddled to me somehow. In retrospect, he was an ideal choice.
Nova only lasted a couple of years, but the character like most all Marvel characters became a part of the broader universe and has been revived and revised more than a few times.
Rip Off
I really enjoyed the first few issues of Nova . I always felt the tone of the character harkenened back to those earlier Marvel strips while still being modern ( in the late 1970s). The cover to the first issue is a classic. I wasnt aware Marv had the idea for Nova as a kid/ teenager as always these wee nuggets of info you provide are always fun..
ReplyDeleteMarvel tried to reproduce the Spidey formula -- a teenager who is gifted with powers and tries to fit in. But with Nova wasn't a scholar and that aspect intrigued me.
DeleteI especially like the stories with Tom Palmer's inks. He was one of the best.
ReplyDeleteTom Palmer was indeed a master. He enhanced every artist worked with.
DeleteWhen I was younger I did not discover Nova until #22 and then it was cancelled three issues later. I remember being mad that the story was not finished. I was not a Fantastic Four reader but I took an interest in the story of the three members of the FF who were off on space adventure and would meet up with Nova and his crew. I didn't know Wolfman was writting both books and he used FF to finish the Nova story.
ReplyDeleteNova deserved a good finish. Marvel was good in those days of seeing to it that broken storylines got a finish, at least most of the time.
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