Nova #8 Review
Marvel Comics
Writer: Zeb Wells
Penciler: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Comiccraft’s Albert Deschesne
Cover: Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines & Marte Gracia
Review by: Tom Barnett
In this issue we see the events of Infinity finally affecting the new Nova. Thanos and his fleet arrive into lunar orbit. Thanos is not pleased that on Earth there is still a member of the Nova corps. New Nova, Sam Alexander, may have slurped up more slushie than his brain can handle, when Thanos’s warrior, Kaldera, comes looking for him.
Writer Zeb Wells has done a great job taking over for Jeph Loeb, who started the series. The tone is still fairly light hearted with plenty of humor. Sam’s interaction with the townspeople of Carefree, Arizona is worth the price of admission alone. There’s also a fairly strong supporting cast being developed with a girl, who knows Nova’s identity, Carrie and with Sam’s mom and sister. Well’s pacing in this issue is flawless, starting with the darker foreshadowing of Thanos and ending with an unnerving cliffhanger Wells writes some of the best dialogue in the business. He characters never feel forced or fake, even minor players have sense of personality.
The art team of Paco Medina and inker Juan Vlasco make this book so enjoyable to read. Lots of detail and great facial expressions which give even more life to Wells’s dialogue. The outer space scenes have always been fantastic in this book and this issue is no different, with this issue opening with Thanos’s fleet above the Earth.
What really puts this book over the top are the fantastic colors from David Curiel. His work makes this book bright, bold and gorgeous to read.
As a special side note, Ed McGuiness does the covers and the cover scene actually does happen in the book. I’m not really a stickler on this type of thing, but it’s worth noting when it does happen.
This may not be the Nova you’ve read before, but it’s a fun book and well worth the monthly read. The creative corps on this book have more than earned their Nova helmets.
Story: 4.5
Art: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Tom is a contributing writer for Drunk On Comics. You can follow him on Twitter at @tphoto10.