Customer Reviews

Nova Vol. 5: War of Kings

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Nova has been the real success story of Marvel's renewed interest in their cosmic characters & this book continues his great roll that he's on. HAMMER, the imminent death of Richard Rider, the insanity of Worldmind, the consequences of rebuilding the Nova Corps and the horrors of war are all dealt with in this book. I can't say an awful lot because it will spoil it for you but I will say that if you are reading the War of Kings collection then I suggest you read that before you read this book because the end of the War of Kings is kinda given away at the end of this book. Overall, Nova is one of the most exciting reads at the moment and this continues this trend.

There is a lot happening in Nova Vol. 5: War of Kings. Richard Rider has been stripped of his Nova powers by a corrupted Worldmind. As a result of the damage done to his body by the Nova Force powers, he seems to be dying. But Quasar is trying to help him hang on long enough to save a very green batch of newly recruited Nova Corp Centurions that are in way over their heads, including his little brother Robbie.

Richard Rider must also deal with the "War of Kings", a deadly battle between the new rulers of the Kree Empire "The Inhumans" and X-Men foe "Vulcan", leader of the Shi'ar Empire. It's a war so deadly and destructive that it just might rip the entire universe apart (literally!) and wipe out the Nova Corp...again!

This was another fun read by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning who have given us some of the most entertaining cosmic adventures in Marvel history such as Annihilation, Annihilation Conquest and Guardians of the Galaxy. Abnett and Lanning have written such a fun and engaging hero in Richard Rider that I no longer wince but actually smile when he exclaims "Blue Blazes!"
There are some exciting and amusing confrontations between Nova and the mega powerful "Strontian" cousin to the Shi'ar "Guardsman", Ego the Living Planet as well as the current "King" of the negative zone...Blastaar. There is some nice interior art by Andrea DeVito and Kevin Sharpe with attractive cover art by Daniel Acuna.

As with the other volumes of Nova, this story is part of a larger event that crosses over into other titles like Guardians of the Galaxy. However, while having the other stories in the War of Kings saga adds to the enjoyment of this volume of Nova, it's not by any means a necessity and is still a very enjoyable read on its own and still easy to follow if you haven't read any of the other War of Kings titles. Nova Vol. 5 collects Nova issues 23-28. I recommend Nova: War of Kings.

This is a good collection of stories, but by Nova standards, it's kind of ordinary. In the last few issues, Worldmind has been recruiting a swarm of new Nova centurions, and this volume is largely concerned with clearing them out. First, there's an intense scene, the part that makes this a War of Kings crossover, in which a number of new heroes learn the limits of their experience, then Abnett and Lanning take a few issues to peacefully pare the cast to a manageable number. There are some nice developments with Quasar (the Wendell Vaughn version), some backstory for a scientist from Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., and some really well-executed character developments for both Nova and his brother. The success of the volume as a whole depends a great deal on whether or not the reader is interested in Ego, the Living Planet (I am not), but it should satisfy both long-time cosmic Marvel fans and anyone who has been following this most recent Nova series closely.