Nova #1, by Jeff Loveness (writer), Ramon Perez (writer/artist), Ian herring (colorist), Albert Deschesne (letterer) - Sam really looks like Viewtiful Joe there. Who Rich would be familiar with if Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 were in continuity. And maybe it is. Who can tell with Marvel these days?Sam is helping Ego with an infestation, but has to hurry to school, but forgot to wear clothes under his Nova suit. So he humiliates himself in front of a girl, then does it again when he tries talking to her. Meanwhile, Richard is trying to adjust to being alive, and his father is dead now(?!) But it seems like whatever enabled Richard to be alive again is an infection, that may have escaped. Some remnant of the Cancerverse, or more specifically, the Many-Angeled Ones would seem the best guess.
OK, the problem here for me is this issue is 70% Sam, and only 30% Richard. Now I'm not one of those Richard Rider fans who hates Sam. Although I do tend to consider the fact he was a Jeph Loeb created character a strike against him, much like Red Hulk. That aside, I got nuthin' against him. However, in the words of Bulldozer of Easy Co., I got nuthin' for him, either. I suppose I should be grateful. His family and school related hijinks seem more similar to what I was expecting from the current Blue Beetle than that book is providing. But I'm not really into watching Sam strike out with a girl. If the book could do more of the outer space action stuff, that would be fine.
Ramon Perez and Ian Herring's combined art efforts are the high points. Perez switching to a more cartoonish style, similar to Chris Eliopoulos' maybe, for Sam's daydream sequence was nice, but just in general. The fight scene on Ego worked pretty well as a small piece of the issue, the design on the Sidri was nice, the way the colors make them this swirling shadow monster. Plus the "PLOIK" sound effect as Sam ineffectually tries blasting it. I like how Perez draws Richard's version of the costume. He still has the shoulder spikes he had after getting all of the Nova Force in Annihilation, but now they shift and mold depending on where his arms are. So they don't stab him in the neck when he extends his arms forward. It's a little thing, but it's a nice touch, and shows an attention to detail.
Will the book be pretty enough for me to stick with it long enough for Richard to get some more page time? We'll see.
Wade and Preston are cleansed of any traces of the virus, Wade more painfully than Preston, and try to figure out who Madcap got it from. They fail utterly, and then accuse Adsit of hosting Madcap. But no, he's just stress-eating. So Wade calls a time-traveler to produce a cure for the virus - Stryfe. It's never a good thing when Stryfe starts showing up in your comics. Perhaps this is a ploy by Madcap to hurt Deadpool some more - by killing his audience.
I don't know why Wade shot Adsit's telescope. Because he's stressed and reverting to bad habits I guess. That's been happening for awhile already, as the Avengers gig falls apart, or because Wade can't keep this many balls in the air successfully for this long. Or maybe because he just doesn't care enough.
The artwork is fine. Lolli and Villanelli draw everything fine. Nothing feels terribly inspired in the art, but this whole issue feels like padding anyway. Here's a panel of Deadpool and Preston attacking wizards. Here's a panel of Wade harassing some poor jamoke at the Hellfire Club. Like being forced to dress in those stupid period outfits with the frills and powdered wigs isn't punishment enough. Point being, let's just get the fucking big showdown started already. Let's have a little more of Madcap versus Deadpool in this story about Madcap versus Deadpool. I would like to say something more about the art, but there's nothing that jumps out at me. Nothing that I really like or hate. It tells the story, everything is easy to follow and understandable, but nothing extraordinary.
2 comments:
I like Sam, because I am familiar with him from the Avengers and the Champions. But I barely know who Rich IS, because I was always busy reading Green Lantern instead of the Nova Corps.
I do member Rich telling Tony Stark to stuff it however, after he comes home, dead tired from saving the entire Universe and having to deal with the idiocy of the first Civil War.
Yeah, even before Annihilation and his ongoing that Abnett and Lanning wrote, I had a bit of a soft spot for Richard because he was one of the original New Warriors. He was never my favorite, but that earned him some points.
I'm pretty sure Rich tearing into Tony was my favorite scene in comics that year.
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