Writer: Matthew Rosenberg

Art: Ibraim Roberson, Carlos Lopez, VC’s Cory Petit, Josemaria Casanovas, and Eduard Petrovich

Release Date: December 4th, 2019

Price: $4.99

I will be honest, I am probably someone who is least knowledgeable on anything to do with Nova. My only recognition of the character was from the mini-series when both Richard and Sam teamed up after Rider came back from the Cancerverse. While I am being honest, I will go on record saying that I know very little about Annihilation as well as this event. I read half of the first issue in this event and it really didn’t do much for me to keep my interest. Well, this should be fun, right? Let’s dig in and see what we have here…

Like I said, I entered this issue with almost zero information on Richard Rider or even the Nova corp. But thankfully, we have three pages of backstory on who he is, where he comes from, and some key points in his career making this issue new reader-friendly instantly. The only real complaint from the backstory pages would be the artwork. It’s not that awful but it’s also not that great. I would give it a 6.5 on some panels because it looks like the art might have been a bit rushed.

Next, readers see Annilihus crash into Rider’s ship. Now, for the longest time, I had no idea what this character’s name was. He does say his name but that doesn’t come up until a bit later in the issue. And, when he does say his name, readers really have no idea if he is just talking about some God figure or actually himself. So, the big reveal was that Annihilus happened to be looking for Nova to help him. At this point, Rosenberg tries to get readers who have no idea what’s going on, to actually know what’s happening. The only thing I wish this creative team would add is who/ what Nova and Annihilus are up against in this issue with a bit more detail. If you read Annihilation Scourge Alpha #1, it will give you some more background on the villains of the Cancerverse. However, new readers hopping on this issue may be a bit confused. Other than that, in my opinion, Rosenberg did a bang-up job on the recap and managed to squeeze it in all on one page as well.

Unfortunately, Annilihus’ plan doesn’t work out as he hoped it would and now Nova and Annihilus are heading over to Yancy Street. Now, until this moment, the dialogue has been pretty good! But wow, once they get on Yancy Street, this whole scene is awful! Hopefully, Rosenberg does not plan on writing a book with either Franklin or Valeria Richards again. Richard checks to see if the Fantastic Four are home and ultimately gets the door slammed in their faces twice. However, Rosenberg catches readers up with the items off-panel with a one-page recap as to why the kids stopped firing their guns at them and why they are now helping.

The issue ends now with our team-up in the Negative Zone, where crap is hitting the fan! We have some strange looking creatures joining the gang and they appear to be glad that Annilihus is there to protect them. Thankfully, the amazing dialogue from Rosenberg is back! We get to see Nova kicking butt and showing off what he can do. Unfortunately, it does not last long as Nova comes face to face with a new enemy that’s on par with Superman!

Final Thoughts:

Well at first I was a bit nervous going into this book. I thought I was going to be lost. But, I was surprised that I did just fine! However, as much as I enjoyed the story, the art just didn’t seem to work for me in this issue. Besides the art and the “Yancy Street incident”, I thoroughly enjoyed the issue. The dialogue was good and the backstory on Nova really helped me dive into the issue comfortably. This series has only sparked my interest in Nova and I would love to see Rosenberg on a Nova series in the near future. I would highly recommend this issue!