Sam Alexander has had it tough. In the comic world, he struggled with the loss of his father, the responsibilities of becoming the last member of the Nova Corps, and trying to get through school when not being a superhero. Sam has also struggled to win over the hearts of readers that longed for the return of Richard Rider. As a fan of Rider, it was understandable to want the deceased character to somehow return from the dead. With writers such as Jeph Loeb, Zeb Wells, and Gerry Duggan, Sam has earned his place in the Marvel Universe.

Sam is no longer alone. Richard Rider is back. It's not clear why or how. What is clear is there will be some possible repercussions to his return. What readers can rejoice in is we now have two Novas to enjoy. Jeff Loveness and Ramon Perez take on the task of delivering the stories of the two Novas. While we can assume these two will inevitably meet up, this first issue does a nice job of balancing the separate stories. We see Sam continuing his Nova duties while attempting to make it to school on time. Richard has to adjust to being back and figuring out what has happened since he died. We also get hints that his resurrection could involve a price.

Perez's art with Ian Herring's colors sets the right tone. We often see books with younger characters appearing to be miniature adults. Perez makes the kids look like kids. There's also a nice contrast in color when the action is in space compared to the scenes with Rider visiting his mom and Sam at school.

Besides having two great Novas in one book, there's a sense of the unknown here. I wasn't sure how much of a focus each character would receive. Each character has their own issues and concerns to deal with. The idea of the two meeting is an intriguing one.

With this being a first issue, there has to be some set up for new readers, along with the return of Rider. Because of this, the focus shies away from the action a bit. Sam's encounter with a new student is fun to see but feels like it takes away from the major beats of the series. There's only so many pages for each issue. It gives more insight into who Sam is, but we're eager to see a meeting of the Novas as well as finding out what Rider is going through.

What could be better than a comic series with Nova? How about a comic series with two Novas? New and old fans can rejoice as the adventures of Sam Alexander continue along side the return another character. Jeff Loveness and Ramon Perez are giving the two characters clear and distinct voices. The art and color creates a good atmosphere and tone for the characters. With the questions raised here, there's definitely plenty of reasons to come back for more.

Man I want Rich to be in a movie...

I thought it was a solid first issue, but there wasn't a single moment that really sucked me into the story. I kept reading only because I was so happy to have Richard back and was super curious as to how. This issue doesn't offer any explanations with Richard literary appearing out of nowhere with no memory of how he came back. It's way too vague for me. I assume they'll have to get more in depth as to how he returned in future issues, but Marvel hasn't done the best job with resurrection explanations lately (Doc Sampson). The final page does offer up some clues but this is only a theory of mine at this point. On the final page we see Rich flying only to pass out and some sort of entity escaping from his body. My GUESS is it is one of THE MANY ANGLED ONES from the Cancerverse, where we last saw Richard. Maybe this entity wanted to escape the Cancerverse and crossover into our universe only it couldn't on it's own. So it hitched a ride inside of Richard and returned with him. If you watch SUPERNATURAL they did something similar in season 8 with Dean and Benny. IF that's what happen then I think that's a great start. We shall see.

The issue is broken down into 3 parts. The beginning deals with Rich, the middle is all Sam, and then Rich at the end again, but it still feels like the issue is dominated by Sam. I don't have anything against Sam and I realize this book will feature both Novas, but I was totally uninterested in what was going on with Sam. As this point, having Rich back, I want answers and a heavy does of Richard Rider to start things off. The ending of the issue was promising but this is definitely one of the weaker debut issues of Marvel NOW!2.0

3 Stars.

Who's this new guy? #notmynova

Forgot this was coming out...my LCS must have already been out by the time I went, so I wasn't thinking about it.

Dick Rider should be dominating this book not that scrub Sam.

truth

yea I agree. Rider is a better nova than Sam ever was. He's the true nova.