A lot of comic stores have “bargain boxes,” the final repository for titles that got over-ordered and didn’t survive very long. Inside you’ll find an occasional gem, but most of the stuff is real birdcage-liner.
A while back, I picked up “Nova: The Human Rocket” No. 1 from Marvel Comics. The comic came out in 1999 and has probably been in my possession for about a year now. I’m not sure where I got it, but it definitely came from a bargain bin because I specifically remember skipping the whole series when it “hit the stands” all those many years ago.
At the time, I thought it sported a particularly hideous cover by Erik Larsen. To be truthful, it still is a particularly hideous cover, but whenever it was that I bought it, I decided I liked Nova enough to be willing to risk a whopping 50-cents on the character.
So, just the other day, I decided to clear out all the New Warriors related comics in my “To Read” pile and eventually hit this issue.
And you know what? I kind of liked it.
First off, it has some really nice art by Joe Bennett, one of the hottest artists currently around. Second, the comic was a nice nod to all the previous comics that Nova had starred in, including his original series from the 1970s and the many years he spent as a member of the New Warriors.
And today in 2006, Nova is once again in the spotlight as one of the headliners for Marvel’s “Annihilation” crossover, which has been largely ignored because of “Civil War,” the company’s bigger event.
Truth be told, I’ve found a lot of decent stuff in the bargain bins over the years, so I’ll definitely keep looking through them. You never know what will turn up. Maybe if I look hard enough, I’ll come across all the other issues of “Nova: The Human Rocket.” It certainly would be nice to find out how the story turned out.
Check out this cool Nova fan page: http://home.mchsi.com/~nova64/updates.htm
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