Nova #14 Review

Is it possible for the latest Human Rocket to make amends for his recent mistake? Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

IT’S A BAD TIME TO BE A NOVA!

David Baldeon (Scarlet Spider) joins Gerry Duggan for an interstellar adventure with Beta Ray Bill begins with a bang (and a massive robotic battle)!

It’s clean-up time as Sam and Bill ride through the cosmos attempting to right the wrongs that Sam caused!

We’re on a trip to Knowhere! For followers that don’t know: it’s an intergalactic haven that resides inside the decapitated head of a celestial. If that sounds confusing don’t worry, because we have a creative team that makes even the most outlandish nuances of space understandable and even acceptable. If that’s enough, remember we have Beta Ray Bill in the mix.

Gerry Duggan handles the increase of these cosmic variables with ease, while also throwing a nugget of information that people just won’t see coming. There’s action, suspense and drama all before we get to meet a familiar dog that could have easily not been included. But I’m glad he was. I’ll admit that I was first exposed to this location during the previous Guardians of the Galaxy volume, but to the author’s credit, as he retreads familiar territory he does so quickly without missing a beat. That right there is the strength of the script, as we see through fresh eyes concepts that have been absent.

The illustrations done by David Baldeon match the tempo and cadence of the text. The pencil strokes found here are not the same caliber as the work done by Paco Medina, as an overly chaotic hand changes this component. Sometimes the alterations can be for the better but more often than not I was left with the feeling that the art just didn’t meld as well as it honestly should have. The connections were smoothed over thanks to the colors done by Chris Sotomayor.

Nova #14 is a really good entry that stumbles a bit on the visual side but still candidly qualifies for a recommendation from me.