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I've thought about doing something with Nova a few times over the years, but I needed a hook of some kind to make it hang together.
I was reading up on the character, recently, thanks to my membership in the Nova Prime Group on Deviant Art. That's #Novaprime if you want to look for it.
I was first introduced to Nova, by my friend Jeff. Jeff was nuts about Nova when I first met him and while I never got hooked the way he did, I always liked the idea of the character. Like a lot of seventies characters, he never quite lived up to his potential. I don't know if it was the editors, the writers or what, but, apart from a few shining examples, the book always seemed to fall flat. As a kid, I always associated Marvel with mediocre art, a matter of taste, really. Nova was no exception. As the series went on, the art got worse, until the end, when Carmine Infantino was turning in what I think of as some his worst art, ever.
But there were those moments that stood out. Nova battling the much more powerful Sphinx, knowing he couldn't win, but refusing to quit. That really stood out, at the time. I wasn't used to seeing heroes who simply were not equal to the task set before them. And then, at the end of the series, he pulls together a group of villains and heroes and sets off to liberate Xandar, the world where his Nova powers originated.
One of Nova's first villains was a new guy, too. Calling himself Condor, the winged villain sprang from the same avian race that had taken in the golden age hero, Red Raven and given him his artificial wings. Condor had a pretty bland costume, a red body suit, black trunks and gray boots of and gloves. He was a scientist of some description and seemed to have serious anger issues, as I recall. Probably all those "bird-brain" cracks in school.
Nova quickly began to develop his own rogue's gallery, as two more super-villains were added. Powerhouse, who would later be revealed as a Xandarian warrior, who could use any energy directed against him to power his super-normal strength, or to turn it back on his attacker. And, Diamondhead, who was turned to living diamond by exposure to a "diamond powered laser". As a physics buff, I love to laugh at the pseudo-science in comics and other media. The crystal in a laser (always assuming it's that type of laser) no more "powers" the laser than the tungsten filament "powers" an incandescent light bulb. Crack a physics book once in awhile, guys. Anyway...Diamondhead is a really angry guy with a body of living diamond that appears to be human, except it looks like someone faceted his head.
So, there was my "hook". I'd do something with these villains, and Nova, while I'm at it.
I can't recall if they ever used the term themselves in the books, but they've been called the Terrible Trio, about as goofy a name as you can imagine. Powerhouse's costume isn't bad, but there were details I never liked, so I've eliminated them and reworked the lines a bit. No panties on these guys. I changed Powerhouse's mask, too. No reason an alien warrior's uniform should include a super-hero mask.
With Diamondhead, I tossed out just about everything but the blue color and the metal bracers. Since Powerhouse is already wearing a star burst emblem, I dropped the burst around the diamond that was on his original costume.
I know Condor is from a people evolved to flight, but I always think protecting your eyes is a good idea. I saw no reason for Condor to have a yellow bird emblem. I took inspiration from the Angel, making Condor a kind of evil opposite.
That leaves the hero of the piece and with Nova, I went back to basics.
I've seen all the recent redesigns. I was there for the first New Warriors and enjoyed it, but much of the recent Nova stuff has left me cold. Adi Granov's design looks cool, but I simply hate those elbow and knee spines. I can see where they could come back to bite you, in a tumble.
But, there are things I like in more recent designs. The roundels on the top, treated as some kind of glowing lamps, I like. I always hated those scalloped bursts and with modern coloring techniques, it's possible to evoke that idea with "light". I based the helmet on a real helmet I saw somewhere, rather than that old bucket he used to wear. I wanted to keep the look of an alien uniform, but not so much a suit of armor.
I know, I know, I didn't do "before" pics for Diamondhead and Powerhouse, but I was pressed for time. I'm sure that these ideas don't fit in anywhere in the standard Marvel Universe, but that's okay, too. This ain't a pitch meeting, just me having some fun.
See more of my stuff at . . .
heroblog.deviantart.com
www.heroblog.com
www.adastracomic.com
Copyright © 2010 Joe Singleton
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