I do find Rich relatable to many of the things you mentioned, especially as a military veteran myself, although I have not been in combat duty. I was well aware of Nova back in the 70s and 80s but it wasn't until 1999 with Erik Larsen's short run on Vol.3 that I finally became a regular fan. Here was Rich with all of his problems and finding himself again. I connect with the character so much because of his relationship with his friends, family, romantic relationships, strong values, strong sense of duty, and also his humility. He truly did embody that adage, "with great power comes great responsibility". Even with all those powers and abilities, he was still the same old Richard Rider that family and friends have known as long as they can remember. He is a very positive role model that people and children can look up to, just like a Steve Rogers or a Kal-El.
What more can you ask for in a superhero comic book character?
Why would you not put that kind of character on the silver screen, the television screen? In children's books?
You always hear the stereotype that "heroes don't all wear capes, spandex, masks, etc." when it comes to comic book heroes in comparison to real life heroes. Well, Rich reminds of many real life people I have met or read about in the military service, emergency services, law enforcement, and just plain ordinary people.
I have always loved that banter between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in "The Avengers".
"I know men who don't have any of that(money, fame, genius IQ, ladies man) who are ten times the man you are."
And with Agent Couslon.
"Sometiems you need old=fashioned."
--Previous Message--
: So here are my thoughts on the story, now that
: I can finally post some spoilers.
:
: Overall, I'm happy with the writing and
: pacing of the first 2 issues of the 3
: parter. That doesn't mean I think the
: writing is perfect by far, but it's been fun
: to read.
:
: I think the characterization of Rich was a
: bit off in issue 19 , but taking a second
: look at the issue, I think it might have
: more to do with the art and how Rich is
: portrayed in the art than the words
: themselves. Ed draws Rich with a goofy
: smile a few times in the issue and a bigger
: mouth than we're used to, which makes him
: look younger and less experienced.
:
: I'm not going to put anyone under the bus
: for art or a few lines that might feel a bit
: off from when we last saw him a few years
: ago, because I understand that each artist
: and writer has their own unique take on a
: character and we're dealing with both a new
: writer and a new artist for Rich here. It's
: not the old Nova vol.4 team. I'm just
: trying to judge the 3-parter as a stand
: alone ending to Rich & Peter's Thanos
: Imperative story.
:
: That said, there are inconsistencies here
: and a few of them are hard to ignore. The 2
: biggest are that death was re-introduced to
: the Cancerverse and that at the end of TI,
: they said they had about 60 seconds until
: the universe collapsed in on itself and in
: issue 19 of GOTG, a few hours pass as they
: fight. Both inconsistencies are
: explainable, though, but I wish the writing
: would have offered the answer to us. The
: first, well, when death walked away from
: Thanos, death also walked away from the
: Cancerverse. The second, it was Peter who
: said they had about 60 seconds until the
: Cancerverse would be destroyed. The answer
: there is who is Peter Quill to know for sure
: that's what would happen? He was obviously
: wrong.
:
: I enjoyed the humor in the book and the
: writing moved the story along at the pace
: I'd expect it would. I think the switch to
: narration instead of word bubbles for a good
: chunk of the book was a good way to do it.
:
: Evil Cap's shield changing was an art
: mistake by Ed. He should have drawn the
: classic shield in a spin for that panel.
: Could it have taken Rich's arm off? I'd
: guess that Evil Cap's shield is made of the
: same material that CA's shield is made out
: of, so I'd say yes. It absorbs kinetic
: energy and Rich was in full on flight.
: Going that fast and hitting something like
: that at your shoulder joint would do it,
: regardless of whether he's got the nova
: force. Rich isn't indestructible. Since
: becoming Nova Prime, he's lost a leg, had
: his face scarred, been infected, and has
: gotten busted up a few times. He's
: powerful, but he's still vulnerable against
: attacks. If it's an energy attack, he seems
: to hold up against it better than a physical
: attack. He uses his speed as his asset to
: avoid physical attacks, but without
: Worldmind, he wasn't alerted to the
: projectile. So it comes down to physics.
: His intertia vs. a sharp object that absorbs
: kinetic energy. No two ways about it, they
: got it right.
:
: So where do we go from here? Well, Peter
: had all of his guts punched out of his body
: by Thanos, but regenerated with his body
: intact again. So unless Bendis changes the
: rules of how the Cancerverse plays, Rich
: should regenerate with his arm whole as long
: as he dies. If he doesn't die, then like
: his leg, the Nova force should be able to
: heal him with some time. It's heartbreaking
: seeing him lose an arm that way and it being
: him that screwed things up in the
: Cancerverse by losing the cosmic cube, but
: there's still one issue left to see how it
: all works out.
:
: I'm still on the fence about Ed's artwork...
: I just don't feel that his art is dynamic,
: and I don't really see what his fans see in
: it. Rich's gravimetric blasts just don't
: seem that powerful the way they're drawn,
: some of the artwork is just confusing about
: what's going on, and I'm not a fan of all of
: the completely shaded characters in a lot of
: the panels. That just seems lazy to me.
:
: What it comes down to is I'm happy I picked
: it up. If Rich is killed apparently for
: good at the end of GOTG #20, that's it, I'm
: moving on and I really am done with comics.
: It doesn't matter if a few years from now
: Rich would be brought back, I'm just sick of
: the whole killing off a character thing, and
: with Rich being my favourite, doing it to
: him just leaves a rotten taste in my mouth.
:
: Rich was always shown as being human with
: his ties to his family and friends, and if
: they just whack him, all I can think of is
: what about Rich's parents? What about
: Robbie? What about Ginger, Caps and all of
: the other people in Rich's life, including
: the Warriors and Nita? Rich wasn't a loner
: like a lot of heroes, he was always shown to
: have some close ties to a lot of people,
: even when he was the brooding 1990's hipster
: for a few years.
:
: If Bendis doesn't kill off Rich, then I'll
: keep my eyes peeled for future books with
: Rich in them and I'll buy them. I'm not too
: optimistic, though. I just wish that the
: story would involve him getting freed and
: reunited with the other people who made him
: such a relateable character.
:
: Off topic, here's some food for thought.
: Why is Rich so relateable? Why was it that
: we all talk about how awesome his character
: development is and how rare it is to see
: something like that in comics? It's pretty
: simple, Rich's story is like that of a war
: vet.
:
: He was a naive teenager, but then went to
: war. He came back depowered and felt that
: he didn't fit in and struggled to find
: himself again, like so many vets do. He
: then re-joined the Nova corps and found
: purpose again and matured and grew as he
: experiences some of the worst things a
: person could see in war (Annhilation). His
: was the story of growing up, and though it
: was told in a comic book universe, it had so
: many parallels to real life, which we all
: experienced growing up, including family,
: friends, lovers and how those relationships
: and dynamics changed with time. So even now
: that Rich is older and more powerful, he was
: one of the most relateable characters Marvel
: had, which is probably why he's been my
: favourite as long as I could remember.
:
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