The definitive, chronological, and up-to-date guide and trade reading order on collecting Nova comic books via omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novels. A part of Crushing Krisis’s Collecting Avengers: A Definitive Guide. Last updated November 2017 with titles scheduled for release through January 2019.
Marvel was known in the 1970s for piloting both new and returning heroes in anthology titles before promoting them to their own series. That’s why it was so remarkable that the original Nova, Richard Rider, debuted in the first issue of his own series in 1976!
It was a prescient move by Marvel, with the 70s sci-fi craze due to hit its peak the following year with Star Wars! The character was originally designed by Marv Wolfman and Len Wein a decade earlier in a 1966 fan-zine.
Nova was the first of Marvel’s many attempts to recapture the youthful magic of early Spider-Man at a point in the 70s when very few heroes in their line-up still came off as starry-eyed teenagers.
That gave Nova a strong focus during his ongoing series, but meant he was stranded with few connections in a world of adult heroes once it was over. He disappeared from Marvel for nearly a decade.
That changed when Marvel finally collected a number of existing teen heroes (plus a few new ones) into New Warriors, a sort of unbranded companion to New Mutants transition into the self-directed X-Force. The title ran for years and over time felt more like a family than a team with a charter.
Much like Nova’s original teendom restricted his connections, so did his association with the New Warriors brand. It took another half decade for them to finally break out of their orbit, but it was in a big way.
Richard Rider became one of the heroes to anchor Annihilation, a massive space blow-out that would revive Marvel’s cosmic line of heroes and cultures. It thrust Nova into an amazing five-year epic, during which he becomes a formidable commander who goes toe-to-toe with Thanos.
That all ends with the Thanos Imperative, and Nova going missing in its wake. After a few years of silence, Marvel brought back Nova – only, it wasn’t Richard Rider! Sam Alexander took up the mantle of Nova, but not from Rider – from his father, another prior (and missing) Nova.
Sam carried on the proud tradition of both Spider-Man and Richard Rider as a bumbling, well-meaning teen who does more damage than good. His series is a charming, high-gloss coming of age tail that dovetails into him being drafted by the real Avengers – and, also, finally meeting Richard Rider.
[Patreon-2017][/Patreon-2017]
- Richard Rider in Nova, Vol. 1 (1976 – 1979)
- in New Warriors, Vol. 1 (1989 – 1994)
- Vol. 2 & New Warriors (1994 – 1995)
- Vol. 3 & New Warriors, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 (1999 – 2005)
- in Annihilation (2006 – 2007)
- Vol. 4 & Annihilator (2007 – 2010 & 2010 – 2012)
- Marvel Now: Sam Alexander in Vol. 5 (2012 – 2015)
- All-New, All-Different Marvel Now: Sam Alexander and Richard Rider!
- Marvel Legacy: Sam Alexander and Richard Rider!
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Nova, Vol. 1 (1976 – 1979)
Nova’s original is half based on Peter Parker as a nerdy loser and half on Green Lantern receiving his power from a desperate, dying alien who is a member of a peacekeeping corps. The series ran for 25 issues and saw its lingering plot threads resolved in a brief arc of Fantastic Four. After that, Nova makes just one further canonical appearance before disappearing from the Marvel Universe entirely!
#1: Annihilation Classic
Collects the first major stories of a number of players in 2008′s Annihilation, including Adam Warlock, Nova, Quasar, and Rocket Raccoon. Collects Bug #1, Tales to Astonish #13, Nova #1, Quasar #1, Rocket Raccoon #1-4, Marvel Spotlight #6, Logan’s Run #6, and Marvel Premiere #1. Available in hardcover.
#1-25: Essential Nova, Vol. 1
Collects Nova #1-25, Amazing Spider-Man #171, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #3.
#1-12: Nova Classic, Vol. 1
Collects Nova (1976) #1-12 and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #171
After #3: Daredevil #142.
After #12: Amazing Spider-Man #171
#13-19: Nova Classic, Vol. 2
Nova #13-19, Defenders (1972) #62-64, Fantastic Four Annual 12, and Marvel Two-in-One Annual 3.
Around #16: Fantastic Four Annual 12
After #18: Thor #271, Defenders #62-64
After #19: Marvel Two-in-One Annual 3
#20-25: Nova Classic, Vol. 3
Collects Nova #20-25 and the resolution of his story in material from Fantastic Four (1961) #204-206 & 208-214
After #25, Nova continues appearing through 1981 in Fantastic Four (1961) #206, 208-209, 212; a cameo as a game-piece in Incredible Hulk #241; in brief flashback in Fantastic Four #217 and Spectacular Spider-Man (1976)#47, ROM (1979) #24, and What If? (1977) #36 (2nd story).
After his spate of 1980-1981 appearances, Nova is shelved for eight years!
Nova in New Warriors (1989)
Nova returned to the spotlight in Marvel’s attempt to assemble young-adult supergroup outside of the X-Men franchase. The New Warriors gathered existing characters Nova, Namorita, Justice, Firestar, and Speedball paired with very-90s Night Thrasher to form this post-teen team.
Thor (1966) #411-412 & New Warriors (1989) #1-10: See New Warriors
After NW1/Thor: Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #337
After NW3: Namor, The Sub-Mariner (1990) #5
Kings of Pain Annuals: Marvel Universe Events. Nova appears throughout this crossover in New Mutants (1983) Annual 7, New Warriors (1990) Annual 1, X-Men (1963) Annual 15, and X-Factor (1986) Annual 6.
New Warriors (1990) #13 (and Annual 1 7th story): See New Warriors
After #13: Damage Control, Vol. 3 #1-2 & 4, Avengers #332 (implied in #333), Web of Spider-Man #75
Infinity Gauntlet (1991): See Marvel Universe Events. Nova appears in New Warriors #14 and then in Infinity Gauntlet #3, Silver Surfer Vol. 3 (1987) #52, and Doctor Strange, Sorceror Supreme (1988) #33 along with Infinity Gauntlet #4
After Infinity Gauntlet: Amazing Spider-Man #351-352, Fantastic Four #356 (full New Warriors appearance)
New Warriors (1990) #15-17: See New Warriors
After NW17: Quasar (1989) #28 (flashback), Spider-Man (1990) #20 & 23
Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #354-358: Nova is a co-star in this arc. See Spider-Man
After ASM358: Slapstick (1992) #4
New Warriors (1990) #18-26: See New Warriors
Spider-Man & The New Warriors: The Hero Killers
Nova appears throughout this crossover through Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Annual 26, Spectacular Spider-Man (1988) Annual 12, Web Of Spider-Man (1985) Annual 8, and New Warriors (1990) Annual 2. It is directly followed by the 4th story in Annual 2. See Marvel Universe Events: 1992 Annual Crossovers for more information.
Infinity War: See Marvel Universe Events. This event includes Nova’s appearance in New Warriors #27.
Click to expand for a list of appearances in this event.
New Warriors (1990) #28-34, Annual 3, & 35: See New Warriors
After #28: Marvel Holiday Special (1991) #1992 (2nd story) and Night Thrasher: 4 Control #2
After #35: Darkhawk (1991) #26-29
Infinity Crusade (1993): See Marvel Universe Events. This event does not include a New Warriors issue for Nova, who doesn’t appear in #36.
Click to expand for a list of appearances in this event.
#37-42: See New Warriors
After #37: Night Thrasher, Vol. 2 #1
After #42: Amazing Spider-Man #383
Nova, Vol. 2 (1994 – 1995) & New Warriors
With the sustained popularity of New Warriors, Nova launched his second ongoing title in 1994.
#1-2: Not collected
New Warriors (NW) #43: See New Warriors
#3: Not collected
NW #44-45, X-Force #33, NW #46: See New Warriors
After NW #46: Nova appears in portions of the Starblast crossover in Starblast (1994) #1, Quasar (1989) #54, Secret Defenders (1993) #11, and Quasar (1989) #60
#4: Not collected
After #4: Captain America: Drug Wars (1994), Iron Man (1968) #302-304
#5: Not collected
NW #47: See New Warriors
After NW47: Implied in Night Thrasher (1992) #11
#6-7 = Time and Time Again: Not collected. The full running order of this crossover is New Warriors #47, Night Thrasher #11, Nova #6, New Warriors #48, Night Thrasher #12, Nova #7, New Warriors #49, New Warriors #50. Nova does not appear in the Night Thrasher issues.
NW #51 & Annual 4 (3rd story): See New Warriors
#8-14: Not collected
After #9: Night Thrasher (1992) #16
During #13: Darkhawk (1991) #45 and New Warriors (1990) #53
NW #54-56: See New Warriors
Amazing Spider-Man: Friends & Enemies (1995) #1-4: Not collected. Nova co-stars with Speedball and Darkhawk.
After ASM: Darkhawk (1991) #50
NW #57: See New Warriors
After NW #57: Night Thrasher (1992) #20, Cosmic Powers Unlimited (1995) #1
#15-18: Not collected. #18 continues from New Warriors #59 to New Warriors #60
During #18: implied in New Warriors (1990) #59
NW #60-62, 65, 68-69, 71, 73-75: See New Warriors
After the end of New Warriors, Nova guest-stars in Ultra Girl (1996) #2-3; Thunderbolts (1997) #1, 8, & 10;Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman (1998) #3; Avengers, Vol. 3 (1998) #13; Ant-Man’s Big Christmas (1999); and Thunderbolts (1997) #25.
Nova (1999) & New Warriors (1999 & 2005) (1999 – 2005)
Written by Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen, this series find Nova struggling to find a place as an Earth-bound hero … while his movements are being tracked in space by the murderous Nebula!
#1-4: Not collected
New Warriors (NW) #0: See New Warriors
#5: Not collected
NW #1: See New Warriors
Contest of Champions II: See Marvel Universe Events: Contest of Champions II. Nova appears in #3.
#6: Not collected
NW #2: See New Warriors
#7: Not collected
After #7: Generation X #59 (see Generation X)
NW #3-10: See New Warriors
After #7: Fantastic Four (1998) #27, Avengers (1998) #25, Wolverine (1988) #149
After the end of both series, Nova makes a limited number of guest-starring appearances over the next few years.
Maximum Security: See Marvel Universe Events. Nova appears in #3.
After Maximum Security: Thunderbolts (1997) #56-57 (& implied in #58), Avengers/Thunderbolts #3, She-Hulk (2004) #5, Marvel Team-Up (2004) #2, New Thunderbolts #6, and Marvel Team-Up #7 & 11-13
Then, a New Warriors reboot features the team as somewhat-hapless stars of a reality television show (which is actually the prologue to Civil War).
#1-6: See New Warriors
After New Warriors #1-6: New Thunderbolts #12: See Thunderbolts
Nova in Annihilation (2006 – 2007)
This cosmic event drew together many space-bound players in the Marvel Universe, including Nova, Drax, Gamora, Silver Surfer, Star-Lord, and Thanos around a common thread. Nova is ostensibly the main character, though his appearances are restricted to his solo limited series and the main event book.
See Marvel Universe Events: Annihilation for collection information for the entire event.
Annihilation: Prologue: Annihilation, Vol. 1
Available in oversized hardcover of Vol. 1 and in Annihilation Omnibus.
Annihilation: Nova #1-4: Annihilation, Vol. 1
Available in oversized hardcover of Vol. 1 and in Annihilation Omnibus. Recollected in By Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 1, below.
Annihilation #1-6: Annihilation, Vol. 3
Available in oversized hardcover of Vol. 3 and in Annihilation Omnibus.
Nova, Vol. 4 & Annihilator (2007 – 2010 & 2010 – 2012)
in oversized hardcover…
#1-12 & Annual 1: Nova: Annihilation oversize hardcover
Co-stars Gamora starting in #4 and Drax starting in #6. Quasar (Phyla-Vell) in Annual 1
#1-12 & Annual 1: Annihilation: Conquest Omnibus oversize hardcover
Collects the entire Annihilation: Conquest storyline – Prologue, Quasar #1-4, Starlord #1-4, Saga one-shot, Wraith #1-4, Conquest #1-6, Nova #1-12 and Annual 1.
#13-22: War of Kings Prelude: Road to War of Kings Omnibus oversize hardcover (ISBN 978-1-302-90446-3)
Collects the many threads of the full lead-in story to War of Kings – Son of M #1-6, X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6, Silent War #1-6, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4, Guardians Of The Galaxy (2008) #1-12, Nova #13-22, Nova: The Origin Of Richard Rider, War Of Kings Saga
#23-28: Inhumans / X-Men: War of Kings Omnibus oversize hardcover
Collects the majority of the War of Kings storyline – Uncanny X-Men #475-486, X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1-5, Secret Invasion: War Of Kings, X-Men: Kingbreaker #1-4, War Of Kings: Darkhawk #1-2, War Of Kings: Warriors #1-2, War Of Kings #1-6, War Of Kings: Ascension #1-4, War Of Kings: Savage World Of Sakaar, Nova #23-28, Guardians Of The Galaxy #13-19, War Of Kings: Who Will Rule?, and Marvel Spotlight: War Of Kings.
#29-35: War of Kings Aftermath: Realm of Kings Omnibus oversize hardcover (ISBN 978-1-302-90447-0)
Collects all of the Realm of King storyline, its tie-ins, and subsequent Annihilators stories – Realm Of Kings #1, Realm Of Kings: Inhumans #1-5, Realm Of Kings: Imperial Guard #1-5, Realm Of Kings: Son of Hulk #1-4, Nova (2007) #29-36, Guardians Of The Galaxy (2008) #20-25, Thanos Imperative #1-6, Ignition, & Devastation, Annihilators #1-4, Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4, Thanos Sourcebook, and material From I Am An Avenger #3
The Thanos Imperative: Ignition, #1-6, & Devastation
This is the last appearance of Richard Rider as Nova for several years. Available in paperback.
in Complete Collections…
By Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (9781302911348)
Collects Annihilation: Nova #1-4, Nova (2007) #1-15 & Annual 1, and material from Nova: The Origin Of Richard Rider 1
By Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 2
Should collect #16-35 and material from I Am An Avenger #3
as originally collected in trade paperback (with guest appearances noted)…
#1-7: Vol. 1, Annihilation – Conquest
Annihilation: Conquest: See Marvel Universe Events: Annihilation: Conquest for further information – but all of Nova’s issues are listed here!
#8-12 & Annual 1: Vol. 2, Nowhere
After #12: Annihilation: Conquest #6 & Guardians of the Galaxy #1
#13-18: Vol. 3: Secret Invasion
#19-22: Vol. 4: Nova Corps
Also collects Origin of Richard Rider
During #20, Nova is implied in War of Kings: Darkhawk #1
#23-28: Vol. 5: War of Kings
See Marvel Universe Events: War of Kings for more information
#29-35: Vol. 6: Realm of Kings
See Marvel Universe Events: Realm of Kings for more information.
Secret Avengers #1-5: Secret Avengers, Vol. 1: Mission to Mars (ISBN 0785146008)
Nova does not appear in #5, and continues directly to Thanos Imperative. Also available in hardcover (ISBN 0785145990)
The Thanos Imperative (2010): Ignition, #1-6, & Devastation
This is the last present-day appearance of Richard Rider as Nova for close to a decade! Also collected in oversize hardcover.
Marvel Now: Nova, Vol. 5 (2012 – 2015)
Nova is no longer Richard Rider! Teenager Sam Alexander finds his father’s Nova helmet and takes on the mantle of Earth’s Nova. These are kid-appropriate, great power and great responsibility types of adventures that are not often represented in mainstream Marvel.
Prior to his own series, this new Nova is teased in Point One (2012) #1, Avengers vs. X-Men: Infinite (2012) #1, Avengers Vs. X-Men (2012) #1 & 12, and Uncanny X-Men (2012) #19. He also appears in the non-continuity What If? AvX (2013) #1-4.
#1-5: Nova, Vol. 1: Origin
Also contains material from Marvel Now .1. Also available in hardcover.
#6-10: Nova, Vol. 2: Rookie Season
Contains only the A-story from #10
Infinity: See Marvel Universe Events: Infinity. Nova’s story stays contained to his own book in #8-9, which are collected in Infinity Companion.
Sam co-stars in a story in A+X (2012) #17.
After Infinity, Sam is recruited by original New Warriors Justice and Speedball to join their revamped team. He appears in New Warriors (2014) #1-4 & 8-12. See New Warriors for collection information.
#10-16: Vol. 3: Nova Corpse
Contains only the B-story from #10.
Sam appears in The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #1 & 4, Wolverine and the X-Men (2014) #4, Deadpool (2013) #30
#17-22: Vol. 4: Original Sin
Original Sin: See Marvel Universe Events: Original Sin. Sam appears in #0 & 2-3 and in the tie-in Daredevil (2014) #6. As part of this event, Richard Rider’s fate is finally revealed in Original tie-ins Guardians of the Galaxy #18-20. (He does not appear in Legendary Star-Lord (2014) #4.)
Nova Special: Uncanny X-Men/Iron Man/Nova: No End in Sight
Nova plays a minor supporting role in this series of specials, despite one of them being his own.
#23-27: Vol. 5: Axis
Axis: See Marvel Universe Events: Axis. Nova plays a minor, supporting roll in two of the major confrontations of Axis in #1-3 & 5 and in tie-in Magneto (2014) #12.
#28: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex
Sam appears throughout this multi-part crossover between Guardians and X-Men titles in Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #24, Legendary Star-Lord (2014) #9, All-New X-Men (2013) #38, All-New X-Men (2013) #39, Guardians Team-Up (2015) #3, Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) #25, Nova (2013) #28, Legendary Star-Lord (2014) #10, Cyclops (2014) #12, Legendary Star-Lord (2014) #11 , and Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega (2015) #1. Also available in oversize hardcover.
#28-31 & Annual 1: Vol. 6: Homecoming
Sam appears in The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #9, All-New Invaders (2014) #13 , S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015) #1, Free Comic Book Day 2015 (Avengers) (2015) #1, Free Comic Book Day 2015 (Secret Wars) (2015) #1, Thanos: The Infinity Finale (2016) OGN HC,
We glimpse Richard Rider four times over the course of Sam’s series. First, memories of his battles are replayed by the Watcher in #10. Then, Rider appears in Beta Ray Bill’s recollection of his own death in #14. He appears in a single-page flashback to prior Novas in #25. Finally, in #28 Sam has a fleeting vision of Richard Rider’s final confrontation in the Cancerverse.
All-New, All-Different Marvel Now: Nova, Vol. 6 (2015 – 2017)
In All-New, All-Different Marvel Now, Sam Alexander has his own series and is recruited to join the Avengers A-squad! His new high-profile membership means Sam turns up whenever the Avengers do, as well as more casually with his friends Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man.
Nova (2016) #1-6: Vol. 1: Burn Out
All-New, All-Different Avengers (2016) #1-6: See Avengers & New Avengers
In this period Sam appears in Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #1, Ms. Marvel (2016) #1, and Spider-Woman (2016) #1
Standoff: See Marvel Universe Events. Standoff is in a way a prelude to both Civil War II and Secret Empire. Sam appears in All-New, All-Different Avengers (2016) #7-8, Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #7-8, Uncanny Avengers [II] (2015) #8, and Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Omega (2016) One-Shot
All-New, All-Different Avengers (2016) #9-12: See Avengers & New Avengers
Before Civil War II, Sam appears in A Year of Marvels: June Infinite Comic (2016) #1, Vision (2016) #6, Ms. Marvel (2016) #7, New Avengers (2015) #11, Silver Surfer (2016) #3-4, New Avengers (2015) #12, Mockingbird (2016) #5, , The Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #14-15, A Year of Marvels: The Unstoppable (2016) #1, , Uncanny Avengers [II] (2015) #13, Vision (2016) #10-11. He makes an out-of-continuity appearance in Avengers Alliance (2016) #1-3.
Civil War II: See Marvel Universe Events. Sam appears in Civil War II (2016) #1-6 & 8 and Civil War II: The Oath (2017) #1, as well as tie-ins in Civil War II: Choosing Sides (2016) #1, Civil War II: Gods of War (2016) #1, Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #10, Invincible Iron Man (2015) #10-11, Spider-Man (2016) #6, and Captain America: Steve Rogers (2016) #4 & 6 – plus issues #8-9 of his own title.
Nova (2016) #7-11: Vol. 2: After Burn
Issue #7 occurs prior to Civil War II, which ties-in to #8-9.
Richard Rider appears to Sam as a sort of proto-Nova at the end of #10 and throughout #11. He also has a blink-and-you-miss it cameo in file footage in Invincible Iron Man (2015) #14 and in the background of Rage’s memories of the New Warriors in Captain America: Sam Wilson (2015) #11.
After Civil War II, Nova departs the Avengers to continue to The Champions as well as a a new Nova title shared with Richard Rider.
Likely before his 2017 series, Sam appears in Jessica Jones (2016) #1, Power Man and Iron Fist (2016) #10, Spider-Man (2016) #9, The Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #21, and Spider-Man/Deadpool (2016) #12. He makes an out-of-continuity appearance in Marvel Tsum Tsum (2016) #4.
Nova (2017) #1-7: Vol. 1: Resurrection
Sam’s appearances in Champions #1-5 likely fit here.
Monsters Unleashed (2017): See Marvel Universe Events. Likely before his own series, Sam appears in Monsters Unleashed #1-5 and Champions (2016) #1.MU.
Sam’s appearances in Champions #5-9 likely fit here.
Likely after his series but prior to Secret Empire, Sam appears in Invincible Iron Man (2017) #6, All-New Wolverine (2016) #19-20, and X-Men: Gold (2017) #6
Secret Empire (2017): See Marvel Universe Events. Sam appears in Secret Empire (2017) #3 & 7-10 and an epilogue in Champions #12.
After the Nova series (and after Secret Empire), Richard Rider is featured heavily in All-New Guardians of the Galaxy (2017) #11 (as well as in the out-of-continuity Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again (2017) #4).
Novas in Marvel Legacy
In Marvel Legacy the young Nova, Sam Alexander, continues his membership in Champions starting with issue #13 as they cross over with The Avengers (1963) Worlds Collide in Avengers #672-673. He also appears in chapters of Mojo Worldwide in X-Men: Blue (2017) #13-15, which probably are meant to fit before Worlds Collide. See Champions
Meanwhile, the original Nova, Richard Rider, may be joining the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy, as he appears in Guardians of the Galaxy #147. See Guardians of the Galaxy.
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