Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Wellinton Alves & Geraldo Burges
Flashback 1 ("When we were younger..."; pg1:1-4:1)
Cast:
FIRESTAR
NIGHT THRASHER/DWAYNE TURNER
SPEEDBALL
MARVEL BOY/VANCE ASTROVIK
NAMORITA
KID NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
TERMINUSes
pg1-3 + 4:1 on TV
The New Warriors fight Terminuses!
Paul B's already placed this in his "FB in NOVA4 20" thread in MU. I've included it in the listings below.
Flashback 2 ("Project: P.E.G.A.S.U.S., eight hours earlier..."; pg7-8)
Cast:
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/MORROW [MEPHISTOID]
(various anonymous Novas)
Summary:
pg7-8
Directly after the end of #19, Rich tries to tell Robbie he shouldn't be a Nova. It doesn't go over well.
Present: (pg4-6 + 9-22)
Cast:
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
JUSTICE/VANCE ASTROVIK
FIRESTAR/ANGELICA JONES
NOVA CENTURION/MALIK TARCEL [SHI'AR]
NOVA CENTURION/MORROW [MEPHISTOID]
NOVA CENTURION/FRAKTUR [MAKLUAN]
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT [MANUFACTURED HARMONITE]
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL [RIGELLIAN]
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
EGO, THE LIVING PLANET
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND-BTS
Summary:
pg4-5
[New Warriors crashpad]
App: Nova, Justice, Firestar
Nova pauses the footage as Justice and the retired Firestar arrive, separately, after the Worldmind interrupted their TV viewing to let Rich send a message to them to come.
After some teasing, Rich wants to know - was he a team player?
pg6 + 7:1:1 + 9-10 + 11:1:1
"Six slices of pizza later..."
App: Nova, Justice, Firestar
Rich is now well into telling them about what's been going on with him, and his problems with what the WM's been up to, including the recruitment of his brother. They reassure him - saying that if the WM's as smart as Rich himself claims, then it probably is a good thing, and that he was a team player. Rich concludes he's probably just being selfish.
pg11-15
[Los Angeles]
App: Centurion Qubit, Dragon Man, C. Fraktur, C. Irani Rael, C. Malik Tarcel, C. Morrow, (various extras)
Elsewhere, the WM's five original recruits have some trouble with Dragon Man, until Robbie comes along and helps refine Irani's plan so that it works, and they net him.
pg16-22
[Crashpad, out and up]
App: Nova, Justice, Firestar, (security guards), Ego, Worldmind-BTS
The ex-New Warriors are finishing the pizza, when a load of security guards burst in telling them they're trespassing on Taylor Foundation property.
They power up and scare the guys off in "thirty seconds". That done, the other two head off since they have to get up in the morning, and Rich goes back in for one last look at the video just before the weather goes crazy. After getting no response from the Worldmind, he flies out to see Ego, the Living Planet in the sky, with a giant six-pointed Nova Corps star on its' face.
Notes:
Firestar has apparently been retired ever since Civil War, and is attending college.
This is the night of the day of NO4 19, possibly spilling into the early hours of the next day, which was in turn at least "two days" after SI, and "days" since the #18 (the "height of the Skrull attack"). It's night at the Crashpad, but daylight in LA.
As before, I've listed the new Novas as "NOVA CENTURION/(name)" mostly out of expediency. They tend to get referred to as "Centurion (name)" in the same way as (e.g.) "Doctor Necker", and none of them get Nova numbers (only one Nova gets an on-panel number in the whole arc).
I think this might be the first time we've seen Ego intact since Maximum Security. Despite both Ego & Quasar being present in this arc, there's no mention of how the two of them were ultimately separated, although them having a history is mentioned in passing a few times without details.
_________________
NOVA v4 #21
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Wellinton Alves
"Brave New World"
Cast:
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
EGO, THE LIVING PLANET
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND
NOVA CENTURION/MALIK TARCEL [SHI'AR]
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL [RIGELLIAN]
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT [MANUFACTURED HARMONITE]
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/FRAKTUR [MAKLUAN]
NOVA CENTURION/MORROW [MEPHISTOID]
MR FANTASTIC/REED RICHARDS
INVISIBLE WOMAN/SUE RICHARDS
HUMAN TORCH/JOHNNY STORM
THING/BEN GRIMM
Summary:]['p;l.
pg1-9&10:1
"Near-Earth orbit"->[Ego]->[Earth]
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Ego, Worldmind, Centurion Irani Rael, C. Qubit, C. Malik Tarcel, umpteen unidentifable Nova Centurions, C. Robbie Ryder, Reed & Sue Richards, Human Torch, Thing
Rich flies out of the atmosphere to confront Ego, calling Worldmind to tell him to scramble the Nova Corps "and see if anyone else is awake tonight". As he hopes the non-responsive WM can hear him, he gets an answer in the WM's 'voice' coming from Ego.
Rich starts to lose it, until a load of Nova Corpsmen, led by Irani, Qubit and Tarcel, fly up to greet him. None of them appearently see anything wrong with co-opting Ego as "Nu-Xandar". As they fly over the accomodation & training zones being constructed, Rich cuts Qubit off, and quietly mutters to the WM that to "to take possession of Ego, and remodel him, and bring him to Earth" must have taken weeks. As they reach the Hub, WM corrects him to "Months". Rich feels "stabbed in the back", and they argue, with WM claiming to have "suppressed and overwritten [Ego's] higher functions in order to achieve dominance". Rich characterising this as "lobotomising Ego so [the WM] can sublet his brain" causes Robbie to fly up and start arguing on the WM's side, and Rich flies away to take some time out.
He flies down to find the Fantastic Four - not to mention a lot of military hardware - flying up.
pg9&10:2-14:5
"The Baxter Building, home of the Fantastic Four"
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Worldmind, Ego-BTS, C. Robbie Ryder, Reed & Sue Richards, Human Torch, Thing
Nova tries to explain to the F4 what's going on, including that he disagrees with the Worldmind, until Robbie shows up with a holo-link to the Worldmind. Amongst other things, the Worldmind strongly implies that holding the Nova Force has driven Rich insane in the same way as Super-Nova. This gets Rich very angry and he briefly flares with energy, causing some minor damage.
He asks Reed if he sounds crazy, and Reed says he just sounds stressed, but the WM is talking sense, and he probably should accept the WM's help.
pg15-22
[Earth]->[Ego]->[Long Island]
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, C. Robbie Ryder, Ego, Worldmind, C. Malik Tarcel, C. Fraktur, C. Qubit, C. Morrow, umpteen unidentifables, Ego (by default, he's going to be in any scene on "Nu-Xandar" since he IS Nu-Xandar).
The Ryders fly back to "Nu-Xandar", Rich chastened after his outburst. They go to the Hub, and Rich nearly starts transferring most of the Nova Force to the WM... but stops short, claiming it "isn't right". In return, the WM strips him of the Nova Force and teleports him, naked, to the garden of his parents' house.
Notes:
Continues pretty directly from last issue, although when Nova goes back to Earth and sees the F4, it's now daytime and stays that way at the Baxter Building, and is in turn night again when he's dumped in his parents' garden at the end. Apparently, it takes a while to fly to & from Ego.
Although this is still less than a week after SI in all likelihood, the Baxter Building is apparently working normally. The F4 are all in their Hitch costumes, but Sue has a different (longer, not pinned up) hairstyle.
_________________
NOVA v4 #22
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Andrea DiVito
"The Rapture"
Cast:
EGO, THE LIVING PLANET
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND
NOVA 232324-5/TRE OWENS
NOVA CENTURION/GUY DIMOND
NOVA CENTURION/MATU MAKALANI
NOVA CENTURION/SUKI YUMIKO
NOVA CENTURION/LINDY NOLAN
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL [RIGELLIAN]
NOVA CENTURION/MORROW [MEPHISTOID]
NOVA CENTURION/FRAKTUR [MAKLUAN]
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT [MANUFACTURED HARMONITE]
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
RYDER, CHARLES
NECKER, DR. EVE
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN
GREUNWALD, DR. MARK
Other characters:
EAMES, GREG
KANJA, RUNA
plus loads of Nova Centurion extras
Summary:
pg1:1
"Earth, now..."
App: Ego/WM
Ego looks down on Earth
pg1:2-3:3]
"Washington, D.C."
App: Tre Owens, Greg Eames, "Teddy", extras, Worldmind-BTS
Tre Owens is a cop, playing basketball with kids before he goes on his shift. Just as his partner shows up to collect them, he gets teleported away.
pg4:1-4:2
"Paris"
App: Guy Dimond, extras, Worldmind-BTS
Guy Dimond is a firefighter who gets teleported away.
pg4:3-4:4
"Taita District, Kenya"
App: Matu Makalani, Runa Kanja, Worldmind-BTS
Matu Makalani is a National Park warden who gets teleported away.
pg5:1-5:2
"Ginza, Tokyo"
App: Suki Yumiko, extras, Worldmind-BTS
Suzi Yumiko, shop assistant, teleported
pg5:3-5:4
App: Lindy Nolan, extras, Worldmind-BTS
Lindy Nolan, lifeguard, telported
pg6-10
App: Ego, Worldmind, Lindy Nolan, Tre Owens, Suki Yumiko, Robbie Ryder, LOADS of extras
And all the teleportees appear in mid-air beneath Ego, where they get tractor-beamed up. On the way, the Worldmind turns their endorphins up to the maximum and hypnotises them to think that getting drafted into the Nova Corps is the best thing that could ever happen to them. On Ego, Robbie Ryder introduces himself to a group of them, and says, amongst other things, that they can quit at any time.
Of course, they don't know why they would want to.
pg11:1-12:3
"New York"
App: Rich Ryder, Charles Ryder
Rich's dad drives him to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. to get help - his co-ordination's shot after being depowered, and the car has a dent from where he crashed it.
pg12:4-14:5
[Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.]
App: Rich Ryder, Dr. Eve Necker, Project Director Mark Greunwald, Quasar
Rich talks to Dr Necker, Director Greunwald and Quasar (who's finally recovered from NO4 18) about what's going on. They discuss Worldmind's recruitment drive, and Rich wants them to run every test they can on him to make sure carrying the Nova Force didn't drive him insane. And if not, they work out how to stop Worldmind. Greunwald suggests that they could use their isolation chamber to check if the recruits are being manipulated, and Rich has the perfect candidate, if Dr Necker's okay with "batting her eyelashes".
pg15-21
"An hour later..."
App: Centurion Robbie Ryder, C. Irani Rael, Dr. Eve Necker, Rich Ryder, Worldmind-OP, C. Fraktur, C. Qubit, C. Morrow
Robbie got Dr. Necker's message, and has come with Irani Rael (the Rigellian Nova). He nervously agrees to come in and let her turn it on, and Irani (having scanned it) follows.
Once it's on, Rich reveals himself and says that, although they're still waiting for biopsy results, all the checks on his sanity came back fine - he's officially not crazy. But he thinks that keeping him sane drove the Worldmind mad. And he asks if, in the isolation chamber, either of the Novas can hear the WM any more. They're shocked to realise not that they can't, but that they've been hearing him all along until then, subliminally manipulating them.
Then Fraktur, Qubit and Morrow, all directly mind-controlled by the WM, break in and pin Rich to the wall - and when he asks Robbie and Irani to back him up, they're both talking with the WM's voice too with the chamber broken.
The WM gets distracted, however, by reports that the Inhumans have eliminated the remnants of the Skrull fleet, and of "heightened tensions" between the Kree and Shi'ar. It decides the Nova Corps must mobilise, and the five Novas fly off after a final warning to Rich.
pg22
"An hour later..."
App: Rich Ryder, Dr. Eve Necker
The biopsy results have come back, and Necker tells Rich that, with the Nova Force gone, he'll suffering irreversable molecular decay. She's sorry, but he'll be dead in less than 48 hours.
Notes:
Darkhawk isn't present at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. for "personal reasons, which a footnote confirms to be a WoK:Darkhawk reference - apparently, he left very shortly after Worldmind started recruiting.
The Skrull Earth invasion fleet being killed off by the Inhumans is a reference to Secret Invasion: War of Kings. That there are merely "heightened tensions" between the Kree and Shi'ar implies either that this is before WOK 1, or that the Worldmind's intel is out of date.
There's no explicit length of time since the end of the last issue. There may have been a couple of days, but no more.
Goofs:
Andrea DiVito's drawing Quasar in the costume from the N@ 1 fake-flashforward (where he was coloured as a plain yellow quantum construct). The colourists are ignoring that as best they can and trying to turn it into his "classic" (post-Q 25) costume. The result is messy.
_________________
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY v2 #11
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Wes Craig
"Welcome to Oblivion"
Cast:
OBLIVION (well, the whole issue takes place on his cape, anyway
. At the very least he's OP)QUASAR IV/PHYLA-VELL [last in GOTG2 9]
DRAX THE DESTROYER/ARTHUR DOUGLAS [last in GOTG2 9]
MAELSTROM/MALCOLM STROMBERG (see notes)
DRAGON OF THE MOON
Other characters:
There are... zombie representations... of MAR-VELL, GENIS-VELL and ANNIHILUS, but they don't seem to be intended as the actual ghosts, so...
Summary:
pg1-22
Phyla wakes up after being killed by Mentor two issues back, and finds herself in a desert with giant, half-broken statues lying around. Her day gets worse when the quantum bands fall off and bury themselves deep in the sand, followed by zombie versions of her dad, brother and Annihilus attacking her, and she's only saved by Drax's intervention.
They talk for a bit, but it only sinks in for Drax that Mentor actually killed them when he sees the Q-bands have come off Phyla's wrists, and he decides Mentor must be "unbelievably desperate to get his stepdaughter back."
Then Maelstrom turns up, tells them they're in Oblivion ("he's my boss") and whacks them six ways to Sunday. He's been "stranded here in this...this nothingness... for so long, without company. Without Power. Without a way out." He takes credit for the soothsayer having the vision of "Heather" being accessable back in GOTG2 7, and says she's there. He also talks a fair bit about how, with Death's champion (Thanos) dead, killed by Drax, everything's out of whack. He takes them to the Dragon of the Moon, which is hibernating in a deep hole, saying Moondragon's "probably" somewhere inside it. Phyla shoves him over... and the q-bands come up out of the sand onto his wrists.
Sticking them in quantum bubbles, he shouts for the Dragon to wake up, and offers it a trade - he'll feed it Phyla and Drax if it lets him out.
Notes:
Malestrom was Oblivion's avatar back in "Cosmos in Collision", culminating in Quasar #25. At the end of that, Eternity, Infinity, Death and Oblivion came to terms - amongst these, Eternity got Makkari, Infinity got Quasar (which meant they both came back to life), Death got Eon and Oblivion got Maelstrom. As deaths go, being sold to the incarnation of non-existence is pretty final, but it didn't stop later writers ignoring this and having Maelstrom show up in the land of the living.
Here, however, it's made explicit that the actual Maelstrom's been in Oblivion since Q 25. Whoever or whatever the Maelstrom(s) who've been wondering about since then in FFU and GLA are (clones?), they need to be separated from the main Maelstrom entry.
This issue apparently occurs simultaneously with GOTG2 10, although they have no characters in common.
-----
NOVA v4 #23 (pg 1-4 only)
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Andrea DiVito
"End of Story" pg1-4
Cast:
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN
Summary:
pg1-4
"Robert Ryder's quarters, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. campus"
App: Nova, Quasar
Rich has spent the night in Robbie's quarters, looking through all his Nova paraphranalia, until Quasar drops by to see him. He wants to help, but he's not even quite clear on his own status quo - at the very least, he wants Rich to talk to someone about the fact he's dying. Just as he's about to tell Rich again that his fatalism's wrong, he notices something Rich can't see. He asks if Rich feels it too, then vanishes with a "POP".
Rich rushes out, trying to call Dr Necker but only gets her answer phone. With torrential rain pouring down and lots of fork lightning, he yells up to the sky, asking what the hell's going on.
Which leads into...
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY v2 #12
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Wes Craig
"Sacrifice"
Cast:
OBLIVION
MOONDRAGON/HEATHER DOUGLAS
DRAGON OF THE MOON
QUASAR IV/PHYLA-VELL [becomes "MARTYR/PHYLA-VELL", although the new name isn't revealed until GOTG2 13]
MAELSTROM
DRAX THE DESTROYER/ARTHUR DOUGLAS
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN [last in NO4 23 (1-4), next in NO4 23 (13-22)]
MENTOR
Summary:
pg1-17
[Realm of Oblivion]
Phyla apparently fainted at the end of last issue, and while unconscious she has a vision of Moondragon telling her about the Dragon of the Moon, and that she mustn't let it use her.
Maelstrom then wakes her up and drops her down the Dragon's gullet. Drax isn't happy, but Maelstrom's about to drop him down to follow...
...until Quasar flies in, whacks Maelstrom and knocks Drax free. Apparently, his disappearance in NO4 23 was caused by him feeling the user of the bands die, and he flew after it. Unfortunately, given Quasar's energy body, Maelstrom can control him using the bands and he tosses him around until Drax loops Maelstrom's arms off. Since Maelstrom technically isn't alive, the bands come off his severed arms, and Quasar puts them back on.
In the meantime, the Dragon wakes up, and Maelstrom enjoys the sight of it looming over Drax & Quasar immensely, when there's a sudden flash of red right from its' gut, followed by a glowing red sword cutting its' way out and Phyla - her costume now black and red, her cloak ripped and the Quasar sigils on her sword and chest replaced by skulls - flies out with Moondragon, as the Dragon turns into millions of bats which fly away.
Quasar offers the q-bands back to Phyla, but she turns them down, saying she "never came close to filling [his] shoes", and that she has powers of her own now. Both Quasar and Moondragon, in turn, want to know what happened inside the Dragon, and what Phyla offered it, and she admits she gave it everything it wanted. Meanwhile, Malestrom's sneaked off, and Quasar has to get back to Earth to help Nova - but he's not sure how the others can get out. Moondragon says all they have to do is wake up, and proceeds to arrange for just that.
pg18-19
"Titan, two heartbeats later..."
App: Mentor, Phyla-Vell, Drax, Moondragon
Mentor starts as the dead rise. While Drax just screams in pain, clutching his head, Phyla - her clothing altered to reflect how she appeared in Oblivion - screams at Mentor and reaches out to strangle him for killing them. He claims he was just trying to help them "rescue Heather" and - once she's subsided - wants to know what happened. Phyla claims it doesn't matter, but Moondragon - walking in in a cloned body - says she gave too much of herself. After thanking everyone, she asks again what Phyla did.
pg20-22
"Oblivion. Two Hours Later."
Malestrom's hands reattach themselves, and he puts a black chess piece of Phyla in her new costume on the ground.
He tells "My Lord Oblivion" that they did it, Death has a new avatar and - as we zoom out to see that the whole story took place on Oblivion's cape - "the End War is about to begin".
----
Meanwhile...
NOVA v4 #23 (pg 5-22)
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Andrea DiVito
"End of Story" pg 5-22
Cast:
EGO, THE LIVING PLANET
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND
NOVA 232324-5/TRE OWENS
NOVA CENTURION/LINDY NOLAN
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/NOVA PRIME/MALIK TARCEL [SHI'AR]
NOVA CENTURION/MORROW [MEPHISTOID]
NOVA CENTURION/FRAKTUR [MAKLUAN]
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT [MANUFACTURED HARMONITE]
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL [RIGELLIAN]
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
NECKER, DR. EVE
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN
plus loads of Nova Centurion and HAMMER goon extras
Summary:
pg5-7
"Nu-Xandar, Earth orbit"
App: Ego, Worldmind, Centurion Tre Owens, C. Lindy Nolan, C. Robbie Ryder, loads of extras.
The Worldmind makes a series of announcements on Ego/"Nu-Xandar" as a couple of the new Centurions who got drafted last issue try to make sense of the Kree/Shi'ar War. Robbie joins them just before "Nu-Xandar" stargates off to war.
pg8-10
"P.E.G.A.S.U.S., Upstate New York"
App: Rich Ryder, Dr Necker, HAMMER goons
HAMMER have come to shut down Project Pegasus, and Rich is nearly "arrested" until Necker digs him out by claiming he's her boyfriend, come to help her with some boxes. Rich hasn't heard anything about HAMMER, and Necker fills him about SHIELD/Osborn/Stark/etc, and that they closed P.E.G.A.S.U.S. down at eight in the morning. Dr. Greunwald's suspended, and Dr. Necker's own contract isn't being renewed. She also tells him that the storms are a byproduct of Ego going bye-bye.
pg11-12
"Nu-Xandar, outside the solar system"
App: Ego, Worldmind, Centurion/Nova Prime Malik Tarcel (hologram), C. Morrow, C. Qubit, C. Fraktur, C. Irani Rael, C. Robbie Ryder, loads of extras
Malik Tarcel, the Shi'ar recruit's been promoted to Nova Prime (wearing Rich's costume) and his fellow early recruits react. Meanwhile, Robbie isn't pleased to find out that he's been given a desk job.
pg13-22
App: Rich Ryder, Dr. Necker
Rich is worried about Robbie, convinced he doesn't have the arrogance to be a superhero. Meanwhile, Necker says that her & Greunwald's efforts to cure him were cut short by HAMMER, but there might be some favours she can call in - if he can avoid asking questions, since it's "delicate".
They go to an abandoned drive-in, where Necker activates a lift that takes their car down to a hidden lab. Rich briefly wonders if she's an agent of SHIELD ("No. I'm really not.") until he spots a certain beehive-helmeted uniform lying on a chair. The fact that she works for AIM makes Rich really uncomfortable, and he tells her not to bother even after she says there's be "no strings attached", and walks out.
She follows him out, not to try and talk him out of it ("I find your boy scout principles frustrating, but I understand. It's just how Robert used to describe you), but to give him something - the Quantum Flask. They kiss, and then he smashes the QF to make sure AIM doesn't get it after he's dead...
...and from the explosion that results, Quasar emerges, babbling out the plot to GOTG2 12 and generally looking very excited. He gives him the Q-bands, saying he thinks they can save him, and tells him to put them on. As Rich does so, he fades out, and Rich is left floating there in Quasar's ANN:NO costume.
Notes:
While we "know" from alternate versions that Dr Necker's full first name is "Evelyn", here she just gives "Eve" to Rich and has "Dr Eve Necker" on her answer phone. Since at no point is she called Evelyn, I'm just listing her as "NECKER, DR. EVE".
Goofs:
The Worldmind's hologram is depicted for most of the next three issues with a six-pointed Centurion star when it should have the eight-pointed Prime star (but not quite all - on page 5 of this issue, it's shown both ways).
_________________
NOVA v4 #24
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Andrea DiVito
Cast:
NOVA CENTURION/SUKI YUMIKO (last NO4 22, dies)
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL
NOVA CENTURION/NOVA PRIME/MALIK TARCEL
NOVA CENTURION/LUCAS MAATS (seen only as partial corpse being fried)
NOVA CENTURION/JOSH ATWATER (dies)
Imperial Guard:
GLADIATOR
MANTA RAY
WARSTAR (silver, may be a new one)
ELECTRON (Cosmic Boy analogue)
FLASHFIRE/TEMPEST
IMPULSE
STRONTIAN/XENITH
(All black. Cosmo? - not to be confused with the dog from GotG)
Bug guy
Savage-dragon-with-a-beard
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN
EGO, THE LIVING PLANET
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND
Summary:
pg1-9
"The Gulf of Sarenta, Kree Territory, Hour 103 of the Kree-Shi'ar War"->Nil-Rast and "System Operations, Nu-Xandar"
App: Centurion Suki Yumiko, Ego, Worldmind, C. Robbie Ryder, C. Qubit, C. Irani Rael, C. Lucas Maats, C. Josh Atwater, Nova Prime Malik Tarcel, Gladiator, Impulse, Manta Ray, (black Guard), Warstar, Electron, Flashfire, lots of Shi'ar and Nova extras
Robbie has to verbally coach Suki Yumiko through most of a fight (he would rather be where she is, she would rather be where he is), as lots of people on either side die all around her. The Novas are beating the Shi'ar back, however... then the Imperial Guard arrive.
pg10-12
"Zaros System, Eighteen Parsecs from the Kree Frontier"
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Quasar, Ego, Worldmind-OP, nominally lots of extras
Rich, still wearing the Quasar costume (although he's never called Quasar) has a word with Quasar, who's stuck as a "ghostly co-pilot" while he's got the bands - which are working as far as keeping Rich alive goes - while watching Ego/WM grab "ten, twelve thousand" forcible recruits from Zaros Three. Rich launches an attack on Ego, while creating loads of quantum duplicates of himself as decoys.
pg13-18
"Nil-Rast." [and System Operations]
App: Gladiator, Impulse, Manta Ray, Warstar, Electron, Flashfire, N.P. Tarcel, C. Suki Yumiko, C. Robbie Ryder, C. Irani Rael, C. Qubit, (black I.Guard. Also similar/same design in silver...), Strontian, (two unidentifiable "Praetorians"), C. Josh Atwater, lots of Nova extras
The Guard wipe the floor with the Nova Corps. Tarcel is forced to surrender, and the other surviving Novas are rounded up.
With that done, "Strontian" turns up, telling Gladiator that Vulcan's ordered her and her "Praetorians" to take over, and he wants Gladiator (and his crew?) back on the Shi'ar flagship. Gladiator grabs Tarcel and flies off.
With Gladiator gone, Strontian wastes no time in using the remaining Novas as "practice targets", and Robbie & co watch as their vital signs all flatline.
pg19-22
"Above Nu-Xandar"->Ego's Brain!
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Quasar, Ego/Worldmind hybrid
With the decoys keeping Ego/WM's attention at bay, Rich flies through a cranial vent to Ego's brain. There, he sees one of the WM's holograms - which turns round to reveal Ego's face before blasting him.
Continuity notes:
Nil-Rast was where Ko-Rel was killed back in #6. Novas don't have good luck there.
Strontian's line that Vulcan wants Gladiator "back at the flagship without delay. He wants [him] to be present when he greets Lilandra" places this issue between War of Kings #1 and #2
Goofs:
Calendar notes:
Timeframe:
_________________
NOVA v4 #25
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (hereafter "DnA")
Art: Kevin Sharpe
"Empire of the Mind"
Cast:
NOVA/RICHARD RYDER/NOVA PRIME
QUASAR III/WENDELL ELVIS VAUGHN
XANDARIAN WORLDMIND
- KO-REL (as WM memory engram)
- RHOMANN DEY (as WM memory engram)
MENTOR
VULCAN/GABRIEL SUMMERS
NOVA CENTURION/ROBERT RYDER
NOVA CENTURION/QUBIT
NOVA CENTURION/IRANI RAEL
NOVA CENTURION/NOVA PRIME/MALIK TARCEL
NOVA CENTURION/DAVID GREEN
NOVA CENTURION/FREYA SHANE
NOVA CENTURION/KYLE DYNE
NOVA CENTURION/ZYZIWC TIEL
SUPERNOVA/GARTHAN SAAL
Summary:
pg1-3
"Cerebral Matrix, Nu-Xandar"
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Ego/Worldmind hybrid
Rich, now convinced that the WM's erratic behaviour is all Ego's fault, tries to shield himself from the blasts, while Ego/WM protests that "There is no Worldmind. There is no Ego. There is only both."
pg3:4:3 + pg4-5 + 6:1:1
"System Operations, Nu-Xandar"->space
App: Centurion Robert Rider, C. Qubit, C. Irani Rael, various (unidentifiables), Ego
After what happened to Suki and the other Centurions, with no Nova Prime and with the WM unresponsive, Robert decides to abuse his position in System Operations to write himself some orders to search for survivors on Nil-Rast - and while Irani isn't happy, she can't actually find any rules he's breaking. Qubit does the same thing, and they fly off.
pg6-7
"Imperial Shi'ar Flagship Hammer II, Detention Deck"
App: Mentor, Nova Prime Malik Tarcel, Vulcan, (extras)
When Tarcel refuses to state his name for either Mentor or Vulcan - even after Mentor demonstrates that he knows all about him - Vulcan skips straight to the torture.
pg8-12
"Cerebral Matrix, Nu-Xandar"
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Quasar, Ego/Worldmind hybrid, Ko-Rel (WM engram), Rhomann Dey (WM engram)
Rich is having trouble using the Q-bands, and Quasar tells him that he needs to think bigger - Ego's blasts are telepathic as well as physical, and he needs to create a sanctuary. As a result, he makes a mock-up of his childhood room, and it blocks Ego/WM out completely for a short time.
Taking a minute to think, Rich decides to try and do unto the WM what the WM did for him in Nova #7, and attempt to pick out any "clean" bits of the WM. It kind-of works, and Ko-Rel and Rhomann Day appear in the room - representing, as Ko-Rel puts it, "the little part of [the WM] that's not bugfark."
After Rhomann Day puts his foot in it by worrying that professional-resurrectee Quasar will find them being dead uncomfortable, they explain that the WM was indeed driven crazy by trying to maintain Rich's sanity - not helped by the transmode infection or the Galactus episode - and Ego's just "fanning the flames", and that Rich needs to (1) disarm it by taking back the Nova Force and (2) purge Ego's influence "so that the Worldmind's higher functions can be repaired and reinstalled", just as Ego breaks through the wall.
pg13-19
"System Operations"-> Hub
App: Ego/Worldmind hybrid, Centurion Irani Rael, C. David Green, C. Freya Shane, C. Kyle Dyne, C. Zyziwc Tiel, Nova/Rich Ryder, Quasar, (various unidentifiable Centurions)
Ego/WM appears in the System Operations room, and puppeteers the Novas there into helping it - and so, as Rich flies away from another holo-head, he's attacked by the Novas from another direction.
As he finally breaks into a recreation of the Hub (from ANN:NO 1) where the Nova Force is visible as a glowing ball, he's finally brought down by a mind-controlled Irani. They pour on their attacks until Rich shouts that even when the WM had lost his mind, rebuilding the Corps, etc was all designed to help HIM. This freezes all of them, and he makes it to the ball of Nova Force, transforming him back into Nova Prime. He throws the Q-bands back to Quasar and lobotomises Ego with a huge gravimetric burst.
pg20-22 + 23:1:1
[Hub, shortly afterward]
App: Nova/Rich Ryder, Worldmind, Ko-Rel-as-Worldmind
The Worldmind, apparently restored, thanks Rich for all he did for him - and says goodbye. The guide personality Rich has known as the Worldmind has been irrevocably corrupted by all that's happened, and to heal, it needs to "expunge this personality and install an undamaged replacement." There's barely time for Rich to say goodbye before he's gone...
...and the new WM is mocking Rich for being confused. Rich turns round to see Ko-Rel's head looking down at him. After some more snarking, she establishes that getting the Nova Force back has fixed Rich... but only for as long as he has it. She's not too concerned about it driving him nuts like it did Garthan Saal - he seems to have coped okay.
pg23
"Imperial Shi'ar Flagship Hammer II, Detention Deck"
App: Nova Prime Malik Tarcel, Supernova/Garthan Saal
Speaking of whom, Malik Tarcel has a visitor...
Notes:
Ego/Worldmind's account of how the WM found Ego here appears to be at odds with what was said in issue 21 - in that issue, Rich observes that the WM must have been working on terraforming Ego for "weeks", and the WM corrects him to "months". Here, they appear to suggest that Ego only responded to the same distress call that led the five Centurions to Earth in #19. Not irreconcilable - things may only have got really bad after WM actually uploaded into Ego in #20, but the WM could have worked on Ego before - but it doesn't read 100% right.
I'm unsure about how to list the new Worldmind. She's clearly got continuity of identity with the outgoing WM ("I expunged my old guide personality and installed a new one, like I told you I was going to do"), so the WM presumably keeps the same listing despite the vaguely Doctor Who regeneration. But does Ko-Rel also get a listing? It's not a superficial skin, her personality is actually driving the ship now, and she also seems to use "me" to refer to Ko-Rel as well as the WM.
(Moreover, there's an argument that she should be BTS every time the WM is listed from her death onward, as should all the dead Novas & Xandarians, since the WM is the gestalt consciousness of all the dead Novas/Xandarians/etc. I haven't gone there to date because that way madness lies, but I mention it because it's a valid argument, and this sort of thing makes it harder to ignore - if the previous WM guide personality was based on a single Xandarian, we don't know who it was and so it wasn't an issue.)
Garthan Saal was last seen dying on Earth as "Nova Omega" (in a very different costume) at the end of NW 75, and passing his bit of Nova Force onto Rich. Exactly what's going on here with his apparent reappearance as Supernova will presumably be explained in time...
Goofs:
Whoever chose the artist, goofed. If it's a last-minute fill in it's bad, if not it's worse.