Graveyard Of The Mind — Reviewing ‘Imperial War: Nova Centurion’ #1

The cosmos are in chaos as an unseen hand plays a deadly destabilizing game with the Marvel Universe’s cosmic empires. While the readers are now aware of the culprits, the players on this demented chess board still have no clue.

Until now, that is. Imperial War: Nova Centurion #1 puts all the clues together and gives the title character (and allies) a glimpse of who’s behind the curtain. Jed MacKay, Johnathan Hickman, Matteo Della Fonte, Yen Nitro, and Cory Petit bring this deductive tale to deep vivid life.

It wasn’t hard, but this issue takes the top spot for me in this event.

While the previous three Imperial War issues (Black Panther, Planet She-Hulk, Exiles) left something to be desired, this was fun. In a morbid sort of way, I guess, since there aren’t really any fun activities going down. By fun, I mean it had a ton of character development, actually ties into Marvel continuity, remembers character relationship connections, and adds to the overall story.

I’m not shocked that the installment featuring MacKay as a co-writer would hit this point. While Hickman is a bold ‘ideas and vision’ writer, MacKay is that, plus a bold ‘character’ writer. He finds all the continuity nuggets to sow through here to make the characters richer without taking away from the story, always writing the books that are new reader and old reader friendly at the same time. That isn’t the simplest of tasks.

Together, they reach a point I wasn’t sure these books could reach. Being a solid tie-in to the event that actually also moves things forward in significant character ways. If the rest of this team follows MacKay to the upcoming ongoing series, it’ll be really a sight to behold.

I wasn’t familiar with Della Fonte’s artwork and there is a reason or that. A quick glance online showed that this is seemingly only their second piece of mass published comic book work. That’s quite a grab, to get to do an issue of an event like this, and shows again how Hickman likes to spread the wealth in initiatives he’s got a controlling hand within.

What I see on the page is really compelling. It’s a very dynamic style that has plenty of weight and depth right off the bat. It lives comfortably on the line between photo realistic and whimsical, snuggling into that shared space. There are some sharp lines and angles that give it a bit of a rougher appearance, alongside a slightly rougher texture. This gives the overall story an edge that befits the tone of what is happening.

At the same time, there is a subtle lightness to everything. Reminding us who these characters are in their bold superheroness.

Paneling is top notch with a lot of white negative space incorporated, shifting from wide splash panels to more intimate close-ups at every turn, even letting one panel’s actions bleed over into another at times, giving it a unique deeper appeal.

Yen’s name is another I’m not as familiar with, but they’ve been around the block with Marvel. The list of books featuring their name is a very eclectic and wide offering of familiar recent books.

Much like the rest of the art, the color palette balances a line quite well. Most of it is very stark and kept in a more middle or neutral space. This establishes the overall aesthetics of this world in every shot to give us a foundational backdrop upon which to draw.  It also allows the more vibrant colors to stand out even though they are also somewhat muted, delivering that fantastical popping punch expected from a story of this nature.

A little bit of roughness peppers through the color palette too, grounding things alongside the flashier elements noted before.

Much of the issue is just Nova, Richard Rider, fighting his own brain while having a mental conference with the newly activated copy of the former Nova Corps’ sentient computer Worldmind. Petit keeps the dialogue flowing and shifts things just right to showcase the different styles, tones, and feelings behind the words. He uses flashes of color, red for the mental abandoned ‘evil Worldmind’ and yellow for the newly activated version. A master of visual storytelling and planning, he allows the words to flow freely and powerfully.

Imperial War: Nova Centurion #1 is now available from DC Comics.