Stop, It’s Hammer Time — Reviewing ‘Nova: Centurion’ #3

Sometimes vengeance is served not through the most powerful weapons at one’s disposal but the most general tools at hand. The last remaining Nova Corps member lives this truth as the hunt for Ravenous and the stolen Mysterium comes to a conclusion.

Jed MacKay, Álvaro López, Matteo Della Fonte, Mattia Iacono, and Joe Caramagna really turn things on their head in Nova: Centurion #3.

If there is one thing that is true about anything from MacKay, the characterization is worth the price of admission alone. Good thing there is also a lot more than that which makes his books a real dense gorgeous tapestry.

I love the way that he wields continuity here as a strengthener, not a detractor and never letting these beats really weigh things down. He goes into enough depth that the moment feels authentic and worth cheering when things happen. Even those not familiar with Annihilation (a story about to be 20 years old … ouch) will understand the bone Nova has to pick with Ravenous. Their animosity and history are detailed enough to give power to the moment and never becomes overwhelming.

No spoilers, but damn that final beat in the battle and the last page’s reveal.

There is something really stark and raw about the artwork that López and Della Fonte are delivering here. They give everything a worn and dense lived in type of feeling which really is a grand aesthetic for space stuff, specially law and crime related space stuff, with Nova riding the line between the two quite a bit.

The art is tightly contained in some spots while wildly grand in others is also some good stuff (Especially some of those big fight scenes and really detailed pages that make up the bulk of the events). Feelings of wonder and awe find themselves sliding into the work, as does this tense bold hard to quantify feeling.

This would also describe the colors from Iacono, resting in that space between light and dark to really make the middle neutral space home and giving everything that particular foundation to rest upon so that the shifts toward darker or vibrant are easier swings. Both happening at the same time in some spaces serve to the betterment of all that is happening.

All of this translates into the lettering as well. Caramagna pulling from his expertise to keep the voices and feelings tight and distinctive and sliding in the right little shifts that are necessary to reach the right tone and sound for the moment. I still love the work always done to make sure the Worldmind’s robotic voice has that instant appeal to it as we read the words.

Nova: Centurion #3 is now available from Marvel Comics.