Welcome back to Friday, and another round of comic recommendations that have absolutely nothing to do with Syracuse Orange sports.
Without sports for over two months now, we’ve been forced to expand our coverage area a little bit, since it ends up we have interests beyond SU athletics. Here’s issue No. 10 of the TNIAAM Comic Shop: Damn, Nation.
Every week, we’ll each be highlighting a worthwhile comic book to read. And for the most part, we’ll be making sure these are all selections you can read on Marvel Unlimited (not a sponsor — but they could be!) or Comixology.
John
Nova #7 — 2007 (Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning)
It’s an Annihilation Conquest crossover, but you’re not lost without that background. In general, this Nova run ends up intersecting with a lot of overarching Marvel storylines, including the Phalanx, a technovirus that threatens to overwhelm the universe. The Richard Rider character development that occurs prior to this issue is what sets the stage for a jarring turn in this one, and you get to dig deeper into the inherent issues for Rider being a human carrying the Nova Corps. mantle while maintaining who and what he is. It also gives more background to Worldmind’s responsibilities, which makes later events more impactful as well. If you believe that Nova is going to be a core part of future Marvel movies too, these stories are also good ones to brush up on.
Andy
Captain America #1 - 25 — 2018 (Ta-Nehisi Coates/Various Artists)
This was recommended to me by a commenter in a very early Comic Shop, and during my local comic shop’s blow out sale early during the shutdown, I grabbed the whole Coates Cap run to date. While it starts off a little slow, Coates is meticulously crafting a new world for Steve Rogers to navigate after a man looking and acting like him took over the US under Hydra. While the plot may be complex and a mystery that takes a while to unravel, Coates pulls no punches addressing very modern concerns about a man dressed in an American flag claiming to be a hero, and it’s another great dive into what it means to be Captain America.
Steve
Captain America Vol. 7 #25 / All-New Captain America #1 - 2014 - Rick Remender
In topical things to read, since Sam Wilson is going full out Captain / Falcon in the MCU, why not take a look at the first time that Sam donned the shield. Arnim Zola has a whole host of complications for Steve Rogers in The Tomorrow Soldier arc, ultimately resulting in, as in Endgame, Steve aging to his “current” old man state. He names Sam the new Captain America, who Hydra wastes no time coming after.