Nova No. 18

This is issue #18 of the Nova series launched by Marvel in 2013, a tie-in chapter of the "Original Sin" event. The protagonist, Sam Alexander, is a teenager from Arizona who, after his father's disappearance, picks up the Nova helmet his father left behind and becomes a new recruit of the Nova Corps. In this issue, Sam, his mother, and his sister build a small memorial shrine at home using the Nova Corps helmets he has collected along the way; he then bids his mother farewell and flies into space. On the moon, he is horrified to discover that the Watcher Uatu has been murdered and lies dead there. The bewildered young Nova rushes to New York for help and is swept into a melee involving Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Thing, and "No-Brain," and briefly clashes with the "Exterminatrix" Maris Morlock. Just as everyone tries to track down the killer, the eight-ball calling himself "Eyeball" holds up the Watcher's eye, triggering a violent explosion. In the aftermath, Sam is hurled into a distant memory: his father, Jesse Alexander, in a golden Nova Corps uniform, stands before his comrades and opens fire on them. The alien Nova warrior Adomox removes his helmet and expresses doubt about whether Sam is truly a friend of Rocket Raccoon. Sam awakens from the vision, so shocked and pained that he can no longer bring himself to put on the helmet. This is a turning-point chapter themed around "everyone has a secret," in which the boy's heroic path becomes entangled with his father's dark history.