| “ | Amazing. It's everything dad talked about. The speed. The power. It is like being a human rocket! | „ |
| ~ Sam Alexander on the powers of the Nova helmet. |
| “ | You know what's special about us? This thing we do? All of us inherited it from people who came before us. Without Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, and the Nova Corps, we wouldn't be here. So some people think we're the junior varsity, baby dress-up versions of the real heroes. But I like it. I like knowing that all of this is bigger than one person. | „ |
| ~ Nova. |
Nova (real name Samuel "Sam" Alexander), also known as Kid Nova, is a fictional character and superhero from Marvel comics, appearing as a major character in the Nova and Champions comics.
The son of Nova Centurion Jesse Alexander, Sam would learn that his father's tales were true and succeed him after obtaining his helmet. Becoming a young superhero, Alexander would come across numerous threats while learning what it means to be a true hero. He is a co-founder and member of the Champions, and was a previous member of the Avengers, New Warriors, and the Nova Corps.
He was created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, and first appeared in Marvel Point One #1 in November of 2011.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Samuel "Sam" Alexander was born in Carefree to Jesse and Eva Alexander, and is the brother to Kaelynn Alexander. Growing up in Arizona and attending Carefree High School, the siblings would hear of their father stories of being a Nova Centurion, but Sam believed that Jesse was only a drunk telling of false stories because of his current occupation as a janitor.
Becoming a Superhero[]
When he was thirteen years old, Sam returned home to find his father missing, and decided to go searching for him. During his search, Sam was injured after falling off his skateboard, and was taken to the hospital where he was greeted by galactic adventurers Gamora and Rocket Raccoon. The two informed Sam that Jesse's stories were true, and that they were simply looking for his father's Nova helmet, which was a black centurion helmet that give it's user powers. Once they found Jesse's helmet, they decided to give to Sam and teach him how to use it. Upon putting on the helmet, Sam immediately flew to the Moon where he encountered Uatu the Watcher, who foretold of the Chitauri preparing to invade the Earth.
After hearing of Uatu's wordds, Sam returned to Earth and proceeded to be trained by Gamora and Rocket Raccoon to prepare to protect Earth. Alexander was able to best the two after a while, and was then tasked to scout the Chitauri's ship, but would come across Jesse's former ally Titus. He explained that Jesse left the Nova Corps when they needed him to the most, and that he killed him out of revenge since he had to join the Chitauri. Angered by his words, Sam stunned him and the Chitauri and obtained the Ultimate Nullifier, which stopped Titus in his tracks. Despite hearing Titus' words, Sam didn't believe that his father was dead, and his doubts were correct since Jesse was actually captured by the Chitauri.
During his early tenure as Nova, Sam was tasked with warning others of the Phoenix Forces' arrival, but would crash land back to Earth in his attempt. He was found by the Avengers, who managed to learn of the Phoenix's arrival from Iron Man since some of the entity's energy was on Alexander's costume. Sam was left in a coma-like state due to crash landing, but was able to awake and help the Avengers fight off Cyclops, who was possessed by the Phoenix. After the battle, Sam was offered a membership to the Avengers by Thor, who was impressed by the boy's bravery. Alexander accepted the offer and returned home, but was attacked by Diamondhead, whom held a grudge against Richard Rider and Nova the Corps.
Despite enjoying his new life as a superhero, Sam found it hard in his normal life to adjust, especially keeping his secret identity from his friend and crush Carrie. He would go off to New York to find villains and came across Spider-Man (who was acutally Otto Octavius), who gave him some advice on being a hero. After cleaning his mess at a skate park, Carrie told Sam that she knew of his secret identity, causing the teenager to fly off before falling back to the ground when he took off his helmet. Awaking from his injuries, Sam came across Justice and Speedball, who offered him a position in the New Warriors. Though he initially refused, he became a reserve member after wanting to learn of his predecessor Richard Rider.
After defeating Kaldera on his first mission with the team, Sam became arrogant and started to exaggerate stories of his time in New York. Though initlaly causing distance between his teammates and Carrie, Alexander learned of his wrongs once he learned of Rider's story from Uatu. Sam continued his duties and started to help Captain Skaarn, but would learn of the captain's villainy from Beta Ray Bill, who started to attack the hero. Once he realized the truth, Nova helped Beta Ray Bill find Skaarn at Knowhere and defeated the villain.
While serving with the Avengers, Nova became close friends with Miles Morales and Kamala Kahn, two successors of famous superheroes Spider-Man and Captain Marvel. After the second civil war, the trio decided to leave the team and founded the Champions with the idea of making the world a better place. Their first mission was stopping Warlord from committing genocide against the Chitauri, but Alexander's helmet was confiscated by Scott Adsit, leading the hero to go down a spiral of depression. Despite losing the helmet, Sam remained on the team but wasn't able to fight threats like his teammates.
Portrayals[]
Telelvision[]
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, he was voiced by Logan Miller.
- Miller reprised his voice for the character in Marvel Heroes, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, Disney Infinity 3.0, and the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series.
- In Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, he was voiced by Hisayoshi Suganuma (who also voiced Sun Quan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms) in Japanese, and by Sam Riegel (who also voiced Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man tie-in video games, Steve Burnside in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, "Tennessee Kid" Cooper in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, and Teppen) in English.
Gallery[]
_-1_Page_33.jpg "Champions (2016-) -1 Page 33.jpg (1.59 MB)")
_-2_Page_9.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 9.jpg (1.67 MB)")
_-2_Page_11.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 11.jpg (1.99 MB)")
_-2_Page_12.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 12.jpg (1.96 MB)")
_-2_Page_18.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 18.jpg (1.84 MB)")
_-2_Page_19.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 19.jpg (1.28 MB)")
_-2_Page_20.jpg "Champions (2016-) -2 Page 20.jpg (2.35 MB)")
Trivia[]
- It's been implied that Sam is a human-alien hybrid, as Dark Phoenix commented on him possibly having alien heritage, and the High Evolutionary believed him to be a hybrid.
