Marvel Comics wasted Richard Rider's Nova. In 1976, writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Buscema introduced comic book readers to the man called Nova. Richard Rider was created as a homage to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Spider-Man, a teenager who was granted super-powers and struggled to balance the demands of everyday life with his newfound responsibility as a superhero and a member of the cosmic Nova Corps.
Nova remained something of a C-list hero in the comics for decades, until 2006 when he became a major player in the cosmic "Annihilation" event. This saw the planet Xandar destroyed, and Richard Rider became the last of the Nova Corps, absorbing all their power into himself. Suddenly the Human Bullet was essentially the Nova Prime, one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe, able to trade blows with the likes of Thanos and Annihilus. He was even bonded with the Xandarian Worldmind, a sophisticated artificial intelligence that served as his advisor.
In 2007, Marvel Comics launched a new Nova series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, working with top-quality artists Sean Chen and Adi Granov. This spun out of "Annihilation," and explored Richard's role as the last Nova Centurion in a universe ravaged by war. The buddy cop relationship between Richard and the Worldmind was key to making the book work, and readers swiftly realized Nova had grown up. The point was ably demonstrated in an early arc in which Nova returned to Earth, arriving in the aftermath of the superhero civil war. Nova stood in judgment over the entire superhero community, pointing out they'd been absorbed in their own petty affairs at a time when the entire universe was at risk. "I pulled [Annihilus] inside out and saved the universe," Nova told Tony Stark. "What have you done lately, Tony?" It wasn't long before he was facing off against the Thunderbolts, who considered him a rogue superhuman. He staggered them by reading them their rights under galactic law, clearly intending to take them down with extreme prejudice.
Nova's star was clearly rising, and in 2010 Marvel announced he was becoming a member of the latest team of Secret Avengers. Fans were delighted, believing Richard Rider had finally made it into the big leagues. Back in 2010, the Avengers were easily Marvel's most exciting franchise, with readers particularly excited given the build-up going on towards them on the big screen. Unfortunately, Nova's fanbase was doomed to disappointment, because Nova was only present in the first Secret Avengers arc, under the control of an artifact called the Serpent Crown. He was then thrown into the next cosmic event, "The Thanos Imperative," which saw Nova sacrifice himself to save the universe.
It was the worst possible decision. Marvel had built an impressive sense of momentum around Richard Rider, and then they had killed it off. Death is a revolving door in superhero comics, so it's no surprise Richard is now back; but for all that's the case, Marvel has never again seemed to know what to do with him. His star shone brightly for a time, and then it was snuffed out. Hopefully one day another writer will pick the original Nova up again and give him another chance to shine on a cosmic scale.