Learn The Fate Of Nova In Guardians Of The Galaxy #18

No worries, the current Nova, Sam Alexander, is alive and well. But the previous man to hold that identity, Richard Rider? That’s a different story, one that hasn’t been told up to now.

When last we saw the last Nova, he was struggling alongside Star-Lord to save the Marvel Universe from Thanos in a dark alternate reality. Star-Lord and Thanos survived and returned, but Nova apparently made the ultimate sacrifice to save everything and everyone.

Or did he? Brian Michael Bendis knows the answer, and says he has for some time.

“We have literally been dropping hints since the Guardians guest-starred in Avengers Assemble,” Bendis said in an interview with Marvel.com. “I have known exactly what we were doing with this from the moment I agreed to do the book, but I thought it would be best to slow burn the reveal.”

That burn will pay off in August in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy #18, where Bendis and Ed McGuinness will show not only how Star-Lord and Thanos made it out alive but also reveal what happened to Nova.

“This is a story Brian Bendis has been dying to tell for several years,” Executive Editor Mike Marts said in a press release. “Now that time is finally here and we can’t wait for readers to find out what happened to Richard Rider!”

Check out the sweet Alex Ross variant cover and place your bets on Nova’s fate before we get the answers this summer in yet another Original Sin tie-in.