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Andy Mokler
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 January 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 2799
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 11:39am | IP Logged | 1
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Not only did JB not do very much with Nova, he doesn't even give a crap about him. A double-whammy for my nostalgic self.
I've read from other sources that the Nova statue is cobbled together from earlier efforts so I guess the possibility is there. It still looks good but it sort of mirrors the character's career in comics. He gets a statue, but we're not going to put the same effort into it that we would other characters.
As bad as some of the stuff with Nova has been in comics, I still fall back on the premise as why I like the character. One of Spider-Man's real strengths as a character is the reader being able to identify with him. Well for me, it was a lot easier to identify with Nova because he was pretty average. As likable as Peter was, he was also orphaned and a scientific genius. Those two things always kept me from really identifying with the character.
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David Ferguson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2007
Location: Ireland
Posts: 6782
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 11:47am | IP Logged | 2
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I don't give a crap about him either but the bust is just plain better!
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Thanos Kollias
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 June 2004
Location: Greece
Posts: 5009
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | 3
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I kinda like it that the statue doesn't show the eyes. I think that's what the costume looked like in the comics. The arms and the golden helmet look better in the bust, but the yellow lines on Nova's legs was the one thing in his uniform that set him appart for me, so I kinda like the statue about equally...
I agree with Andy (whose avatar is a JB Nova, btw!) about Nova being the average guy in ways Spider-Man couldn't. Peter attended a radiology experiment at the age of 15-16, while Nova literally had the power thrown on his head. The latter could happen to anyone, the former only to a genius geek.
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Gerry Turnbull
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Scotland
Posts: 8766
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 1:10pm | IP Logged | 4
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the white eyes look photoshopped
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133317
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | 5
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There were elements of Nova that I liked -- I thought it was cute when he met Thor and called him "sir", for instance -- but the origin was so blatantly ripped off from Green Lantern, and so full of insane Wolfman Science (a spaceship larger than Saturn orbiting Earth!) that I could never quite plug into it.One curious point -- NOVA and OMEGA, THE UNKNOWN were each said to be "old time comics" by the writers, Wolfman in the first case, Steve Gerber in the latter. Kind of reminiscent of when Frank Miller and I set out to do "old time comics" -- I do GENERATIONS, he does DK2.
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Patrick Graffin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 July 2008
Posts: 296
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:03pm | IP Logged | 6
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I liked the "rip off" element of Nova from the GL Corps - but the character fizzled -- much like my love of the mini-bust. I owned it, displayed it, packed it away and am now thinking of selling it. It is a GREAT bust, though. Statue is nice -- but I'm not thrilled with it for reason cited above, even given the Aves re-sculpt of the abdomen.
Something else I'm growing tired of with Randy Bowen's sculpts -- his re-use of pre-fab hands. While I can appreciate the difficulty of sculpting hands so much that when you get it right - just keep on using the same mold -- one of the subtle aspect of great artists' like John Buscema was the way he drew personality in a character's hands - especially in close up. Some of Randy's artists do seem to sculpt individual hands for each statue/mini-bust -- but I'm seeing Randy re-use the same hand position / fist position on numerous sculpts. Jim Maddox is an artist over at Bowen who seems to add distinct personality to each sculpt.
I guess, since I've got over 100 of his busts/statues, I'm just turining into a picky fan. I only buy Bowen due to the quality - so it's disheartening to see shortcuts.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133317
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:12pm | IP Logged | 7
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When I hear "shortcuts" I think of the SECRET WARS Doctor Doom action
figure, that had Iron Man's arms and legs (which Shooter did his best to
justify to me when I complained about it). Until Randy gets to that point, I
have no complaints!
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Patrick Graffin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 July 2008
Posts: 296
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | 8
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well -- here's a Nova with Captain Marvel's legs....
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Eric Smearman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 5823
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | 9
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Love both of those Nova sculpts. I wish he still looked like that. Can't stand his current look.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133317
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:28pm | IP Logged | 10
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I'm reminded of a kid -- mid teens -- who stood for more than an hour
watching me doing sketches at a MidOhioCon one year, then offered the
criticism that I always drew the ribcage the same way. "You think I should
draw ribs different?"
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Patrick Graffin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 July 2008
Posts: 296
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| Posted: 02 September 2008 at 3:31pm | IP Logged | 11
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I was only standing there for 45 minutes....
:-)
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Leigh DJ Hunt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 February 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1570
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| Posted: 03 September 2008 at 4:09am | IP Logged | 12
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>Love both of those Nova sculpts. I wish he still looked like that. Can't stand his current look.
I love the look and the book! And Paul Pelletier is one of my favourite of the current Byrne-inspired artists.
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