Marvel is on a roll with the teen books lately. I’ve previously praised the new Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man a few times each…but now it looks like, as Yoda once said, there is another.

I’m not overly familiar with Nova. I could pick him out of a lineup. I could tell you he has something to do with an outer space–based police corps of the same name, not entirely unlike the Green Lantern Corps. I’ve seen this young new Nova in All-New, All-Different Avengers. And that was the extent of my knowledge as I began Nova #1.

We begin on Earth. The previous Nova—now working as a high school janitor—tells his son Sam stories about his glory days saving the galaxy as a member of the Nova Corps. Naturally, Sam thinks he’s making it all up—his unreliable father is no hero in his eyes. And Sam is feeling stuck in his small hometown, hoping to escape someday.

It’s a great entryway into the fantastical outer space adventures to come, making it all seem too good to be true.

The book includes many essential ingredients of a successful teen superhero book. We’ve got the bleeding of fantasy into reality, a flawed but good-hearted parent who isn’t making the teen’s situation any easier, and a powerful desire to escape life’s limits and do something amazing. We also get a cameo by some of the Guardians of the Galaxy, which certainly doesn’t hurt.

Very strong start here.

Writer: Jeph Loeb

Penciler: Ed McGuinness

Inker: Dexter Vines

Publisher: Marvel Comics

How to Read It: back issues; Marvel Unlimited; Comixology; included in Nova vol. 1: Origin (TPB)

Appropriate For: ages 11 and up