With credits that include 2000 AD, Death’s Head 2, Doctor Who and Legion Lost, it’s safe to say that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning know how to tell cosmic stories. Having destroyed the NovaCorps within the pages of Annhilation: Nova and launching the Human Rocket into his new status quo, Abnett and Lanning have taken the reigns on his freshly minted ongoing series. Now, with Nova #1 selling out a Marvel, we felt it was about time to sit down with writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning about the future of the last living member of the NovaCorps and what’s in store during the next wave of the Annihilation.

PopCultureShock: Rich Rider has undergone several changes since The Man Called Nova first appeared. So bring us up to speed, who is Richard Rider now and how has Annihilation effected the former New Warrior?

DnA: Rich is now the last of the Nova Corps, the sole remaining part of the Xandarian legacy. He carries inside him the entirety of the Nova Force (the power source that used to be shared by all Novas), and also the Worldmind, the sum total of all Xandarian knowledge. So he’s very, very powerful. The war has also matured him a lot. He’s grown up.

PopCultureShock: As mentioned, Nova was one of the founding members of the New Warriors. How will the actions, and deaths, of the New Warriors in Civil War effect Nova? Not only having have his former teammates died but so have the rest of the Nova Corp, is it a bad time to be a friend of the Human Rocket?

DnA: It’s a bad time to be the Human Rocket, certainly. He’s learning to roll with the punches, but it’s tough. When he goes home, the news of the Civil War hits him hard.

PopCultureShock: The Galaxy is a pretty big place for one person to impose law on, is there any possibilities of Rider starting up his own Nova Corp?

DnA: He’s thought about that, but he does’t want to do it half-arsed, and he hasn’t got time to do the project justice right now (too many emergencies to answer). So that’s on hold. The Wordmind really, really wants him to do it, though… the Worldmind would even sanction setting up a new Corps in a hasty fashion, just to get one going. This is what Rich wants to avoid.

PopCultureShock: A new New Warriors book is in the works, Speedball under the name Penance is in Thunderbolts and Justice is appearing in the Initiative. Which leaves us to wonder, any possibilities of a crossover in the near future?

DnA: We’ll see a couple of those characters in Nova’s book, around issue 2/3. Not so much a cross-over as looking up old friends.

PopCultureShock: It seems to be a continuing trend these days to bring the more “light hearted” characters back “grim and gritty”, with Speedball/Penance being a prime example. What tone are you trying to set for the new Nova series and is there any light in a universe decimated by the Annihilation wave?

DnA: Well, yeah it is gritty and real, and we’ve tried to make Nova more ‘realistic’. The war was truly nasty (Keith Giffen did a great job of making it seem raw and real), and we think that’s the way to go…. however, we’ve tried not to lose sight of the fact that Rich is a young, positive guy. He’s got a sense of humour (maybe it’s a little darker now) and we’ve worked hard to keep that, especially in his banter with the Worldmind. There is a lightness in some of the characterization to keep the full weight of grim and gritty at bay.

PopCultureShock: Outside of the WorldMind, what other characters can we look to see in Nova’s supporting cast? Will there be any familiar faces from Annihilation, or any of his other series, along for the ride?

DnA: We can say yes, in general, but we can’t specify yet. Big Marvel announcements planned for the New York Con this coming saturday.

PopCultureShock: With the Nova mini-series there was a goal of refreshing and redefining the characters. Have you set any goals for the character of what you wish to accomplish in the series?

DnA: Nova deserves to be a well-recognised, mainstream marvel Universe character (even if he is cosmic). We want to make him and keep him a regular first division character, not an also ran with a bucket on his head who turns up in the background when the big stars have a cross-over.

PopCultureShock: What can you tell us about the opening arc of the new series? How long has it been since the end of Annihilation and when we next see Richard Rider?

DnA: Approximately two months. It’s the aftermath, a cosmos trying to recover from a shocking war. Rich has been busy brinigng law to the lawless ever since the war ended, but it’s a tall order, and he’s getting tired. Maybe dangerously tired….

PopCultureShock: Will we see any of Nova’s old rogues gallery or will we see a whole new array of villains to plague old Buckethead?

DnA: Both. Can’t say any more than that or it’ll spoil some surprises.

PopCultureShock: It was recently announced that Nova would be part of Annihilation: Conquest. What can you tell us about the event?

DnA: It’s going to be big, of course, a catastrophic event that threatens the whole of Kree Space… and ultimately the entire Marvel Universe too. We can’t tell you what the threat is, but if you thought Annihilus was a surprise last time, just wait. This revelation will make your socks roll up and down!

PopCultureShock: Outside of Nova’s participation in Conquest, you will both be writing the prologue and mini-series of Annihilation: Conquest as well. Did Marvel bring the concept to you or was this an idea that you thought would make for an excellent follow up to the first one?

DnA: Marvel liked what we did with Nova during Annihilation so they asked us to head up this event. The concept essentially grew out of a story line we’d planned to do in the Nova ongoing. Bill (Rosemann), Tom (Brevoort) and Andy (Schmidt) thought it could be developed into a multi-character cosmic event, with repercussions for everyone.

PopCultureShock: With the Nova spinning out of the first Annihilation only to come into the second one a few issues later, has it made creating an identity for the book?

DnA: We don’t think so. The first three issues of the ongoing are pretty much a ‘state of the nation’, Nova wise, issues that really get to grips with Nova, his back story, and his place in the new, changed MU. Issues four to seven of Nova will then be the equivalent of his Conquest ‘mini series’, running alongside the Quasar, Star-Lord and Wraith mini-series. Nova gets involved in this story in the most unusual and shocking way.

PopCultureShock: How has the experience of working on the first Annihilation differed from Conquest with you taking on the reigns of the main mini-series?

DnA: Collaboration is always fun whether you’re team leader or part of the team. We had a blast working on Nova and fitting into Keith Giffen’s scheme for Annihilation last year. It’s a real buzz to be allowed to ‘mastermind’ an event (and use some characters we’ve always wanted to play with) and the teams working on the other mini series are producing some great stories. We hope they’re enjoying the framework we’ve set up! It’s also fantastic to be working with artists like Mike Perkins (the Prologue) and Tom Raney (the Conquest mini); you should see what those guys are producing!

PopCultureShock: Outside of your Nova work you both have been keeping quite busy, from inking 52 to writing a novel for Torchwood (a Doctor Who spin off on the BBC). What have those experiences been like?

DnA: Great. We both like to keep busy. Andy is Mr Super-Inker as ever, and Dan’s writing his twenty fifth novel (“Only in Derath” a Gaunt’s Ghost novel for the Black Library). 52 kept Andy awful busy, and Torchwood allowed Dan to visit the set, read the scripts and the low-down on the series before it was aired.

PopCultureShock: What else can fans of your work look forward to outside of the pages of Nova?

DnA: More of the same, only better and better ;) Big inking projects in the works for Andy. Dan’s latest novel, Ravenor Rogue, is out right now, in stores alongside his best-selling Torchwood novel.