Super Heroes #6 - Written by Paul Tobin, pencils by Scott Koblish with cover by Clayton Henry.
The Executioner is easily one of the deadliest foes Thor has ever faced, and in their loooong history of battlefield clashes, perhaps the strangest one of all time was on... a pirate ship?
It's an untold tale of the past, where the God of Thunder stands alone against the most ruthless pirate on Earth, and the most merciless of all Asgard's warriors!
Rated All Ages - 32 pgs./$2.99 - On Sale September 15th
Heroic Age: Heroes #1 - Written by various with cover by Tom Raney.
Enter the Heroic Age!
In the aftermath of SIEGE, Steve Rogers assesses the state of Earth's heroes in this 64-page extravaganza of character files!
From old friends like Thor to newcomers such as Reptil, Steve asks this question: what makes them heroes?
Find out how he really feels, and see how your favorite hero ranks in this ultimate countdown!
Rated T+ - 64 pgs./$3.99 - On Sale September 15th
Secret Avengers #5 - Written by Ed Brubaker, pencils by TBA with cover by Marko Djurdjevic. Variant cover by Mike Deodato. Super Hero Squad Variant also available.
A secret foe has been revealed - or has he?
Find out everything you need to know about the OTHER Nick Fury as Secret Avengers continues to explore the volatile landscape of Marvel's new Heroic Age!
Rated T+ - 32 pgs./$3.99 - On Sale September 22nd
Xandar Restoration ProtocolsSpecial Note: The following is speculation on the emergency plan known as the Xandar Restoration Protocols which were featured in New Warriors #40 - #42. The purpose of this theory is to resolve a few unfinished plotlines from Nova's continuity and tie together the events of the SuperNova Saga (Avengers #301-#303) and the StarLost Saga (New Warriors #40-#42). These unresolved plotlines include:
1) What happened to Zorr's starship in Earth orbit? (The Man Called Nova #1)
The Xandar Restoration Protocols were set in place sometime after the Xandar/Skrull War when the Xandarians realized their world, culture and technology had faced complete extinction from the Skrulls. As a result, the Protector and Queen Adora initiated a series of primary directives that would allow the Xandarians to survive even if their domed worlds were completely destroyed. These directives included:
A) Salvation of one of the domed worlds (the one housing the Living Computers). To achieve the first two goals, the Xandarians required a method to transport a city to safekeeping. Ironically, they decided to use a vessel which had nearly caused their original destruction; the Luphomoid starship of Zorr. After destroying the original Xandarian homeworld and being left empty in Earth orbit following Zorr's death (The Man Called Nova #1, Fantastic Four #203), the starship was retrieved by the Xandarians in the early days of their conflict with the Skrulls. A ship capable of planetary-scale destruction, along with the Nova Prime Starship, would have allowed a small world consisting of four domed cities to survive the assault of an empire (Fantastic Four #203-#209 & Rom #24).
With the citizens and Living Computers safely stored on the starship, the entire Nova Force (minus a small sliver) would be given to a chosen Xandarian. It mostly likely would have been the Centurion Nova Prime who led the Nova Corps. The CNP would have been judged to be the strongest and most stable of the Xandarians and the Nova Corps to hold the enormous energy of the entire Nova Force. At the time, Adora's husband, Tanak Valt, was the Centurion Nova Prime following the surrender of the power by Richard Rider of Earth.
However, the Nova Force was too much for Saal's mental state and he went insane from the power (Avengers #301-#303). Saal (now called Supernova) chose to pursue Nebula in order to gain revenge. The Living Computers attempted to control and protect Supernova until they could get to Earth but failed. Following a battle with the Avengers, Saal lost complete control and destroyed the starship in an enormous gravimetric pulse (Avengers #301).
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However, if they were to face an even greater singular force, the starship would be large enough to take one of the domed
cities to safety and powerful enough to provide it with protection and security. The Xandarians greatly modified the starship
to be compatible with their technology and created a large circular docking port in the center to hold the domed city. The
technological modifications would also allow the ship to hold the physical brains of the Living Computers and a large number
of Xandarian citizens.
When Nebula arrived in Sanctuary II and attacked Xandar as revenge for her
father Zorr's death (Avengers #260), the Protector and Adora
activated the protocols. The domed world containing the physical brains of the Living Computers and the chosen citizens were
moved into the starship with the citizens placed into suspended animation to save resources. However, Valt was killed
alongside his allies in the Champions of Xandar soon after Nebula's attack began. With Valt dead, the choice was made to use
Garthan Saal (either by random or he was second in line) as the recipient of the Nova Force. Saal may not have been properly
prepared to receive the power or his mental condition wasn't as stable as Valt's. It was decided that Saal was acceptable
since the Living Computers would be with him on the starship to keep him sane.
The one sliver of Nova Force not given to Saal had been given to Richard Rider of Earth albeit in a dormant state. Adora
felt that Rider had embodied the spirit of Xandar and his location on Earth would ensure that the Nova Force would be secure.
Before Nebula destroyed Xandar completely, Adora was able to send the sliver of Nova Force to Rider and she died soon
afterwards (Nova: The Human Rocket #1). The protocols required the bearer of the Nova Force (Saal) to take the starship to Earth's solar system. Once
the ship was safely in orbit, Saal would locate Rider and awaken his powers. With all of the Nova Force active on the same
dimensional plane, Saal and Rider would merge forms and become the living embodiment of the Nova Force. It was decided that
Rider (with the stronger will) would take conscious control of the Nova Force and use it to energize the domed city. The
Xandarians would begin rebuilding Xandar on an uninhabited world somewhere in the universe.
Despite the destruction of the starship, the Xandarians were able to survive. The Restoration Protocols also contained a
secondary, although riskier, set of actions. On Xandar, a non-organic backup database of the entire knowledge of Xandar
called the WorldMind was taken to the most secure location inside one of the remaining domed cities. This secure location
would also contain cloning equipment along with DNA samples of all Xandarians. In the event that the starship was destroyed,
Saal was to reactivate Rider's powers that would also remotely activate the cloning equipment on Xandar. Once Saal and Rider
returned to Xandar, they would reactivate the dormant WorldMind. This secondary set of protocols was much riskier than the
primary since there was no guarantee that the secured location would survive Xandar's destruction. However, as history shows
(New Warriors #40-#42), the Restoration Protocol's secondary plan was successful in restoring Xandar. The only action not necessary was the
reactivation of Rider's powers by Saal since Night Thrasher had already done this for his own agenda (New Warriors #1).
