Nova #10
Nova #10 (10 novembre 1978) is a representative artifact of Éditions Lug's peak period as France's primary conduit for Marvel superhero comics, packaging three of Marvel's most beloved properties — Spider-Man, the Silver Surfer, and the Fantastic Four — in a single affordable digest for an entire generation of French readers. The issue carries the concluding half of Silver Surfer (1968 series) #5, a Stan Lee/John Buscema story featuring the cosmic villain the Stranger, completing a serialization that began in Nova #9 and demonstrating Lug's deliberate strategy of splitting longer American stories across monthly installments to sustain reader loyalty. As one of the early issues in a series that would run for 227 numbers across nearly two decades, #10 belongs to the founding cohort that established Nova as a fixture of the French bande dessinée landscape, introducing Marvel's cosmic and street-level characters to audiences who had no other legal, French-language access to this material.
In "Le Maître de la Haine," Spider-Man, Razorback, and Flash Thompson race against time to thwart the Hate-Monger’s dangerous rally after narrowly escaping his clutches. Written by Bill Mantlo and brought to life by Sal Buscema’s dynamic art, Mike Esposito’s inks, and the vibrant colors of Janice Cohen and Irene Vartanoff, this 1978 issue delivers a tense, high-stakes confrontation with a chilling new enemy. The cover by Jean-Yves Mitton captures the menace of the Hate-Monger in bold, striking detail.
In "Le Maître de la Haine," Spider-Man, Razorback, and Flash Thompson race against time to stop the Hate-Monger’s dangerous rally after escaping his trap, tracking the extremist leader back to the city where his influence threatens to ignite chaos. The story unfolds with relentless tension as the trio confronts the growing threat of hatred and division, each facing their own doubts and fears in the fight for what’s right.
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The Nova magazine was launched in February 1978 by Éditions Lug, a Lyon-based publisher founded in 1950 by writer/editor Marcel Navarro and businessman Auguste Vistel — the company name itself drawn from 'Lugdunum,' the city's Gallo-Roman designation. Marvel comics had reached France through Lug's earlier titles (Fantask, Strange, Titans), with Claude Vistel's 1968 trip to New York having first convinced Navarro to license Marvel material. By late 1978, when #10 appeared, the editorial team of Marcel Navarro and Claude Vistel had settled Nova into a reliable monthly rhythm, and Jean Frisano had established himself as the series' primary cover artist, producing the ink-drawn covers that would define the magazine's look for years.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published 10 novembre 1978 by Éditions Lug (Lyon, France) as issue #10 of the Nova series, which launched in February 1978.
- Physical format: 64 pages, approximately 14 × 22 cm (5½ × 8½ in.), full color — the small hybrid digest size used by Lug throughout the early run.
- Carries the concluding 20 pages of Silver Surfer (Marvel, 1968 series) #5 (Stan Lee / John Buscema), a story in which the Stranger threatens Earth; the first 19 pages of that issue had appeared in Nova #9 (10 octobre 1978).
- Also contains Spider-Man and Fantastic Four Marvel reprint material — the three pillars that defined Nova's founding line-up from issue #1.
- Cover art by Jean Frisano, rendered in India ink — consistent with his work across virtually the entire Nova run (only issues #1 and #3 featured painted covers).
- Edited by Marcel Navarro and Claude Vistel, the founding editorial team responsible for all of Lug's Marvel-licensed output.
- Issues #9 through #12 were later collected and reprinted together as Nova Album N°3, released in February 1979.
- The Nova series under Lug ran for 131 issues (through December 1988), then continued under new owner Semic France for a total run of 227 issues through December 1996.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints The Silver Surfer #5 (1969), Nova #10 (1977), The Spectacular Spider-Man #13 (1977), The Spectacular Spider-Man #14 (1978), Une Aventure de l'Araignée #4 (1978), Strange #107 (1978), Titans #17 (1978), Une Aventure de Conan #8 (1978), Nova #11 (1978)
Reprinted in Titans #17 (1978)
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