Nova #79
Nova #79 is the French-language conclusion to the final arc of Jessica Drew's solo Spider-Woman series as translated for Éditions Lug, making it the issue in which French readers experienced the emotionally charged, editorially terminal send-off for that character — drawn into the past to face Morgan le Fay and departing the stage in a way that commentators read as a deliberate farewell. The issue also packages a chapter of the George Pérez–drawn Fantastic Four run (FF #187), preserving one of the most praised artistic stretches of that series for a French audience that would otherwise have had no access to it. As part of the long-running Collection Super Héros Lug anthology format, it illustrates how Éditions Lug served as the primary gateway for Marvel storytelling — across mutants, street-level heroes, and cosmic families — for an entire generation of French-speaking readers in the early 1980s.
In "Les sept de Salem !", Reed Richards finds himself caught in a nightmare when the Molecule Man hijacks the Baxter Building, using Klaw's help to anchor his unstable form. With the Impossible Man scrambling to stop the invasion, Reed’s attempt to reclaim control backfires—picking up the Molecule Man’s wand triggers a shocking transformation that leaves his identity in jeopardy. Written by Len Wein and brought to life by George Pérez’s dynamic art and Joe Sinnott’s sharp inks, this 1984 issue features a cover by Jean Frisano, capturing the chaos in bold, striking detail.
In "Seuls contre deux !", Reed Richards finds himself transformed into the Molecule Man after inadvertently seizing his wand, leaving Impossible Man to stand alone against the combined threat of Klaw and the usurping villain. With the Baxter Building under siege and Reed’s mind now trapped in a hostile form, the stakes rise as one hero must protect the world from a foe he once called a friend.
In "Le scandale du Waterfront," Jonah ventures into the shadowy underbelly of the docks to prove his journalistic edge, uncovering a web of corruption that puts him in the crosshairs. With an unexpected and uneasy alliance forming, he finds himself under the quiet watch of his longtime rival, Spider-Man—just as the truth begins to surface.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Éditions Lug, the Lyon-based publisher founded in 1950 by Marcel Navarro and Auguste Vistel, launched the Nova anthology in February 1978 as one of its flagship Marvel reprint titles, initially packaging the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the character Nova together in a compact hybrid format. By 1984, the book had expanded its page count and was rotating in Spider-Woman alongside its core features. The covers for the run were produced primarily by Jean Frisano and his son Thomas Frisano. Nova #79 appeared in August 1984, a period when Lug's creative and commercial peak was already giving way to instability — Auguste Vistel would die in the mid-1980s, setting in motion the eventual sale of the company to the Semic Group in 1989.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published 5 August 1984 by Éditions Lug (Lyon, France) as part of the Collection Super Héros Lug anthology series.
- Contains the conclusion (18 pages) of the French serialisation of Spider-Woman (Marvel, 1978) #50, written by Ann Nocenti and drawn by Brian Postman — the final issue of Jessica Drew's solo series, in which she is drawn into the past to battle Morgan le Fay.
- Contains a chapter of the George Pérez–pencilled Fantastic Four run, specifically a portion of FF #187 (Len Wein / George Pérez), a story featuring the full classic FF line-up.
- Contains a Peter Parker / Spectacular Spider-Man story by Bill Mantlo and Ron Frenz, framed as a transitional episode following a major story arc.
- The Spider-Woman story's conclusion was read by contemporary French critics as an implicit editorial retirement of the Jessica Drew incarnation — her next appearance in Marvel continuity would be in Avengers #238.
- Nova #79 was later collected in Nova Album N°22 (issues #79–81), a softcover reprint volume published October 1984 in the LUG Super Héros collection.
- The Nova magazine ran from February 1978 to December 1996 across 227 issues; #79 falls in the mid-run expansion phase, after the 1983 pagination increase that added a second Fantastic Four episode per issue.
- Edited under the supervision of Claude Vistel and Marcel Navarro; covers for the Nova series throughout this era were produced primarily by Jean Frisano and his son Thomas Frisano.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1967), Fantastic Four #186 (1977), Fantastic Four #187 (1977), Spider-Woman #50 (1983), The Spectacular Spider-Man #80 (1983), Alpha Flight #1 (1983), Top BD #4 (1984), Strange Spécial Origines #175 (1984), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #34 (1984), Spécial Strange #37 (1984), Un Récit Complet Marvel #3 (1984)
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