"What If... Someone Else Had Become Nova?"
Four different people receive the power of Nova instead of Richard Rider.
Helen Taylor swears vengeance on the murderer of her husband as she is struck by a bolt of pure energy from space, transforming her into a power-packed avenger. The power makes her relentless and ruthless. Tearing through criminal caches to find the man she hates more than anything else in the world.
Nova's remorseless rampage prompts the Fantastic Four to neutralize her by means of exile to the Negative Zone.
Jesse, a good-hearted vagrant wanders through the Christmas Eve snow to find accommodation for the night, not only for himself, but his pet cat.
Perhaps because it's the season of good will, Jesse is taken in by a kindly orphanage keeper. The children flock to the avuncular stranger.
Skrull starships on course for invading Earth also come seeking a powerful energy source detected by their instruments. When Skrulls come a knockin' there's very little Christmas cheer offered, as Jesse finds out. He's the power source sought from beyond the Andromeda Galaxy.
Jesse allows himself to be captured to the Skrull command ship, thereby saving innocents being harmed. Once aboard, the wandering wastrel displays the power of Nova and sacrifices himself to destroy the Skrull flagship. The resultant explosion creates a conflagration which will be perceived as a new star in the firmament.
A familiar scenario unfolds in a laboratory experiment where an insignificant spider absorbs a massive dose of radiation. As it dies, it reflexively bites the nearest thing, being Peter Parker.
However, the dose is much larger this time. Peter collapses into a coma. Ben and May Parker rush to the hospital where Peter has been taken to. The shock is too much for poor May, and her old ticker finally gives out.
Peter wakes from his coma, but is crippled by the lethal dose of radiation. After that, his aunt dies. This double-whammy tragedy leaves Peter Parker a bitter young man.
All this changes the moment a beam of alien energy strikes Peter out of the wheelchair he's been consigned to. Revitalized, Peter realizes he can now fly and zooms off to relay the good news to his uncle Ben.
Outside, an armed burglar breaks into the Parker home. When Peter intercedes, the burglar panics and shoots. Ricocheted bullet kills the felon. Peter is aghast with the outcome and swears never to use his new abilities ever again.
All the Super-Heroes of Earth have been crushed and killed. A quartet of conquerors; Doctor Doom, the Red Skull, the Sphinx and an ignoble, immoral Nova have accomplished this.
They've made their base Nova-Prime's orbital spaceship. Rival leadership tendencies soon surface and the villains clash over who is the real master.