The acquisition of the superhuman powers apparently did not outwardly alter Rider’s body. Shortly thereafter, Rider received Dey’s final gift, his Centurion uniform. Rider soon discovered he had been endowed with superhuman strength and resilience, as well as the ability to fly. Rider had barely gotten the chance to try out his powers when Zorr betrayed his presence on Earth in a rampage through midtown Manhattan. Rider sought out the alien and engaged him in battle for several minutes until Rhomann Dey could lock onto Zorr’s exact location through his telepathic link with his successor. Then Dey teleported Zorr to his starship and used the energies of his computer to totally disintegrate him.

Enamored of his new powers, Rider, calling himself Nova, began to patrol New York City in hopes of finding criminals to battle so he could establish a reputation. Among the first of the superhuman criminals he encountered were the Condor and Powerhouse, the latter an amnesiac Xandarian sent to find Rhomann Dey. When the winged Condor learned of the Nova-ship in Earth orbit, he determined to raid it for alien weaponry to use against the Sphinx. Accompanying the Condor, Nova visited the ship of his alien benefactor for the first time.

Months later, following a series of exploits in which he encountered several other superhuman crime-fighters and criminals, Nova was again teleported aboard the Nova-ship, along with his new companions, Crimebuster and the Comet. There they learned that the Sphinx was piloting it to Xandar, where there was a vast computer system which contained the knowledge of how to lose his immortality which the Sphinx sought. It was this computer system, telemetrically connected to all of the Nova-ships in the fleet and thereby to all of the ships’ commanders, that conferred upon Richard Rider the knowledge that the Sphinx wanted. On the way to Xandar, the Sphinx and crew encountered a fleet of alien Skrulls, who had launched an attack on Xandar, and Earth’s Fantastic Four. The Sphinx took advantage of the situation to descend to Xandar and extract the knowledge he required from the Xandarian computers. Becoming immensely powerful, he set forth for Earth to destroy it. While the Fantastic Four pursued the Sphinx, Nova and the others remained on Xandar to help the world defend itself against the Skrulls.

For several months, Nova and most of the former members of the Sphinx’s crew aided in Xandar’s war effort against the Skrulls, earning the name Champions of Xandar. When the Skrulls finally retreated, the Nova Corps starfleet pursued them to make certain it was not simply a ruse. Comet, Crimebuster, and Diamondhead followed the Corps into battle, leaving Nova, Powerhouse, and Xandar’s Protector behind as the planet’s guardians. Months later, the Nova Corps returned to Xandar, announcing that they had achieved victory over the Skrulls. In reality, the Skrulls had dimensionally displaced the entire Corps and had used their shape-changing powers to take their places. The criminal Diamondhead had betrayed the Xandarians to the Skrulls, causing the death of Crimebuster in the process. With the aid of Rom, Spaceknight of Galador, the Xandarians crushed the final Skrull invasion.

Having been gone from Earth for almost a year, Nova was very anxious to return to his family and friends. He was dismayed to learn, however, that Xandar needed the powers of every one of the surviving Nova Corpsmen to rebuild Xandar’s line of defense. Although he protested that he had earned the powers of a Nova Centurion, Richard Rider realized that the only way he could keep them was to stay on Xandar. Thus, he chose to forfeit his Nova powers and return to Earth instead. There, he was reunited with his family and has tried to adjust to normal life once more.

(Until this point he has Incredible Endurance)

Rider returned home, but soon became disenchanted with his boring life after all the excitement he had seen. He became more alienated from everyone and dropped out of high school. Barely able to keep a steady job, Rider turned toward weight lifting, perhaps hoping to regain his lost powers.

Recently, Dwayne Taylor (a.k.a. Night Thrasher) attacked Rider and threw him off a roof. The fear of death reactivated Rider’s powers. Night Thrasher told Rider that he planned on forming a new crime fighting team, and he wanted Rider to join.

Soon afterward, Firestar and Marvel Boy were recruited by Night Thrasher. Their ranks were filled by the accidental arrivals of Namorita and Speedball on the scene of a fight with a resurrected Terrax the Tamer (a former Herald of Galactus). Since then, Rider has remained a member of the New Warriors.

The New Warriors have done battle with the Mad Thinker, Psionex, Star Thief, Midnight’s Fire, the Forces of Nature, and the White Queen and her Hellions.

When Nova first re-appeared, a local newscaster mistakenly called him Kid Nova. Much to Rider’s chagrin, the name has stuck. Speedball is the only person who can get away with calling him “Kid” to his face. Nova has the potential to become a great hero once he conquers his temper and insecurities.