It’s the first appearance of The Sphinx. I always thought he was a Marvel Elder, but he’s not. He’s just really powerful, and wants to stop being immortal.
His origin is Biblical–he served the Pharaoh Ramses and was exiled when he failed to stop Moses–and found a mystical “Ka” stone that keeps him alive and gives him power.
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First, Nova fights his rogue’s gallery.
Then, he teams up with them when it turns out that they’re looking to take down Sphinx.
It ends with Sphinx unable to get the source of Nova’s power, which he wants to use to kill himself. He leaves, but swears he will return.
And Nova is a man now.
Other stuff happens along the way. Marv Wolfman seems determined to introduce as many new characters as he can in this comic, so a new villain arrives and is dispatched easily.
Firefly.