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Frankie Raye was the daughter of parents whose identities have not been revealed; hence, her original last name is not yet known. Frankie's father died when she was still a baby, and her mother shortly afterwards married Professor Phineas T. Horton, who at that time had changed his name to Thomas Raye. Although Horton ended up working as a repairman as Thomas Raye, he had been the inventor of the original android Human Torch, a crimefighter active in the 1940's and 1950's. However the United States government had decided that the android Torch was so potentially dangerous that horton could not be allowed to construct another. Therefore, the government impounded Horton's chemicals and equipment and then stored them in a chemical company warehouse.

Frankie's mother dies soon after her marriage to Horton, leaving him to raise Frankie by himself. Horton's spirit had been broken, presumably both by his wife's death and the government's supression of his android research. As Raye, Horton continued to work as a repairman, and sometimes drank to excess in sorrow.

When Horton read the first public accounts of Johnny Storm, the new Human Torch, he became incensed that someone was using the name of his then inactive android creation. Seized with the desire to recreate the android Torch, Horton took his fourteen year old step daughter to the now deserted chemical warehouse where the government had stored the supplies and equipment he had used to create the first Torch. As Frankie helped her step father collect the materials to renew his work, a rotting floorboard gave way beneath her foot. The agitated chemicals in the drum she was carrying exploded into flame, engulfing her body. The chemicals caused an instantaneous mutagenic reaction upon contact with her body, conferring upon her the android Torch's ability to burst into flame without harm to herself. Her clothing was consumed by the flames, but she herself was wholly uninjured.

Overwhelmed with guilt by what had happened to his stepdaughter, Horton hypnotized her in order to make her forget not only this traumatic accident, but also her life with him. The guilt-ridden Horton left her, but sent her money every week for almost six years. Nearly one year after her accident Horton sent her a package containing a costume he had designed for her which would help her control her power, and would not itself be harmed by her flame (since it was made from unstable molecules), and a cassette recorder with an audio tape. On hearing a specific word on the taped message from Horton, Frankie fell back into a hypnotic trance, thanks to a posthypnotic sugestion Horton had given her when he hypnotized her right after the accident. the taped message commanded Frankie to put the costume on under her normal clothing and destroy the tape, and then to awaken from the trance with no memory of what she had just done.

So it was that Frankie Raye had no knowledge of her powers, nor of the fact that she wore a specially designed costume, for the costume apeared to be invisible except when she had nothing else on, and even then she was unable to see it due to Horton's hypnotic command.

Frankie Raye worked as an interpreter. Eventually she saw Johnny Storm, the new Human Torch, and was immediately attracted to him. But she was filled with fear when she first saw him burst into flame, for Horton, to insure she never used her flaming ability, had also hypnotically commanded her to fear flame.

But Storm and Raye dated each other many times, and the strength of Horton's hypnotic commands upon her mind began to weaken. Eventually, to her astonishment, Raye saw herself in a mirror after coming out of the shower wearing the costume Horton had given her. Finally, the hypnotic blocks Horton had imposed on her shattered completely. She regained her full memory and could activate her flaming power. Frankie gloried in her new discovered powers, and was very pleased that Reed Richards wanted to train her to become a member of the Fantastic Four.

For a few weeks Raye worked with the Human Torch and the Fantastic Four, but their lives did not involve the kind of "cosmic grandeur," as she put it, that she sought now that she had become a superhuman being. Then the planet devouring alien Galactus returned to Earth. Raye had learned from the Fantastic Four's records that the alien Norrin Radd had once become Galactus's herald in exchange for Galactus's agreement to spare his home planet. Seeking adventure and a chance to see the wonders of the universe, Raye volunteered to become Galactus's new herald in exchange for Earth's safety. Richards pointed out to her that inevitably she would become an accomplice to Galactus's destruction of worlds inhabited by sentient beings, but Raye said she cared about no sentient race other than that of Earth. Galactus accepted Raye's offer and augmented her existing powers with his vast cosmic power. Despite Johnny Storm's protests, Frankie Raye left Earth with Galactus to lead him to worlds suitable for his sustenance. Frankie Raye eventually took the name "Nova" since she now shone like an exploding star.

As Nova became more of a citizen of the universe she lost her provincial prospective and began to value all sentient life. Thus she came to feel the terrible burden of her aiding Galactus in his intergalactic genocide. Nova could no longer bear to lead Galactus to suitable planets if they had sentient life on them. Her searches grew longer and the World Devourer became impatient. Galactus demanded the results of Frankie's most recent search. She lied to him and said there were no suitable planets in this sector. Galactus revealed his knowledge of her deceit and dismissed her from his service.

Despondent and dissillusioned Frankie Raye found herself dancing in an interstellar "gentleman's club." The Silver Surfer and Firelord retrieved her from the club and recruited her onto their side in the "Heralds Ordeal." Five of Galactus's former heralds banded together to depose the "New" herald of Galactus, the psychopathic killer Morg. Galactus imbued Morg with "power to rival that of my first turncoat herald." Soon after, Morg further augment's himself with "mystic" power. It takes all five of the other heralds to defeat him. Near the end of the battle Morg takes Nova's life with an enormous cosmic blast from his enchanted axe. In a rage over her death the Surfer unleashes his power against Morg and finally defeats him.