View source for Nexus (comics)

{{Short description|Comic book series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
|title               = Nexus
|image               = nexuscomic.jpg
|caption             = ''Nexus – Nightmare in Blue'' #4 (October 1997)
|schedule            =
|format              = [[Limited series (comics)|Mini-series]]<br />[[Ongoing series]]
|limited             = y
|genre               = [[Science fiction comics|Science fiction]]<br />[[Superhero comics|Superhero]]
|publisher           = [[Capital Comics]]<br />[[First Comics]]<br />[[Dark Horse Comics]]<br />Rude Dude Productions
|date                = January 1981 – October 1982<br />May 1983 – May 1991<br />1992 – 1997
|issues              = 100+
|main_char_team      =
|writers             = [[Mike Baron]]
|artists             =
|pencillers          = [[Steve Rude]]
|inkers              =
|letterers           =
|colorists           =
|editors             =
|creative_team_month =
|creative_team_year  =
|creators            =
|TPB                 = Volume 1
|ISBN                = 1-59307-398-4
|subcat              = First Comics
|sort                = Nexus (comics)
}}
'''''Nexus''''' is an American [[comic book]] series created by writer [[Mike Baron]] and [[penciler]] [[Steve Rude]] in 1981. The series is a combination of the [[superhero]] and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |accessdate=2 April 2020  |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/nexus.htm |title=Nexus}}</ref>

==Publication history==
The series debuted as a three-issue black-and-white limited series (the third of which featured a 33 RPM [[flexi disc]] with music and dialogue from the issue), followed by an ongoing full-color series which lasted 80 issues. The black-and-white issues and the first six color issues were published by [[Capital Comics]]; after Capital’s demise, [[First Comics]] took over publication.

On the creation of the series, Baron noted that they had originally pitched a series called ''Encyclopaedias'' to Capital Comics, but the company rejected this, saying they were looking for a superhero title. Over a drink at a restaurant, Baron outlined his ideas for ''Nexus'' to Rude:<ref name="nexus100">{{Cite comic|Writer = Baker, Bill|Title = The History of Nexus|Volume = 1|Issue = 100|Date = January 2008|Publisher = Rude Dude Productions}}</ref>

{{bquote|Nexus was entirely Baron’s idea. He even came up with the lightning bolt for the costume. All that we needed then was a name... a few weeks passed. Baron calls, and, without preamble, just says "Nexus". We finally had our name.<ref name="nexus100" />}}

In addition to the ongoing series, First reprinted the original miniseries as a [[graphic novel]] and later reprinted the first two years of the ongoing title in the ''Nexus Legends'' series. The ongoing series was also supplemented by ''The Next Nexus'', a four-issue miniseries that followed ''Nexus'' #52. Following the conclusion of the ongoing series with #80 (May 1991), seven miniseries and two one-shot comics were published by [[Dark Horse Comics]]. The last of these miniseries was printed in black and white as a cost-cutting measure; low sales led to the series being discontinued. Although each miniseries had its own issue numbering, Baron and Rude added a sequential number to each, as explained in the back of the first issue of ''Nexus: Executioner’s Song'':

{{blockquote|The current issue number was figured by continuing First Publishing’s numbering, which ended at volume 2, #80. Adding ''Nexus: The Origin'', ''Nexus: Alien Justice'' #1–3, and ''Nexus: The Wages of Sin'' #1–4 brings it up to 88 — making "Dark Side of the Moon" #89.}}

The sequential numbering system excluded ''Nexus the Liberator'' (which neither Rude nor Baron worked on), and crossover specials with ''[[Magnus: Robot Fighter]]'' and ''[[Madman (Mike Allred character)|Madman]]''.

Baron and Rude discussed plans to either revive the series or release a movie, possibly in animated form (a brief animated test clip was shown at comics conventions).<ref>[http://www.awn.com/articles/profiles/steve-rude-executes-animated-inexusi] Steve Rude Executes Animated Nexus</ref> From July 2007 through July 2009 they published the miniseries ''Space Opera'', which culminated in a double-size issue #101/102.

The creators’ canonical publication list includes 105 issues:
* Volume 1 (Black and White): #1–#3
* Volume 2: #1–#80
*''Nexus: The Origin'' (#81)
*''Nexus: Alien Justice'' (#82–#84)
*''Nexus: Wages of Sin'' (#85–#88)
*''Nexus: Executioner’s Song'' (#89–#92)
*''Nexus: God Con'' (#93–#94)
* ''Nexus: Nightmare in Blue'' (#95–#98)
*''Nexus: Space Opera'' (#99–#102)

The series returned to publication in 2012 within the pages of ''[[Dark Horse Presents]]''.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38060] BARON AND RUDE RETURN TO "NEXUS" IN "DARK HORSE PRESENTS"</ref>
* ''Dark Horse Presents'' #12–#14 (“Bad Moon Rising” and “Infestation”)
* ''Dark Horse Presents'' #23–#26, #29–#34 (“Into the Past”)

In 2019, Dark Horse announced ''The Coming of Gourmando'', a collection of Nexus “newspaper strips”.<ref>[https://bleedingcool.com/comics/mike-baron-and-steve-rudes-nexus-returns-in-february/ "Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus Returns in February"], [[Bleeding Cool]]</ref>  The volume would finally see publication in 2021.<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/2268823/ ''Nexus: The Newspaper Strips #1 - The Coming of Gourmando''], [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref>

As of April 2022, Baron and Rude had parted ways and were working on separate ''Nexus'' projects.  The first for Rude is 100 page Nexus story “Battle for Thuneworld”, originally intended to be completed in the fall of 2022.<ref>[https://www.steverude.com/blogs/news/the-plan-for-the-future-of-nexus] Steve Rude's Blog</ref>

Mike Baron has produced ''Nexus: Nefarious'',<ref>[https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dark-horse-to-publish-mike-barons-nefarious-version-of-nexus/ "Dark Horse To Publish Mike Baron’s Nefarious Version of Nexus"], [[Bleeding Cool]]</ref> one issue of proposed miniseries ''Nexus: Triplets'', ''Nexus: A Novel'',<ref>[https://bleedingcool.com/comics/mike-baron-nexus-comic-richard-meyer-novel/ "Mike Baron Writes a New Nexus Comic With Richard Meyer, and a Novel"], [[Bleeding Cool]]</ref> and the upcoming ''Nexus: Scourge''<ref>[https://comicbook.com/comics/news/mike-baron-returns-to-nexus-with-new-dark-horse-graphic-novel/ "Mike Baron Returns to Nexus With New Graphic Novel"], ComicBook.com</ref>

==Horatio Hellpop==
The lead character, Horatio Valdemar Hellpop, received his Nexus powers from an alien entity called the Merk. As payment, the Merk required Nexus to seek out and kill a certain quantity of human mass murderers per "cycle". When the Merk selected a target, Nexus would receive strong headaches and maddeningly anguishing dreams (whose extremely intense episodes caused physical injuries to Hellpop's body that emulated the dream violence) of his target's victims until he did his duty. Horatio was reluctant to act as the Merk's tool, but continued seeking out mass murderers to maintain his power and his sanity so that he could defend his homeworld, a [[moon|lunar]] refuge named Ylum (a shortening of the word "asylum", thus pronounced "eye-lum").

==Stylistic influence==
Both Baron and Rude paid homage to ''[[Space Ghost]]'' in their work on ''Nexus'', including use of the battle cry "This calls for hyperspeed!" and including ''Space Ghost'' characters Jan, Jayce, and Blip in several uncredited background cameos. [[Hanna-Barbera]] cartoon characters from ''[[Jonny Quest]]'', ''[[The Herculoids]]'' and ''[[Magnus Robot Fighter]]'' along with his girlfriend Leeja Clane are frequently spotted in Nexus comics along with the occasional appearance of [[Captain Kirk]] and [[Mr. Spock]] from ''[[Star Trek]]''. Rude was later hired to create a Space Ghost comic for [[Comico: The Comic Company|Comico]] with writer [[Mark Evanier]].

Steve Rude cited a number of influences on his clean, distinctive style, including ''Space Ghost'' character designs and other work by [[Alex Toth]], [[Doug Wildey]], [[Jack Kirby]] and commercial illustrators of the 1940s and 1950s, particularly [[Andrew Loomis]]. Rude occasionally does covers in the style of American illustrator [[Norman Rockwell]].

Baron's ''Nexus'' stories responded to the world he was writing in, with competing merchants overwhelming media channels (and [[telepathy]]) with advertising. A great computerized library controlled the universe's memory of history. Some of his early 1980s references have become outdated, such as the menacing [[Soviet Union|Sov Empire]].

==Collected editions==
[[Dark Horse Comics]] hardcover archive editions include:
* ''Nexus Archives, v1'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-398-4}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' #1–3, v2 #1–4)
* ''Nexus Archives, v2'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-455-7}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #5–11)
* ''Nexus Archives, v3'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-495-6}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #12–18)
* ''Nexus Archives, v4'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-583-9}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #19–25)
* ''Nexus Archives, v5'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-584-7}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #26–32)
* ''Nexus Archives, v6'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-791-2}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #33–39)
* ''Nexus Archives, v7'' ({{ISBN|1-59307-877-3}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #40–46)
* ''Nexus Archives, v8'' ({{ISBN|1-59582-236-4}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #47–52, ''Next Nexus'' #1)
* ''Nexus Archives, v9'' ({{ISBN|1-59582-313-1}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #53–57, ''Next Nexus'' #2–4)
* ''Nexus Archives, v10'' ({{ISBN|1-59582-438-3}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #58–65)
* ''Nexus Archives, v11'' ({{ISBN|1-59582-496-0}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #66–73)
* ''Nexus Archives, v12'' ({{ISBN|1-59582-636-X}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #74–80)

Rude Dude Productions:
* ''Nexus: Space Opera'' ({{ISBN|0-9792311-3-2}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' #99–102)
* ''Nexus: As It Happened, v1'' ({{ISBN|0-9792311-5-9}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' #1–3, v2 #1–4)

[[Dark Horse Comics]] Softcover omnibus editions:
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v1'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-034-1}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v1 #1–3, ''Nexus'' v2 #1–11)
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v2'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-035-X}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #12–25)
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v3'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-036-8}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #26–39)
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v4'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-037-6}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #40–52, ''Next Nexus'' #1)
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v5'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-038-4}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #53–65, ''Next Nexus'' #2–4)
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v6'' ({{ISBN|1-61655-473-8}}, reprinted ''Nexus'' v2 #66–80, ''The Nexus Files'')
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v7'' ({{ISBN|1-5067-0002-0}}, reprints ''Nexus: The Origin'', ''Nexus: The Liberator'' #1–4, ''Nexus: Alien Justice'' #1–3, ''Hammer of the God: Pentathlon'', ''Mezz: Galactic Tour 2494'', ''Hammer of  God: Butch'' #1–3, and the "Clonezone Special")
* ''Nexus Omnibus, v8'' ({{ISBN|1-5067-0027-6}}, reprints ''Nexus: The Wages of Sin'' #1–4, ''Nexus: Executioner's Song'' #1–4, ''Nexus: God Con'' #1–2, ''Nexus: Nightmare in Blue'' #1–4, and ''Nexus meets Mad Man!'')

==Reception==
Martin A. Stever reviewed ''Nexus'' in ''[[The Space Gamer|Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer]]'' No. 83.<ref name="SG">{{cite journal|last=Stever |first=Martin A. |date=October–November 1988|title=The Ruler|journal=[[The Space Gamer|Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer]]|publisher=[[3W (company)|World Wide Wargames]]|issue=83|pages=29–30}}</ref> Stever commented that "the success of the book is due, in part, to its greatly detailed setting. Together Baron and Rude have fleshed out an entire future universe that is as rich and original as anything that I've seen in any medium".<ref name="SG"/>

===Awards===
The series won a total of six [[Eisner Awards]].{{cn|date=May 2019}} In 1988, the series won an award for Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team.{{cn|date=May 2019}} 1992's ''Nexus: Origin'' won awards for Best Single Issue/Single Story, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team.{{cn|date=May 2019}} In 1997, ''Nexus: Executioner's Song'' won Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team.{{cn|date=May 2019}} In 2008, [[Todd Klein]] won Best Letterer/Lettering for his work on ''Nexus''.{{cn|date=May 2019}}

==Crossovers==
The ''Nexus'' series produced several [[Intercompany crossover|crossover]] issues, featuring characters from several other First series, including ''[[American Flagg!]]'', ''[[Grimjack]]'', ''[[Jon Sable: Freelance]]'', ''[[Badger (comics)|Badger]]'', ''[[Whisper (comics)|Whisper]]'' and ''[[Dreadstar]]''. An example of ''Nexus'' crossover issues is the series ''Crossroads'', published in 1988. Following the switch in publishers from First to Dark Horse, ''Nexus'' crossed over with ''Madman'' (''Nexus Meets Madman'') and ''[[Magnus Robot Fighter]]'' (''Magnus Robot Fighter/Nexus'').

==Adaptations==
On January 1, 2000, it was revealed that producer [[Jeff Kline]] was awaiting a pick-up order from the [[Fox Kids Network]] for a cel-animated ''Nexus'' series. While the production had gotten as far as scripting (with significant input from the comic's creators), the show was ultimately never produced.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kidscreen.com/2000/01/01/27638-20000101/|title=SPFE’s Jeff Kline is looking at a monkey, Jackie Chan and the Universe from around the world|author=Jo Anne Kenny|work=kidscreen|date=1 January 2000}}</ref> It has never been publicly confirmed why the network passed on the series, but the underperformance of Kline's previous production, ''[[Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot]]'', may have been a contributing factor.

A 2-minute promo for a ''Nexus'' animated series was produced in 2004.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431939/ Nexus: The Animated Series Promo (Video 2004) – IMDb]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}
 
==External links==

*{{comicbookdb|type=character|id=3765|title=Nexus}}
* [http://toonopedia.com/nexus.htm Nexus] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20240527192437/https://www.webcitation.org/6gM9i04Zh?url=http://toonopedia.com/nexus.htm Archived] from the original on March 28, 2016.

[[Category:1981 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Characters created by Mike Baron]]
[[Category:Dark Horse Comics superheroes]]
[[Category:Dark Horse Comics titles]]
[[Category:Eisner Award winners]]