Sunday, November 13, 2011

Nexus - As It Happened!

Nexus is arguably the best superhero to emerge from the burst of creativity wrought by the advent of the direct sales market in the early 80's. Mike Baron apparently created the character and Steve Rude then illustrated the series, a blend of science fiction and superheroics. As it turns out, the series is also a bit of an updating of the classic Hanna-Barbara Space Ghost concept, taking that scenario and treating it a bit more seriously. You can see that in this promotional bit of animation used by Baron and Rude for a potential series. It's got that definite H-B vibe.  I've owned the original trilogy of black and white magazines from Capital Comics for years. I traded off my original color issues of the Capital run and alas never followed the series over to First Comics. I did however follow many of the Dark Horse storylines, and in more recent years I followed Steve Rude's attempts to revive the character as a self-publisher. As part of that effort, the first trilogy and the first four issues of the Capital run are collected in a handsome and handy small trade titled "Nexus - As It Happened". I found this collection for small bucks at a store yesterday, and was immediately attracted by the format. Having the original story in such an easy-to-access format is neat and I yearn to give these classics a fresh look. I still remember on a long and winding bus trip across country, during a layover in Chicago, finding the debut issue of the series in a shop. I didn't buy it, but the cover by Paul Gulacy lingered in my mind and eventually I gathered up this remarkable series. Nexus is a series with wit and verve, and more than a dash of pure style.

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3 comments:

  1. I actually avoided NEXUS for the first couple of years but when I finally came around to it it became a quick favorite. I think it was one of the most original series of them all and at its best, some of the best written and drawn stories, too.

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  3. Steve - Original is a great word for it. Despite it's many sources, it blends them in a fresh way. It was a dangerous feeling book when it came out way back when. Now that kind of grittiness is all to common and often lackluster, but then it was really sharp.

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