Nexus, Omnibus 1 - Mike Baron & Steve Rude

It would be Rude not to...

Nexus looks like fairly basic superhero comic book material, but it doesn't take more than a glance at Steve Rude's stunning layouts to realise that this is a cut above the ordinary, and it doesn't take more than a few pages of issue one either to realise that there's great imagination in Mike Baron's literate and philosophical musings on ethics and the nature of (superhuman) power. Living on Ylum, a planet that lies outside the jurisdiction of the Web, Horatio Hellpop is compelled by terrible nightmares to take on the role of Nexus, a vigilante superhero who dispenses death sentences to some of the worst mass murders in the universe.

There's also a considerable amount of humour in the situations and an imaginative science-fiction futuristic universe that offers so much potential. All of it is superbly visualised in an incredibly dynamic fascination by artist Steve Rude. Rude is not a stylist like Bill Sienkiewicz or Frank Miller who were also operating at their peak around this time in the eighties, nor was Rude's work anything like the latest in-vogue style of Image creators Jim Lee, Rob Liefield or Todd McFarlane. Rude's drawings are much more in the classic golden age style, anatomically realistic (often using photographs of himself as a life-model) superbly detailed wihtout ever being cluttered, and free in his use of panel layouts that perfectly and dynamically meet the requirements of every scene. Eric Shanower inks the latter issues in this collection and gently complements Rude's pencils, but they're not quite as solid as The Dude alone.

On the surface Mike Baron's scripts don't appear to offer more than the familiar anguished superhero of the late eighties, as the conflicted Nexus debates whether stopping the crimes of mass murderers is justification enough to dispense summary justice without any trial. After several decades however, Nexus still stands up exceptionally well - much more so, I believe, than Alan Moore's Watchmen. There is much more to explore in the Nexus universe and a wide variety of genuinely fun and interesting secondary characters, a strong female/love interest (Sundra Peale) and exotic alien characters, all with distinct personalities - Judah Macabee, Tyrone, Mezz, Clonezone, the Heads. There's also the question of who exactly is the entity that sends Nexus his assignments though his terrible nightmares. This is something that is explored further down the line.

It's wonderful to see the work repackaged and kept in circulation. I resisted the hardcover collections, but the 400-page phonebook-sized Omnibus editions are a great way to enjoy the Nexus material just for the sheer quality of its storytelling. Be advised, the Omnibus editions are currently listed as hardcovers on Amazon, but are actually in paperback only. They are lightly smaller than the original comic book size, but it's a neat package and the quality of the glossy paper is an improvement over the original First publications. Steve Rude's art and the colouration just gleam off the page (although the cover art reproductions - minus the titles - don't seem to have the same lustre as the originals). Volume 1 starts right back at the original black-and-white origin of Nexus, before getting into the the first 11 issues of the full-colour adventures. This is a lovely package of great material that is well worth reading and re-reading.