BIG Comics; crowdfunded 

Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Eisner Award-winning Nexus has been one of my favorite comic book series ever since Lone Star Comics’ (now Heritage Auctions’) Weldon Adams mailed me a copy of the original black and white magazine Nexus #1 because he knew that was the only way I was going to read it.  

Even his best pitch (“It’s like Space Ghost, but he kills people…”) hadn’t worked, but he knew that if he actually spent money on it, I’d feel obligated. And oh, brother, am I glad he did. 

Over the course of more than 100 issues at Capital Comics, First Comics, and Dark Horse Comics, Rude Dude Productions, Baron and Rude explored themes of guilt, justice, the nature of power, and the pursuit of redemption in the minefield of galactic politics some 500 years in the future. 

Oh, and there’s been action. Plenty of it. 

Nexus is Horatio Hellpop, who has been granted great fusion-casting powers to hunt down and eliminate mass murderers. The villains come to him in his dreams, and failing to act on them quickly becomes physically debilitating. 

A parade of often quirky supporting players and frequently deadly guest stars have populated the series almost since the beginning. Their universe is populated my humans and many other species, something that’s on full display in this collection, which includes the three black and white magazine-size issues (Nexus Volume 1) and the six color comics (Volume 2) published by Capital, and the next 20 issues published First Comics. 

Unlike the standard comic book size hardcover Nexus Archives or the 9” x 6” softcover Nexus Omnibus collections from Dark Horse, this new 888-page omnibus is presented in the oversized, 11” x 8” hardcover format familiar to fans of Marvel’s and DC’s omnibus editions. The production values are excellent, and the material has never looked better. Kudos to Chris Braly and BIG Comics for this book, and here’s to seeing the complete series and its spinoffs in this format as well. 

– J.C. Vaughn