Nexus Archives, Volume One

Nexus is Horatio Hellpop, a young man who grew up in isolation after his parents fled to a planet filled with mysterious technology. As he matures, he begins to have unbearable nightmares that drive him to kill mass murderers—of whom this galaxy has an endless supply. A flashback reveals how Nexus's first dream compelled him to kill his own father, and this larger-than-life tale takes off from there. In the present day, reporter/spy Sundra Peale comes to write a story about Nexus, now a godlike but mysterious celebrity, and ends up helping him liberate thousands of decapitated, telepathic heads, collected by the slaver Clausius to power his plans of domination. Space opera at its finest, the initial story line spins off into a dozen other plot threads, fueling this book's original 100-issue run in the '80s and '90s. Baron's sweeping yet quirky stories recall Alfred Bester, Heinlein and Sturgeon. Rude, one of the most accomplished comics artists of his era, captures nuances of tragedy, comedy and everything in between. Although these earliest issues have rocky moments, like those other writer/artist duos Lee/Kirby and Morrison/Quitely, the Baron/Rude team surpasses anything they have done separately, and Nexus is a masterwork deserving the archive treatment. (Dec.)