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Nexus Archives #3
Nexus Archives, Vol. 3
Great Goulessarian, it's another Nexus archive!
This latest collection of the landmark sci-fi series re-presents the original Nexus issues 12 through 18 from First Comics - an indispensable storyline in the history of Horatio Hellpop's plagued existence. Wracked by inescapable, visceral nightmares of the grave misdeeds of his next targets, the executioner Nexus turns to the only solution he can - a life-threatening procedure that places an implant in his brain! This implant will prevent the dreams that Horatio has endured for years, but at what price? His behavior changes, and the ensuing emotional isolation pushes Sundra and her booming solar sailcraft business back to Mars. Spy Ursula X. X. Imada resurfaces with Horatio's twin daughters, and Clonezone the Hilariator is up to his usual mischief and misadventures! This collection also features a story about the Hammer, Judah Maccabee, illustrated by the famed Oz artist Eric Shanower.
Relive the series that defined the careers of both Steve Rude and Mike Baron, collected in a handsome hardcover format for the first time.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published June 14, 2006
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 23, 2020
Continuing the collection from the 80s science fiction story. Wracked by inescapable, visceral nightmares of the grave misdeeds of his next targets, the executioner Nexus turns to the only solution he can - a life-threatening procedure that places an implant in his brain to prevent the dreams that he has endured for years. It works, but alters his personality in odd ways, driving off his friends. This book also contains the adventures of the 26th century stand-up comic Clonezone the Hilaritator.
March 11, 2022
Well, this book contains the first Nexus story drawn by someone other than Steve Rude. The Eric Shanower-illustrated (no slacking in the choice of fill-in artists!) story is pretty good though, and Baron chose to spotlight The Hammer, so Rude remains the only real Nexus artist. To this point in the series' history anyway. That will change all too soon.
Anyway, this book collects the "fat Elvis" days of Nexus. Literally. Driven to desperation by his headaches and dreams of mass murders, Horatio begins doping up and spending time with sleezy hanger-ons in order to avoid reality. He gets out of shape and starts wearing Elvis jumpsuits. I love how Baron can make something totally hilarious and surreal, yet utterly haunting and tragic at the same time. He's totally in his element in this series, playing with ideas ranging from politics, intrigue, development of society and moral philosophy to humor, fast-paced sci-fi action, family and parody.
It's all beautifully drawn, and the dialogue is crisp and strong. Baron's got a great ear for distinctive dialogue and creating alien speech. The book also begins the era of the highly controversial Clonezone back-ups. Filled with word play, zingers, gags, Twilight Zone pastiches and just plain lunacy, Clonezone - Horatio and Judah's favorite hilariator - was never very much accepted (based on the letters in the original issues), but the stories definitely show another side of Baron's creativity. Mark Nelson provides the solid art.
Plus, great cliffhanger at the end of the volume - Horatio's lady-love Sundra Peale finds the alien behind Nexus' powers, in the core of the planet Ylum! Man, I can't wait for volume 4.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
2022 reread, still absolutely love this series. I can do without the Clonezone backups, but the main story is everything.
Anyway, this book collects the "fat Elvis" days of Nexus. Literally. Driven to desperation by his headaches and dreams of mass murders, Horatio begins doping up and spending time with sleezy hanger-ons in order to avoid reality. He gets out of shape and starts wearing Elvis jumpsuits. I love how Baron can make something totally hilarious and surreal, yet utterly haunting and tragic at the same time. He's totally in his element in this series, playing with ideas ranging from politics, intrigue, development of society and moral philosophy to humor, fast-paced sci-fi action, family and parody.
It's all beautifully drawn, and the dialogue is crisp and strong. Baron's got a great ear for distinctive dialogue and creating alien speech. The book also begins the era of the highly controversial Clonezone back-ups. Filled with word play, zingers, gags, Twilight Zone pastiches and just plain lunacy, Clonezone - Horatio and Judah's favorite hilariator - was never very much accepted (based on the letters in the original issues), but the stories definitely show another side of Baron's creativity. Mark Nelson provides the solid art.
Plus, great cliffhanger at the end of the volume - Horatio's lady-love Sundra Peale finds the alien behind Nexus' powers, in the core of the planet Ylum! Man, I can't wait for volume 4.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
2022 reread, still absolutely love this series. I can do without the Clonezone backups, but the main story is everything.
July 27, 2013
This volume has real highs and lows.
The core story — about Horatio trying to escape his dreams and the results thereof — is terrific. The fight against the General, the appearance of the Sov 3 as a new continuing villain, and the assault on Earth are all great too.
Unfortunately those great plots are constantly interrupted. The worst is the boring Clonezone film that takes up most of #14 and totally derails things. The Judah story in #17 is better, but ultimately it's another undesirable interruption.
The backup stories have the same problem. The first few issues have terrific stories about Sundra, really revealing who she is and what her relationship was with Ursula. Then we get an endless series of Clonezone stories, some of which are funny (especially the clonedZone story), but all of which are shallow ... and they get tedious in volume.
I'd suggest skipping the story-within-a-story in #14, all of #17, and all of the Clonezone backups when reading this volume. The result will cohere better and be more enjoyable, and you won't miss anything of note.
The core story — about Horatio trying to escape his dreams and the results thereof — is terrific. The fight against the General, the appearance of the Sov 3 as a new continuing villain, and the assault on Earth are all great too.
Unfortunately those great plots are constantly interrupted. The worst is the boring Clonezone film that takes up most of #14 and totally derails things. The Judah story in #17 is better, but ultimately it's another undesirable interruption.
The backup stories have the same problem. The first few issues have terrific stories about Sundra, really revealing who she is and what her relationship was with Ursula. Then we get an endless series of Clonezone stories, some of which are funny (especially the clonedZone story), but all of which are shallow ... and they get tedious in volume.
I'd suggest skipping the story-within-a-story in #14, all of #17, and all of the Clonezone backups when reading this volume. The result will cohere better and be more enjoyable, and you won't miss anything of note.
November 14, 2015
As I tear through my Nexus collection I remain impressed by how good it is, how clear and crisp and energetic the artwork is and how the story smoothly shifts from morality to crude humor, from slice of life to life and death. The characters remain well constructed and in many cases deeply nuanced, and the ramification of past stories always live on in the current ones. There's no sign yet of subplot bloat, which is not surprising since its only issue 18, but on the other hand so damn much has happened in those 18 issues its hard to remember that.
April 13, 2016
In this collection Nexus struggles to break free from the mysterious dreams that drive him to avenge crimes against humanity. Unfortunately that's easier said than done ... Tormented, guilt-ridden avengers are nothing new in comics, but Nexus definitely does it better than others. The downside is that the creators waste a lot of space on Clonezone, an alien comedian whose picaresque exploits aren't as funny or interesting as they seem to think (glancing over reviews I see I'm not alone in this). Despite the Clonezone backups, this is a good installment in the series.
September 20, 2011
Nice cliff hanger in this collection. I'll definitely continue the series. Way too much Clonezone in these issues though, I hope that doesn't continue for the rest of the run.
February 18, 2014
Nexus is one of the greatest comics ever
January 9, 2017
Just great.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews