Nexus Archives Vol. 10 (Graphic Novel) (Science Fiction)

by Mike Baron, Steve Rude, Greg Guler, & Tony Atkins

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (January 19, 2010)

Hardcover 232 pages

          Continuing on with my scattershot reading of the Nexus Archives series, I now bounce to volume 10 of the series, which collects issues 58 through 65 of the indie 80s hit comic. As long as Dark Horse keeps pushing them out I will try to collect them, but under no circumstances will I shell out a ridiculous $50 per book, unless it’s close to 500 pages. While the books are beautifully produced, study, and look great, in reality it would be cheaper for someone interested in the series to buy the individual issues rather than shell out for this tome. I only pick them up if I can find them at least half off (sometimes I get them for even less).

          For those who are unaware, Nexus is the name of the superhero dispenser of justice in the far future. The wielder of the Nexus power is given his commission by the Merk, a possibly insane alien. When the rest of his race left our reality for a non-corporeal existence, the Merk was chosen to remain behind to judge humans. He began empowering an agent with great power to seek out mass murderers and kill them. When a new victim is chosen, Nexus is besieged by headaches and nightmares which only abate after his target has been eliminated.

The New Nexus

          Horatio Helpop, the original Nexus, has quit out disillusionment of his job. After a series of disasters, a new Nexus has been chosen, Stanislaus Korivitsky, a historian and bestselling author. He has taken on the job to learn more about the Merk, but the alien remains elusive and Stan finds himself in deeper than ever as a mistake on his part leads to the deaths of 150 innocents. From there he must deal with religious fanatics, bandits, corporate grifters, and the usual assortment of murderous scum. As always the book has a backup feature set in the same universe featuring Judah the Hammer, a mercenary and hunter of men.

          There has been some talk about the later parts of this series failing artistically. While the main artist, Steve Rude, did only about three of the eight issues in this book. The other five were drawn by Greg Guler and Tony Atkins. There is a notable shift in the style of art, as will happen from artist to artist, I have to disagree that the quality in any way suffers. Both are quality artists, drawing each character distinctly, and with smooth action. Anyone who has is a regular reader of an ongoing comic series should be used to a shift in the art. While this is a bit more unusual for an independent comic, where the creatives tend to stay the same, there still is precedent.

Mike Baron is still creating the scripts so there is a continuity in narrative direction and character style. If there is a downside to this comic it is that Baron has a tendency to make bad puns out of names and places, which I find irritating in the extreme, but that hasn’t stopped me from buying the comic.

          This comic was initially put by the historic First comics publication. The same company that brought us such groundbreaking material as American Flagg, Dreadstar, and  Jon Sable Freelance. All of which are equally amazing and have rightfully been catalogues into archives such as this one.

           For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.