Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Nexus v2 #8: "The Trialogue Trilogy Part III: Up and Out"


Download Nexus v2 #8





Created by writer Mike Baron and initially drawn by Jeffrey Butler, Norbert Sykes is a Viet Nam veteran who suffers from multiple personality disorder. One of those personae is a badger, a vigilante and martial arts expert who communicates with animals and swings between reason and psychosis.

Introduced in the first issue of his own title, the Badger is accompanied on his adventures by Ham, a 5th-century Welsh weather wizard with whom he escaped from a Wisconsin mental hospital. Traveling with them is Daisy Fields, their former psychiatrist who begins to wonder if either of them is really insane.

Launched by the short-lived Capital Comics, the series moved to First Comics—which also published a Badger Goes Berserk four-parter (1985) where it continued until #70 (1991).

With Baron at the helm, the character next starred in two 1994 Dark Horse miniseries before Image began publishing The Badger in 1997 as a black-and-white title, picking up the numbering with #78. The comic was canceled the same year with #81.



Credits

Cover: Steve Rude
Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Steve Rude
Inks: Eric Shanower
Colors: Les Dorscheid
Letters: John Workman

Reprinted:
  • In Nexus Legends (First, 1989 series) #8
  • In Nexus (Dark Horse, 1993 series) #2




























Monday, September 27, 2010

Nexus v2 #7: "The Trialogue Trilogy Part II: The Bowl-Shaped World"


Download Nexus v2 #7





Despite Eagle Award nominations and widespread popularity, Nexus and Badger were thrust into limbo with the demise of Capital Comics. However, and beginning with this issue, they got a second chance at First. One of the most distinctive things about the Capital titles (and, ironically, one of the major factors in their demise) was their scrupulous, extremely high production values. Those of us paying attention to First's negotiations (via fanzines) for the defunct Capital titles worried that when they finally appeared, they might be scaled down to the less costly production values of their normal titles, but those fears proved to be groundless as First continued the titles in the same deluxe, photo-separated format.

As for the actual contents, the sparkling dialogue between Nexus, Badger and Judah alone makes this a joy to read, but beyond that we are treated to Badger explaining to Nexus and Co. that he was accidentally sent to his current locale by Ham the Weather Wizard. They travel across the planet together until they reach Tech City, where they trade for a spaceship. However, they don't get too far without some ups and downs along the way.

Click here to go to Part I.


Credits

Cover: Steve Rude
Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Steve Rude
Inks: Steve Rude
Colors: Les Dorscheid
Letters: Mary Pulliam and Rick Taylor

Reprinted:
  • In Nexus Legends (First, 1989 series) #7
  • In Nexus (Dark Horse, 1993 series) #2
  • In Nexus Archives (Dark Horse Books, 2005 series) #2
































Special surprise download: an in-depth article on Nexus in Amazing Heroes #18

Download Amazing Heroes #18




Amazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal.







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