RUDE DUDE PRODUCTIONS
NEXUS 99, A SPACE OPERA Part One
Mike Baron & Steve Rude
I wanted to like this book a lot. I felt that being outside of a larger company’s control, and editorial outlook, Baron and Rude could fly. I enjoyed Nexus from the first read, and never found a single issue not worthy of reading. When Rude and Baron worked together something powerful happened. This story involves Nexus, and his companion and newborn child being threatened by long defeated enemies who scheme to rob Nexus and companion of their child. The power of Baron’s writing is depicting characters you care about in a setting that feels right. The excellence of Rude’s art is found in the power of economy of line. I am happy to report that both Baron and Rude are in top form here. The story is a great reintroduction to the characters of the series, and jumps into action right away. Pre order it in Diamond Previews or buy it off the stands. You really need to buy this book.
Myth is good. Rowena Wright manages to create a new myth by using old ones. She marries concepts like 911, Osiris’ Life and Death cycle and her own time shifting story concept, with a somewhat confusing result, but a result that if one pays enough attention to, and actually thinks, is one that is fully satisfying, as well as intellectually rewarding. Characters in the story while less than fully realized have room to do so further along in the series because this is only the first of series. The time Wright takes, along with the relatively dense amount of material makes this book beefy, filled with soul, and something I can recommend without reservation. The book itself is well done, the cover being beautiful, and the subject is something you are not going to find anywhere else. If Wright is successful, that last comment might be wrong eventually as success breeds imitators. Reworking myth allows us to see the world differently through the same reader eyes. I am impressed.
When I interview Rich Koslowski about his book THE LIST I became convinced that it would be good, but perhaps lost in a world wanting a quick and easy read. Well, the art that accompanies the text is so good as to make the text, which is delightful, worth the time to invest. People might balk at the format, being an illustrated novel, but I promise readers that this is as good or better than if it were a comic or novel, rather than the hybrid result. I think that the book is funny, talks about important concepts like greed and power, and is appropriate for most any reader, well, perhaps not the powerfully stupid.
From Rich’s promo “What if Santa Claus were real? Suppose that he is. If he were real he would be the single most powerful being on the planet. For "knowledge is power," as the old saying goes, and who has more knowledge than jolly ole Saint Nick? He knows! He knows who’s naughty and he knows who’s nice. He knows...He has a list. Imagine the people who’d want to get their hands on such a list!... “
The WALKING DEAD is a moment in the comic book world that has to be remembered. THE WALKING DEAD HARDCOVERS are an appropriate way to do so. I am of the opinion that the zombie fetish some horror fans have is a fad that will pass, but the world created by Kirkman with able assistance by great artists, is one that has little to do with zombies. It is about the horror of relentless dest
