Nexus Archives, Vol. 5

Nexus Archives #5

by Mike Baron, Steve Rude

In this volume, the enigmatic executioner meets his match in the evil Clayborn. If that weren't enough, Horatio's uncle, a religious anti-technology zealot, arrives on the moon of Ylum with the mission of destroying the Gravity Well - the same well that Ursula X. X. Imada, spy and mother to Horatio's twin daughters, hopes will soon suck in the 400 billion people of the Web! Uncle Lathe incites a riot and has his eye on a deadly, Head-designed battle cruiser to further his crusade. Judah takes on the task of training Scarlett, Nexus' extremely powerful young daughter, and Dave and Nexus travel to the library at Alexandria... in 47 B.C.!

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comic Book

216 pages, Hardcover

First published February 14, 2007

Reviews

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nexus continues to wrestle with dealing with the Merk, who has fully emerged from his protracted slumber and begins making more and more demands on the protagonist. Nexus's uncle, the head of an anti-technology group (that is somehow still okay with space travel) and raids Ylum's arsenal to go off on a destructive mission that could threaten the Sol system. Has the backup features of Clonezone the Hilaritator and Judah Maccabee- the futuristic gladiator.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume of Nexus has very cool stories, but several of the collected issues are fill-ins, not done by The Dude. That knocks off one star.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the mix of sci-fi, world building, philosophy and adventure in this series. There are so many great moments in this book - Dave telling Horatio that he tires of Horatio's whining after each one of his murders, the look into the society of the Gucci assassins, Horatio seeing his children again, Judah's budding friendship with Ursula, the introduction (except a brief flashback) of Horatio's uncle Lathe, the Elvonic priest. And really, the introduction of religion as a major component of life in Nexus' world.

Sucks that Rude only drew 2 chapters, but the fill-in artists are almost universally of a very high caliber.

Baron's clipped dialogue can be an acquired taste, but the themes, humor and drama are unbeatable. It KILLS me that this series isn't one of the first mentioned when people talk of the all-time great comic books.
+++++++++++++++++++++
2022 reread, still loving it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fair, but mostly unmemorable collection of Nexus stories. There are a few standouts, such as "Planet of Assassins" (which gives some nice background for our Quattros) and "The Visit" (which continues the plot of Nexus' daughters), but there are more that don't really spark, including the only two-parter in the volume. Still, unmemorable Nexus is better than most comics (and was phenomenal at the time).

The volume is also let down a bit by the constant parade of guest artists, some of which were mediocre (at the time) and none of which were "The Dude".

[Brian Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things in this volume are a little in transition as the story is ramping up to issue 50, but it's a hell of a good ramp up. The same mix of personal lives, moral meditation and action sequences fill the volume with a ton of things to cheer, ponder, laugh at an absorb.

[Fresno Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to goodness