"THE DUDE" TALKS NEXUS' RETURN

[MattBrady]

by Zack Smith

Steve Rude is already one of the most popular and respected artists in comics, and now he’s striking out on his own. This July, Rude’s new company, Rude Dude Productions, will premiere Nexus: Space Opera, featuring the return of the legendary character Rude co-created with writer Mike Baron in the 1980s.

For those who don’t know Nexus…you’re in for a treat. “Epic” doesn’t nearly describe this wild, tragic, romantic and funny tale of Horatio Hellpop, a human in a far-future society cursed with dreams of unpunished murderers he must hunt down. A savior to some, a devil to others, Nexus is a man simply trying to live the only life he knows, and find a way to bring good to an unjust universe. If you haven’t checked out Nexus already, you can see Dark Horse’s Archive volumes, or the recent Free Comic Book Day issue recapping the character’s history to date.

Nexus will one of several Rude creations to appear from Rude Dude, along with The Moth, a character previously featured in his own title at Dark Horse. Talking with Rude about his work is an inspiring experience – the man is so filled with passion and excitement for his work that it’s easy to understand why he’s known as “The Dude.” Sit back and try to keep up.

NEWSARAMA: So, Steve, why did you and Baron decide to “get the band back together,” for Nexus, and why did you decide to do it through your own company this time.

STEVE RUDE: Well, we had to. We have been waiting for the right time, Zack, for a long time, for things to get aligned right. Not until I came to this kind of epiphany that I had to do it – that no one was going to do it unless I was going to do it. And I knew that if I was in charge, that I would take it much more seriously than anyone else ever could, and I would devote much more time to it than anyone else ever could.

NRAMA: Could you offer some hints as to what will happen in “Space Opera?”

SR: The new Nexus story is about how fanatics of the Elvonic religion have somehow determined Nex and Sundra's newborn son as the anti-Christ, and set out to kill him. That sets off a civil war on Ylum, and forces Nexus to answer some serious questions about who can stay and who cannot. It's his planet, after all. Some old bad guys return, and many new ones will also come into the fold. I was shocked to see long-time cast members that actually die in this series.

NRAMA: Sounds like the stakes are pretty high this time out. It’s been a decade since we’ve seen Nexus in a comic – how much time has passed for the character, or are we picking up right where we left off?

SR: That’s a really good question, Zack, because, obviously, Baron and I had to ask ourselves that as well. Baron’s original idea, which I shot down, of course, was to advance the story 10 years in real-time. I said, “Are you nuts?! You’re telling me you’re going to take 10 years of, of stories, and just make them all missed opportunities?!”

NRAMA: Your head just kind of explodes thinking of all the tales that could have been told during those years…

SR: Exactly. I completely vetoed that, as I have with a lot of things Baron has suggested. So, no, we continue directly from #98, the last issue. But I think you know this, Zack, we actually had an issue completely done, painted cover and all! We took a look at that – the obvious thing to do was to just print this and go ahead, but it just seemed to not feel right.

If I thought about it for a long time and gave myself a good migraine, I could figure it out, but why bother? I just knew it was wrong somehow. We ditched that issue and reevaluated things: It’s been 10 years, Nexus hasn’t exactly been a daily thing on our minds these days, because it’s been so long. I guess, despite thinking that way, we began to work on a story that would be a little more inviting and reader-friendly, a little easier to pick up on.

And that was absolutely the right thing to do. I was happy to scrap that issue. I mean, I have all the pencils, that’ll be there forever…

NRAMA: What’ll you do with it?

SR: That’s a good question! I don’t know. It’s like The Jack Kirby Collector…who could imagine that Kirby did so many pieces of art that were outside his three-page-a-day pace in comics! I can barely do one, and Kirby could do three! Kirby’s a genius, you know – the perfect word for a guy that can do anything. And there’s a Kirby collector…I don’t know, maybe there will be a “Dude Collector” one day, and we can stick that in somewhere.

NRAMA: What’s the schedule for the new series?

SR: The new Nexus books are going to be released four at a time. The Nexus books will be released first, then the oversized anthology; Amazing Dude Tales, which will be followed by the new Moth books.

NRAMA: Is Dark Horse going to continue publishing the Nexus Archives, or is that going to shift to Rude Dude?

SR: I’m going to keep it with Dark Horse! I have a great relationship with those guys. Mike Richardson has always treated me well. I love the editor I’m working with, Dave Land, he’s a great guy. The staff, when I was working with them on the Moth books, were tremendous. It really started me on the idea of doing this on my own, because I was telling them what to do, and they were doing it! It was great!

NRAMA: But they’re not doing the single issues any more…was that a personal choice on your part?

SR: No, (The Moth and Nexus) just weren’t making enough money for them! They had to get rid of them, so they wouldn’t lose more money! So they let me do it – I’ll lose the money!

NRAMA: There’s the spirit! Now, you and Baron have been telling Nexus stories for so long…what keeps the character fresh for you?

SR: Well, with other creators, it could have very easily gotten stale. It’s entirely up to the people who are creating it whether that kind of thing happens or not. But when it ended – when Dark Horse canceled it, rather – I knew we probably had about 10 more years to go.

NRAMA: Ten YEARS?! Wow.

SR: …and I know that for sure about The Moth. The Moth has got an easy 15-year run ahead of itself. And then I’ll retire. I mean, I’m 50, so 15 years from now, I’ll be at retirement age…but, you know, artists don’t retire, Zack.

NRAMA: Right.

SR: We don’t retire! This is what we’d do if no one told us that we had to make a living.

NRAMA: Exactly.

SR: I can’t wait to do some still-life, and I’m in the process of setting up my studio to help…evolve myself into the final stage of what I must become. Basically, it’s a working-from-life set-up. We’re going to have a still-life thing built, and then a model stand, a whole set-up to work uninterrupted from life. There are a lot of comic artists who limit themselves within a certain niche of learning…I don’t understand that, because a pure artist is someone who wants to know everything.

Comic books are what I love the most. I’ll always be in that. And because I’ve got a cause now, with starting my own thing…I was looking through Previews last night, because we’re in it now, and the pervasive darkness, and grossness and ugliness is just overwhelming – it’s incredible!

NRAMA: There are some very dark comics out these days, yes.

SR: Not just these days – it’s been going on for a long time! And I’ve never felt so much purpose as when… literally, something just hit me over the head and hit hard and said, “You need to consider doing this for yourself.”

NRAMA: A big part of doing that for yourself is being the publisher, not just a writer and artist. There have been many updates in the technology used to make comics – such as lettering and coloring – since you were doing the book through First. Have you found that this technology makes it easier to do the book yourself?

SR: Well, probably – the main thing is, I love computer coloring. I just think it looks great, and it probably sounds bizarre that I would prefer that. But the fact is, it’s a thousand times preferred, to me, over the hand-colored books! You can wipe out mistakes in a second and replace them, and the coloring is (great) if it’s not done the way it is 90 percent of the time in comic books today, which is often too dark, too saturated. I think that’s because of the slick-coated paper that’s used in many books, which has a very small absorbency rate, very little absorbency. It doesn’t soak in the way the old newsprint stuff used to do.

But anyway – I love computer coloring, and…what else? E-mail. E-mail is fantastic. That stuff is great. But you know, Zack, our stuff is still hand-lettered! All inked! Always will be! That isn’t going to change.

NRAMA: So it sounds like you’re combining the way you’ve always done things with some of the newer techniques…

SR: If there’s something that comes along that’s new, that bonds with my preferences, then…I do it! The main thing to emphasize is that it’s me making the decisions, and not someone who doesn’t think anything like I do about stuff. You would not believe what I had to go through to find a letterer…you would not believe it.

NRAMA: Did you wind up having to letter it yourself?

SR: I was ready to damn well start lettering it myself!

NRAMA: (laughs)

SR: We finally wound up with Todd Klein, who is doing a very nice job.

NRAMA: Wow…he is the best of the best. That is incredible.

SR: He’s doing a great job.

NRAMA: Though you’ve obviously had a lot of success, you’re still working on your breakout character almost three decades later…so much has changed in the comics industry. A lot of creators from that time are now working mainly in TV, film and animation, while a lot of people from those industries have, in turn, come into comics…

SR: Yeah, it’s amazing. You know, when I was trying to do Nexus as a TV series, I would go over to feature studios to get help from people. I couldn’t believe the amount of comic book aficionados that were working there. They all seemed to love comics, and for the same reason – they were autonomous. We could do whatever we wanted in our business, and the animation people were very much under the thumb of directors, and had to do what they were told.

NRAMA: Right. There are so many people now from all walks of creativity who are going into comics…

SR: Yeah, I love it. I wonder if the forefathers ever saw this coming. You know, Jack Kirby always talked about these characters as movies, “Some day, they’ll be movies.”

NRAMA: And now they’ve realized so many of his creations as movies…have you heard the rumor about Galactus in the new Fantastic Four movie?

SR: No, I don’t read the fan press.

NRAMA: I’m curious as to what you think of this, because you’re very appreciative of the old Kirby designs – the rumor is that instead of the old Kirby design, Galactus is going to be a giant…cloud.

SR: You’re kidding.

NRAMA: No, it’s been out there for a while…

SR: I can’t believe that…I can’t believe that the guys who made this thought they could get away with that…God almighty. I actually really liked the first movie, I especially liked Jessica Alba....I thought they cast a lot of stuff really well, and I heard nothing but bad stuff about the movie from everyone.

NRAMA: It’s still a rumor…it’s hard to avoid that stuff in the fan press.

SR:You know, I try to avoid a lot of the comics media…and that all comes back to Rude Dude. I haven’t read comics in 20 years, and it’s not because I lost interest in them, but because I just don’t see the kind of comics I used to read that made me love them. They’re gone! And so, I very clearly had a reason to step into the arena here, Zack, and wave my red flag!

NRAMA: Now, before we talked, I found an issue of Comic Book Artist lying around the basement that had an interview with you…this was in early 2000, and you were talking about going to Marvel and working there and how things had changed there enough that you were finally comfortable working at that company. You’re doing books on your own now after several years of miniseries at Marvel…how do you qualify your experience? Do you feel the same way you did seven years ago?

SR: Well, you’re going back seven years – I’m going back 20! God, this began in the 1980s for me…my, my disenchantment with comics. Marvel was – I have very mixed feelings about it, but whenever I see anything that’s put out by any company – it doesn’t have to be Marvel, it can be anybody – that is so densely colored that there’s no stylization to the art any more, it looks like it was colored by some kind of a weird hybrid between Photoshop and amalgamation of…I don’t know what the hell it is!

NRAMA: (cracks up)

SR: It’s not fun! It doesn’t look like anything! It looks like some kind of distorted reality! That’s not what I want to look at! I want to look at artists who have their own style, and I’m a superhero guy, so I love the mythology of the superhero, what he’s here to do, and the problems he has trying to do it, and they’ve gotten so reality-based that the fantasy element seems to have been completely stripped from them.

And that’s not what I want out of a comic book. I don’t know if it’s some kind of a weird long-term reaction to, “We want to make sure that comic books are never thought of as being for kids any more,” or…hell, I can’t imagine a kid walking into a comic book shop, like when…it was ’66, so I would have been 10…’66, oh man, that was the year. In 1966, Kirby was putting out his greatest works, and I was just a young kid. Everything was exciting, and everything cool was on TV, and that’s the part that is so internalized for me. It defined who I am and what I like.

And there have been other things over the years, but they certainly diminished as I got older. I can’t really speak as to why that may be, Zack, I don’t have a good answer for that, but what I look at now, especially when I open up Previews, is something that kind of turns my stomach. I should mention, Zack, that most of the original issue #99 will be reprinted in Steve Rude: An Artist in Motion which we’re planning to have out in July. I want everyone to know about this, because the book is going to be tremendously well done.

It’s been put together by John Fleskes, and he’s this singular guy who just wants to publish. He’s…I told myself that I would never work with 90 percent of the people in the book-publishing business, because they’re too much business and too little passion to do things right. And with John, there’s no red tape, no garbage that I had to go through. It was, “Okay, let’s sit down, figure out what we want, and how to do it” – what all creative things should be!

And that’s the reason why I formed Rude Dude! There’s no garbage in the way! People kept telling me what a disadvantage it was to work with characters like the Moth, because they’re not well-known characters – well, Christ almighty! How the hell WILL they get noticed, you knuckleheads? You start from somewhere, and you walk forward, and you do the work. And if it is good, eventually, enough people will notice. I want to increase the readership many times over from what Nexus originally had. I don’t know if that’s possible in today’s market, but I don’t care what are possibilities or impossibilities! I just know that I’m going to damn well try.




NRAMA: Finally – you’ve gotten a lot of professional support for Rude Dude, with even Joe Quesada publicly cheering the return of Nexus. How does it feel to have that kind of following in place?

The most important thing I can say about that is that it’s extraordinarily gratifying. And secondly, it’s vitally important, because of what I’m going to be doing with this company. It’s not really a company; it’s more like a formation of something that I think is exactly the most important thing to do with my talent for the rest of my life. These are tremendously exciting and fun-to-read books.

And if I love them so much, like I love the things that I came from in the past, the things that made me do what I’m doing, if fans come home and read it and have a great time and it makes them think about things, like all good literature does…to me, that’s the greatest thing that you can ever say about what you’ve done. To make people think is the most important thing, and to not make them think is to make them feel miserable when they get done reading something. They should be excited when they get done reading something, extremely excited – that’s the purpose of a lot of the media that we all need in our life! It’s been said that the more based you are in reality, the harshness of unrelenting reality, the greater your need to escape from that. You need to find the part of your brain where that kind of pressure doesn’t exist any more, and just kick back, grab a lemonade from the fridge, and have a good time.

[Jed Saxon]

I only read one issue of Nexus so far (I think the first from Vol. 2 from Capital or so) but I'm in. I liked everything else I've read so far (Spider-Man: Life Line, Thor: Godstorm) and "The Moth" is just one of my favorite comics EVER!
I wanted to cat up on Nexus but the HCs are way too expensive for me. Hopefully there will be some normal priced trades coming.

[Kody]

I'm really looking forward to what Rude brings to the page.

[Positive Man]

I remember picking up the first issue of the Black & White Nexus magazine because it had a Paul Gulacy cover on it — and as a reader of Master of Kung Fu I was a BIG Gulacy fan. I'm very glad I did, because I really liked the insides of the book, too, and have every issue of Nexus to date. (Except the Free Comic Book Day issue, because none of the shops I visited or talked to got the issue, even though they ordered it…)

[Jed Saxon]

Originally Posted by Positive Man

(Except the Free Comic Book Day issue, because none of the shops I visited or talked to got the issue, even though they ordered it…)

It's not that big a loss because it's just an "audiocommentary" to selected old pages.
Nice nonetheless.

[NightRiver]

Ive never read any Nexus before, but this sounds interesting. I may just have to check out the Dark Horse hardcover collections.

[Positive Man]

Originally Posted by Jed Saxon

It's not that big a loss because it's just an "audiocommentary" to selected old pages.
Nice nonetheless.

Ah. I was hoping that's all it was. While it would have been nice to have, I can live without it.

Thanks for the info.

[The D]

This thread has nothing to do with The Dude

[jsf]

I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS!!!

ahem.

I mean: lookin' forward to it.

[Michael C Lorah]

The return of Nexus is seriously the best comic book news of 2007. For me, there's virtually nothing that compares to Nexus. It's smarter, faster, more emotional, more dramatic, darker, funnier, better illustrated, and better able to tackle anything from sci-fi to politics to religion than any comic out there.

Two big signs of respect that I show to Nexus:
1. It's ridiculously hard for me to justify $50 a pop for any comic, but the Nexus Archives from Dark Horse are 100% worth the money (along with Gemstone's EC Archives and DC's Spirit volumes).
2. I haven't bought a monthly, serialized comic in ... gotta be close to 7-8 years now. I'm buying Nexus: Space Opera every month. I'm hoping that it will be a HUGE success and get the Dude's self-publishing operation up to full speed, so that I can sit back and wait for the trades, but for Nexus, for the Dude, I take no chances. I'm on board, all the way.

Vootie!

[Skinshark]

I always enjoy Steve's color roughs...just great thinking throughout.

=s=

[s*p rules]

Rude's stylized artwork and old-school view of how comics should be done right remind me a bit of Darwyn Cook, whom I am a huge fan of (especially after New Frontier). I'll be adding N:SO to my pull list, because I really liked the FCBD issue, and I'll be secretly hoping for an Adam Strange/Nexus crossover some day by Rude and Cook.

[nyhardcore]

Originally Posted by The D

This thread has nothing to do with The Dude

Well, there's not a literal connection...

[Akcoll99]

You know, reading this interview, I can just imagine the Dude talking about a million miles an hour. He does seem very excitable, but I can respect a man for having a passion for what he does. Being a huge fan of many of the old First titles, Nexus coming back is the best news since, well, Grimjack and Jon Sable returned!

The FCBD issue was a nice addendum to Nexus, with it acting as a nice reminder as to why the series is so great. I can't wait for both the Space Opera and the Rude art book he mentioned.

[DoctorTom]

Originally Posted by s*p rules

Rude's stylized artwork and old-school view of how comics should be done right remind me a bit of Darwyn Cook, whom I am a huge fan of (especially after New Frontier). I'll be adding N:SO to my pull list, because I really liked the FCBD issue, an secretly hoping for an Adam Strange/Nexus crossover some day by Rude and Cook.

Actually if there's going to be a crossover I'd rather get another Nexus/Badger crossover.

New Grimjack last year, new Nexus this year - all we need is new Badger and new American Flagg to really make it the second coming of First Comics.

[prolix]

Steve Rude is a great guy and Nexus is a great comic. HOWEVER, I would like to see an interview with Mike Baron who, after all, writes these amazing stories. All props to The Dude but this comic has always been a collaboration.

[kalorama]

I'm incredibly enthused by the return of Nexus. I can't believe it's been ten years.

[Jaynelle Rud]

Originally Posted by Jed Saxon

I only read one issue of Nexus so far (I think the first from Vol. 2 from Capital or so) but I'm in. I liked everything else I've read so far (Spider-Man: Life Line, Thor: Godstorm) and "The Moth" is just one of my favorite comics EVER!
I wanted to cat up on Nexus but the HCs are way too expensive for me. Hopefully there will be some normal priced trades coming.

Jed -

If you're interested in picking up the Nexus Archives, we've been selling them through www.steverude.com/store. We usually have them for full price, but occassionally we run specials (you have to be signed up for DudeNews -- www.steverude.com/dudenews -- to be notified).

Right now we're having an exclusive sale on the archives through our presale store (www.steverude.com/presale) as we are sold out and are giving people a chance to get in "cheap" before we reorder. Price? $35 for the first hardcover, and $30 for each additional ordered. They fit perfictly in the USPS flat rate box, so shipping is $9 inside the US or (I believe) $36 for international. That's a savings of $15-20 per book, or up to $95 on the entire set! Sale only lasts for another week or until the Nexus 99 Ashcans are in house.

Oh yeah -- want a sneak peak of Nexus 99? We're doing a print run for the press, but to fund the printing we'll selling 200 to the public. They're almost sold out, so if you want one, order today...www.steverude.com/presale!

We also sold out of the Nexus FCBD issues, but are getting another 20 in. Anyone that missed it will be able to order it from us or from their local retailer. It's being reissued as "Nexus Greatest Hits" at $1.99 in the July Previews.

Feel free to post or email us at steve@steverude.com if you have any questions!

[Duke Jupiter]

NEXUS is one of my favorite comics of all time and I am definitely supporting anything the Rude Dude decides to publish. Gotta keep 'em in business after all.

- DJ

[sniperboy65]

Is it true that Jack Kirby called Steve Rude from beyond the grave?? I had heard this story several years ago...

[Jaynelle Rud]

Originally Posted by sniperboy65

Is it true that Jack Kirby called Steve Rude from beyond the grave?? I had heard this story several years ago...

Yeah. It was collect and Steve was really pissed.

[Blackbeard]

Baron, Rude and the return of Nexus...

Thank you, God. Miracles really do happen.

[Akcoll99]

Originally Posted by prolix

Steve Rude is a great guy and Nexus is a great comic. HOWEVER, I would like to see an interview with Mike Baron who, after all, writes these amazing stories. All props to The Dude but this comic has always been a collaboration.

I like when Dude talked about shooting down Baron's story idea (which I agree with, I didn't want the 10-year jump either). But now I just have this image of Baron chained up in Dude's basement, typing away for fear of more reprisals from an angry Dude.

[Charlie Hustle]

this is GREAT news. I really missed Nexus.

[Jed Saxon]

Originally Posted by Positive Man

Ah. I was hoping that's all it was. While it would have been nice to have, I can live without it.

Thanks for the info.

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by Jaynelle Rud

Jed -

If you're interested in picking up the Nexus Archives, we've been selling them through www.steverude.com/store. We usually have them for full price, but occassionally we run specials (you have to be signed up for DudeNews -- www.steverude.com/dudenews -- to be notified).

Right now we're having an exclusive sale on the archives through our presale store (www.steverude.com/presale) as we are sold out and are giving people a chance to get in "cheap" before we reorder. Price? $35 for the first hardcover, and $30 for each additional ordered. They fit perfictly in the USPS flat rate box, so shipping is $9 inside the US or (I believe) $36 for international. That's a savings of $15-20 per book, or up to $95 on the entire set! Sale only lasts for another week or until the Nexus 99 Ashcans are in house.

Nice offer but still way out of my league. (plus the shipping to Europe would kill me :/ ).
Plus - IF Dark Horse continues the Archives (which contain what, 6 issues each?), there are a lot of volumes to go. So... nice priced "Essential" books or regular trades would be somewhat awesome.