Finally, another Steve Rude POP Retro Cover Classic: Nexus #26 from 1986

Nexus #26, First Comics, 1986. Cover by Steve Rude.

Why "finally"? Well, as long as POP has been doing Retro Cover articles, Steve Rude, one of my favorite artists has only been featured once, and it wasn't even for the title he is most associated with: Nexus! (Click here to see our Retro Cover article celebrating 1990's World's Finest: World's Apart, for which Rude won a Harvey Award as Best Artist). As for Nexus, picking just one cover to represent his stellar art over that highly underrated and under-recognized series has been too daunting, I guess.

Steve Rude won Eisner Awards for Best Artist for Nexus in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1997. More often than not, his covers were fully painted, heavily influenced by the retro illustration styles and color palettes of artists like Andrew Loomis and Maxfield Parrish, among others Rude has mentioned.

Nexus was the saga of a bounty hunter, empowered and tortured by a mystical alien to execute mass murderers across the galaxy. Rude's costume, ship, and alien designs for the series were beautiful homages to Alex Toth's work on Space Ghost.

Nexus #26 not only featured Rude's firm artistic grasp of human anatomy and convincing foreshortening, but also his whimsical alien designs, with an atmospheric background and crackling special effects that leap off the page. The wispy spiral adds another layer of depth and focuses the eye on the villain.

Unfortunately, like many gifted artists, Rude has had personal demons and issues he has struggled with. As a major fan, it hurts to see and read about them, and it makes me wish he had an easier existence.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Nexus (Capital Comics)

Nexus (First Comics)

World's Finest (1990)

RECOMMENDED VIEWING:

Rude Dude: The Steve Rude Story (2014) <I found it on Tubi>