NEXUS

   US COMIC-book series (1981-91), 80 issues, published first by Capital Comics and later by First Comics, created by writer Mike Baron and artist Steve Rude. Set in the 25th century, when Earth is the political hub of the interstellar society known as the Cohesive Web and humanity just one of many intelligent races, the comic had as title character a superpowered agent of vengeance, driven to kill tyrants and criminals by targeting them with dreams. N explored the moral ambiguity of execution and the often logical motivations behind the atrocities of those killed by the hero; but it also had a lighter side, much humour deriving from Nexus's problems in dealing with his homeworld, Ylum. N began with 3 black-and-white issues, changed to colour with \#4, was cancelled by Capital with \#6 and picked up by First Comics from \#7 a year later, in 1985. Declining sales - partly due to long absences by Rude and the poor reception given to the fill-in artists - led to N's demise in 1991. First Comics have published reprints of \#1-\#26; spin-offs have been Nexus Legends (1989-91; 4 issues) and the one-shot Nexus Files.

   RH