Mike Baron



Nexus
Real Name: Horatio Hellpop
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Executioner
Affiliations: Judah Macabee, the Merk, Dave
Enemies: Wampus
Known Relatives: General Theodore Hellpop (father, deceased), Marlis
Esperanza (mother, missing), Scarlett and Sheena (daughters)
Aliases:
Base of Operations: Ylum
First Appearance: Nexus #1 (Capital Comics)
Powers/Abilities: Nexus is able to fly, both in an atmosphere and through
space. He can travel at interstellar speeds. He can generate deadly energy
bolts capable of vaporizing things (usually people). He possesses a force field
which protects him from most weapons and the rigors of outer space.
History: On the planet Vradic in the Soviet system, General
Theodore Hellpop was viceroy who married Marlis Esperanza. In order to preserve
the Sov rule from a rising independent movement, General Hellpop destroyed and
fled the planet with his pregnant wife. Deeming himself unfit to return to
civilization, he flew his ship into the nearest black hole. Instead of being
destroyed, Hellpop’s ship was drawn to an underground city in planet
Ylum.
When Horatio was born prematurely in
the year 2560, he was placed inside a strange hourglass shaped tank. At the
time, no one knew this was filled with the Merk’s fusion power blood. When
Horatio turned five, his mother mysteriously died wandering the corridors of
Ylum. In order to compensate for Horatio’s loneliness, the Merk created Alpha
and Beta to keep him company. At twelve, they showed Horatio his father’s diary
and he learned of General Hellpop’s mass murder. Years later, Horatio
unknowingly had his first dream from the Merk. It was of the planet Vradic his
father had destroyed and his Uncle condemning Horatio’s mother. In a fever,
Horatio woke up and dragged himself into the tank. The following morning
Horatio was refreshed and learned of his new power. The dreams continued until
even bathing in the tank was not enough to stop them. In order to end the
feverish dreams and headaches, Horatio killed his father.
From that point on, Horatio was forced
by the nightmares and terrible headaches to seek out and destroy mass murderers
around the galaxy.
The Merk never revealed himself and
Horatio believed these powers were bestowed upon him by a righteous god.
Eventually, Sundra discovered the Merk and Horatio convinced the Merk to end
the headaches, For a time, only the dreams compelled Horatio to do the Merk’s
bidding, but lately he works off a list compiled by the Merk.

How much more creative can the comic
industry be when it comes to heroes and villains? From normal human antagonists
to absurd reptile hybrid protagonists. Have they done it all? This is the
beauty of the comic world. Creating characters have no limits. It is based on
pure imagination and mere vision from animals to gigantic titans with
unimaginable strength. The comic industry is like a poker battle
of superheroes. They try to top one another with a better hero, villain or
something more creative. Introducing the “world of badger”...Badger is the
story of Norbert Sykes, a Viet Nam veteran and abused child who has
developed split personality disorder. One of his personalities is the Badger, a
superhero. Working for Hammaglystwythbrngxxaxolotl, a fifth century Welsh
weather wizard, he proceeded to encounter and battle a procession of weird and
wonderful opponents during the run of his series.
Created by Mike Baron, who also created
Nexus, Badger originally appeared in a series from Capital Comics. With
issue five, his comic moved to First, where it ran to seventy issues and a
couple of graphic novels. With the demise of First comics, the Badger vanished
off the radar for several years, reappearing in a two mini-series from Dark
Horse during the mid-nineties, and then as an ongoing series from Image in 1997
(which lasted 11 issues).

