THE FANTASTIC POUR
Brett welcomes Ward Hill Terry to the Fantasti-Lounge to talk Nexus! We enjoy a refreshing end-of-summer Gin Cocktail and read Nexus issue #9. Join us in the Fantasti-Lounge as we discuss: Is Nexus the hero or villain of his story? Who would make up Terry’s indy comics superhero team? Does one of Terry’s favorite bands have their house in the middle of their street? And much, much more!
Secret Pour-igins: Gin
Cocktail: Killer Poodle
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- 6 mint leaves
- 3 cucumber slices
- tonic water
Garnish
- Cucumber
- Mint Sprig
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber, mint and simple syrup until the cucumber offers no more resistance.
- Fill the shaker with ice, then pour in the lime juice and gin. Shake until the cocktail is thoroughly chilled, about 20 seconds.
- Strain the mixture over ice into a Collins or rocks glass.
- Top with tonic water
- Garnish with a sprig of mint, and cucumber slice if you’d like
Non-Alcoholic Killer Poodle
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- 6 mint leaves
- 3 cucumber slices
- tonic water
Garnish
- Cucumber
- Mint Sprig
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker, muddle the cucumber, mint and simple syrup until the cucumber offers no more resistance.
- Fill the shaker with ice, then pour in the lime juice. Shake until the cocktail is thoroughly chilled.
- Strain the mixture over ice into a Collins or rocks glass.
- Top with tonic water
- Garnish with a sprig of mint, and cucumber slice if you’d like
Comic: Nexus #9, First Comics, 1985
Fantasti-Lounge House Band music: Stop Calling Me Frank “My Baby Is An Axe Murder From Wisconsin”
Check out their Band Camp page for more
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Nice to hear Terry on the show, and I agree–we generally don’t discuss indy comics very much, and we should!
Once I started shopping at comic shops (El Dorado in Cherry Hill, NJ, then Fat Jack’s in Oaklyn, NJ), I had access to all this amazing stuff. Pretty quickly I added books like Zot!, Judge Dredd, Crossfire, Cerebus, Twisted Tales, American Flagg, and The Rocketeer to my stack. Material like this helped expand my mind, and my appreciation for the medium in general. So when some of these artists started showing up in Who’s Who, it was a treat.
Specifically when it comes to Nexus, I could never quite get into it because every time I’d read one, I had no idea what was going on in the story. Nevertheless, Steve Rude’s absolutely amazing work kept me enthralled.
Fun conversation as always.
Next time you introduce me can I be the guy playing the new shadow pinball machine drinking lemonade a Grape juice cocktail with bitters .
I get most of comics mail order from midtown comics . I can’t speak on this character. Sadly Nexus is out of my wheel house .
Here’s my fantastic question: favorite British comedy show ? I’m guessing your Dad’s army or maybe a red dwarf or Monty python guy .
Great discussion of a series that also has completely missed me despite my absolute love of Steve Rude’s art. Echo our host’s love of the World’s Finest book. But I’ll add the Superman/Hulk crossover AND the Mister Miracle Special (inked by Kirby’s inker Mike Royer). He is so economical, conveying so much info with so few lines.
And it wasn’t that I shied away from independents. I was reading American Flagg, Miracleman, the Robotech books from Comico, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Childen, and Ted McKeever’s Metropol (does EPIC count?).
I have to respond to the questions of course.
Indy team – the Warpsmiths from Miracleman, Reuben Flagg, and Dana Sterling as the leader!
Bands – I am all over the map, the youngest of 5 with parents from the big band era. Lots of influences! The Smiths, The Talking Heads, The Doors, The Police, and Frank Sinatra
There is some good stuff in comics these days!
But no sports questions! I’ll answer the ones I thought would be asked!
Yes, there is a False Start on every Tush Push play.
No, Mac Jones isn’t that good
Yes, the Sox make the playoffs and might be peaking at the right time.
The indies didn’t make it to my neck of the backwoods so I didn’t really pick up any of them until some years later. My favorite is probably Usagi Yojimbo. Now that I think about it, I did get an issue or two of American Flagg and Justice Machine from Comico was occasionally available. I think I first encountered Steve Rude in the Marvel Heroes for Hope benefit book. I echo the praise given to his World’s Finest mini and also loved his work on the Hanna-Barbara characters in the Future Quest book a few years back.
Ward Hill Terry has some outstanding musical picks w/ The Beatles, early Chicago (when Terry Kath was on guitar), Madness (love the Nutty Boys), and Booker T. and the MGs (Al Jackson is a favorite drummer). I can’t disagree w/ any of those.
My personal five bands might include The Alarm, The Moody Blues, The Connells, bluegrass group New Grass Revival, and The Killers. At leas, that’s my five today. Ask me tomorrow and it will change. t
Great episode, guys! I LOVE that WHT brought his love of independent comics. The 80s were the golden age of indie comics until Image came along and cemented itself as a perminent player.
Your discussion of the dark undercurrent of Nexus and his reluctant heroism made me smile because that is a staple of Mike Baron’s work. I often think of what a strange choice he was to launch Wally West’s Flash book in 1987. He made Wally a sex-crazy, impulsive, and somewhat unlikeable 20 year old. In other words, he made him a real 20 year old guy. It wasn’t always an easy read, but it allowed Wally to have a real starting point from which to grow and gives him an edge that I love. While Waid and John’s get well-deserved credit for the Wally-sance, it was really Baron and William Messener-Loebs that started it all.
LOVED This episode. Like Ward, there was a period were I read almost nothing but independent comics – Cerebus, Nexus, John Sable, Zot!, Elementals, Concrete, Sin City, Love and Rockets, Xenozoic Tales, Wandering Star, Troll Lords, A Distant Soil, Southern Knights, Dreadstar, Groo, Usagi Yojimbo, Shanda the Panda… If it was published by Comico, First, Eclipse, Aardvark-Vanahiem or Pacific, I probably bought it.
I would absolutely love if Fire and Water added a show that focused on independent comics. Have Ward host it and spotlight an issue of an independent comics and a song by an 80s independent band (another love of mine).
Very enjoyable show. I’m really enjoying the format.
I’ve never read Nexus. I never read any of the independants. Growing up, I got to a phase where if it wasn’t established DC and Marvel characters, I had no interest. I eventually broke that rule for the Star Trek comics that DC was putting out.
In recent years during one of my re-reads, I added Airboy, Rocketeer, Zot, Miracleman, and Mr. Monster to my month-by-month read and enjoyed them all.
I loved the question about what Terry likes about modern comics. I thought about how I would answer and it was pretty obvious. Horror! We are currently experiencing a surge in horror titles from publishers like Image, Oni, Dark Horse, Mad Cave, DSTLRY, Boom, and others. I’m really enjoying these horror books. Even Marvel is dipping in with Predator and Alien stuff and DC with things like Nice House on the Lake.
Again, an enjoyable show; this time I even have something to say about the beverage of choice. Normally I’m indifferent because I’m just not much of a drinker, but I like the flavor of gin, and I should note that where I’m living now, Croatia, there is non-alcoholic beverage made of juniper berries that is reminiscent of gin (named, appropriately, Gineta). It’s quite good, although a bit hard to find in most stores.
As for the comic discussed, I’m another one of those who missed the boat on Nexus, although it’s a series I would like to read someday. However, I share the general fondness for Rude’s art, and yes, that World’s Finest mini is lovely to look at – which is good, because I think the story is honestly pretty middling.
And while I very emphatically agree with Terry about early Chicago, I’ll stop calling him Frank when he stops calling me Kissy Face!
Okay, Sugar Lips!
The most recent indie comic I got was the facsimile reprint of the power rangers / Vr troopers 1 flip book from boom studios. Have read the blue falcon and dyno mutt comics yet the new series it’s on the list of comics I need to check out