The Official Nexus Webcomic

[Maxios]

First, some info on the Nexus from the official Nexus OOC
Well, the Nexus itself is like a rift, a single, brilliant point where all the universes in this strange thing we call 'reality' meet. Traveling to, from, and between any world or cosmology is theoretically possible here, and the Nexus itself seems to encourage this happening, often sucking beings and locations out of other universes at random, and dumping them on the world that lies at its center. It was not always like this, however. Once there were two worlds at the Nexus' heart, separate and distinct, though somewhat similar in ways. Similar enough that they slowly and eventually merged, so that only one remained. Here in this world the Nexus' influence reigns supreme, and as such the world has defied almost all attempts at classification. Here, knights of old may engage with Jedi knights. Gleaming spaceships land in Dark Age hamlets. Cowboys and samurai quest together to find holy sandwich boxes. And in the heavens above, Xi Wangmu and the Flying Spaghetti Monster meet every Woden's Day to play bowls with Pelor (it gets pretty epic). Here the possibilities are endless,

Second, MethosH and me will be working on this project.

Third, if you want your character in it, please PM me :smallbiggrin:

The Almighty List of Comics
Nexus #1 "And the introductory strip has cometh..."
http://zecarioca.net/Imagens2010/Nexus001.png
Drawn by MethosH

Nexus #2 "A little more info on the Nexus"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus002-1.jpg

Nexus #3 "Now onto the subject of WATCHTOWER"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus003.jpg
Efrim is a character belonging to: Snares

Neuxs #4 "Onto AMEN"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus004-1.png
The Moff (panel 1) is a character belonging to Moff Chumley. Gordon is a character belonging to ThePhantom

Nexus #5 "And the comic ACTUALLY starts....now!"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus005.png

Nexus #6: "The Big Boom Theory"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus006.jpg

Nexus #7: Gods of War R' Us
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus008nexusa.png

Nexus #8: Methinks the Beast makes a good statue
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus009.png

Nexus #9: ...And lo and prehold, the flashback continues
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus010.png

Nexus #10: That Media Res Scene!
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus011.png

((I know the art style is different at times, but the style used in #10 will be used for every new strip))

Nexus #11: But...why aren't you in NCR armor or Power Armor?
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus012.png
The Courier Belongs to: Maxios

The Nexus #12: Apparently, the Nexus-Home-Owners-Association tells one story first, and another one later
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus13.png



{scrubbed}

[lord pringle]

Cool. I like. *adds comic to reading list*

[Maxios]

Thanks. The fourth will deal with AMEN.

[Maxios]

To clarify, MethosH and I HAVE come up with an actual plot. These strips, a couple more, just give info on The Nexus and it's denizens to those who don't know.

[D_Lord]

I'm liking this but where is the next comic that you said would be up way earlier?

[Maxios]

{scrubbed}

[ThePhantom]

Um, Maxios, you have a few problems with your latest comic.

In the fourth panel, "Althrough the reason why can turn" does make sense.

Also, here is a better picture of Gordon.http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/avatars/gordon.png

[Maxios]

OK. Sometimes I don't spot my grammer errors. And yeah, that picture of Gordon is better. Next time Gordon appears, that's the picture I'll use. It makes him look a lot more evil.

[Maxios]

Neux #4: Onto AMEN
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus004-1.png

[Bayar]

Erm, Maxios... I don't think it's a good idea to repost the comic without fixing the reason it was scrubbed the first time. Just saying.

(probably has something to do with political connotations)

[Maxios]

No. It's because I accidently used Gordon's orginial picture without Happy Turtle's permission. SMEE told me it was okay if I used my own picture of Gordon.

[Maxios]

Nexus #5 "And the comic ACTUALLY starts....now!"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus005.png

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin is too a drow! :smallmad:
:smalltongue:

[Maxios]

Indeed she is. A nymph drow at that. So in this one, we get a look finally at our main hero.

[ThePhantom]

Well, I may look a little weird, but at least the angles make Gordon look villianous.

[Maxios]

Thanks. He really does look evil from how I drew him there.

[Maxios]

Nexus #6: The Big Boom Theory
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus006.jpg

[Maxios]

Sorry I haven't updated in weeks, but I figured out how to use inkscape in the time I wasn't updating...

Nexus #7: Gods of War R' Us
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus008nexusa.png

Nexus #8: Methinks the Beast makes a good statue
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus009.png

[Maxios]

Nexus #9
...and lo and prehold, the flashback continues
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus010.png

[Green-Shirt Q]

As I have been requested to do, I shall give my thoughts on this fancomic in return for the author's soul watching of my online videos (http://http://www.youtube.com/user/SeriousPeopleStudios?feature=mhum) (which everybody else should TOTALLY check out btw). So, without further adu, here are my thoughts and critique. Open at your own risk. Warning: long wall of text. REALLY LONG. :smalleek:

First impressions: I was a little put off by the title. The "Official" Nexus Webcomic. That sounds pretentious. Like the "Official" The Q Seal of Approval (yay! Hypocritical humour!). Anything assosiated with the Nexus or FFRP brings back bad memories and makes me sick to my stomach, but I'm not holding it against this comic. Particularly when the first comic is made by none other than Methos friggen' H, one of my favourite fancomic authors and artists! Unsurprisingly, this set me up to a level of expectation that was SURE to be completely dashed! Another thing that brought me down was the archive. It needs to be better organized. All under one spoiler. Also, trust me, you want to put all your comics into link form. Especially if you intend to keep this up for a long time, believe me. When I started my fisrt fancomic back when there was no fancomic section (only an arts and crafts section and WE LIKED IT) and got part 200 comics (first to reach both 100 and 200 issue landmarks on these forums, but enough needless bragging), the first post was so BIG and took so LONG to load it drove away a lot of readers and I had to go by hand and fix the whole blody thing and make it easy to read. Bottom line: link while you still have few comics to link to and get into the habit of it. It'll pay off big down the road.

Artwork: Okay, usually I would talk about the story more than the art, but the art is the biggest thing I noticed. The art after comic one is just plain BAD. Plain ugly. U.G.L.Y you-aint-got-no-aliby type art. Not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you. Usually. In fact, with comics 2 and 3 (minus the blatant art that is not your own) I actually thought the simplistic art was charming. This was at first, however. As I read more, the art simply became BAD rather than charmingly bad. It was ugly and, worst of all, it's distracting. I read each comic multiple times to follow the story and each time found myself too distracted by the terrible artwork to even follow along. Such instances include the 5th comic, in which there is a dude at his computer who seems to be made of eggs. It's such a jarring contrast to the rest of the art by itself and I see no reason for it unless it's some kind of joke, but own it's own merits it's not just distracting also bad art altogether as it's just painful for the eye to behold. Comic 7 has this guy doing splits in midair. The knight guy from the same comic looks alright enough if not for the weird outline around his head, and the robed dude from the same comic's white arms do not stand out enough from the featureless blank background. Then the art takes a STEEP fall downhill with the following comics of white and outlines. The art shifts are too distracting and require SERIOUS improvement before any of the comics featured (save MethosH the MAN, of course) are even the slightest bit good.
The easiest recommendation I can make is that you find yourself a good artist, but I'm not going to say that. Starting my first fancomic, I got a lot of people saying the same thing, and I wouldn't have had NEARLY the same amount of fun if I never learned how to make art as well and was able to make comics whenever I wanted. So here are my suggestions: 1) a singular style all comics and characters share and is conistant (by which I mean if it DOES change, then gradually to improve). 2) ALWAYS COLOUR AND USE BACKGROUNDS. 3) Include mouths. 4) Details really come through. Take OOTS for example. It's simple, right? WRONG! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRVUOGUmxJI) Take ANY page and you will see that there are lots of little details that pull each comic together and make it a whole, as well as a lack of "dirty" spots (such as in 7 with the swordsman with the weird head). Check your work to make sure there aren't any big things to distract the reader and take time to add some other stuff to really pull the scene together. Ask yourself this question: "If I was looking at a photo of a real life event of this happening, what ELSE would I see in the shot?". Lastly, the fonts you picked for the letters all suck, and whenever they're in text boxes they need to be centered so they look nice and neat.

Story: First of all, kudos on establishing the setting as the Nexus and explaining all of clubs and stuff. SERIOUS props right there. I cannot BEGIN to list all the Nexus and FFRP spinoff comics that just assume you know all that. Angelic Slayer in particular, while being an awesome comic, has quite a few inside jokes that leave me feeling left out. Also, the line " the only place in the multiverse where a jedi knight and a fallen paladin may duel" had me amused and was also a good intro to the messed up insainity that is the Nexus (at least how I remember it). Also, more kudos for explaining all of the Nexus stuff and having all the explanation be ACCOMPANIED BY PICTURES. There are SO MANY fancomics that just dump the info in one big, uneasy to read blob. Good job. It's just a shame that the pictures suck and distract heavily from the story, but I already covered that.
The story is interesting (once you get into it and forget the pictures) up until comic 7. After the dude who hacked into the computer is captured then apperently does splits in the air, the story shifts jarringly to the scene with the robe guy and the knight with no easy to spot continuity to the past events. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HACKER, WE WANT TO KNOW! YOU CAN'T JUST END A SCENE LIKE THAT!
Tha there's the beast. The embodiment of all evil. It sounds dumb, but I'm not going to judge. This comic barely HAS a plot yet, and the flashback apperently isn't finished, so I won't say anything about it yet. All I want to know is THE POINT OF THE STORY. Why are we reading? So far it's been just explanation after another explanation. You have to have some action inbetween. And, to your credit, you had the hacker which could've started a cool scene if you dweled on it and got around to organically revealing the plot in media res. The hacker didn't have much explanation in of himself and could've used some, but starting in the middle of the scene is a common literary practise and can create intrigue. Use this to your advantage. We want to see people, people doing stuff. You get my point?

Final verdict: I WANT to be able to give this comic a good overall rating. I really do. I know how much critique can hurt and I don't want to come across as a mean spirited jerk (especially since I don't want to piss anybody off who is going to be judging my online videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/SeriousPeopleStudios?feature=mhum) WHICH EVERYONE SHOULD TOTALLY CHECK OUT BTW I'M SERIOUS YOU GUYS IT'S GREAT). But you asked for my honest opinion, so I shall deliver. This comic has potential. But at the moment, with a story that doesn't have anything at all in it yet except for a pretty good scene establishment, messy art, and below par presentation, I have to say that I am not impressed by any strech of the imagination. It's nothing new I haven't seen before with the exception of a hacker doing the splits in midair for no reason, but that's something I don't WANT to see. There have been many Nexus themed comics in the past. It's a shame that this is the "Official" one.

Story: *** out of 5. Good start and intriguing but barely there. Gotta develop it a little further.
Art: * out of 5. Needs serious improvement.
Presentation: ** out of 5. I've seen comics that make we want to follow them less, but it's not exactly inviting.

Final score: ** out of 5.

To summerize (incase that's all too long to read) what you need to fix it: Better pacing of the story (should be more cinematic), a consistant art style choice for all characters, more detail on the art and a better archive. All of this is a good start.

...WHEW! That was a LOT of writing. I guess I haven't reviewed a fancomic in quite some time so had a lot stuff to say. :smallsigh::smalleek:

Yeeeah. Sorry if I'm too mean. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but that's how I truely feel. I respect you, and hope we can still be friends. :smallfrown:

[Maxios]

It's okay. The plot will get better soon, and the art was bad because it's the first time I've ever tried to make something like. I'll try to fix everything you mentioned that wasn't as good.

[D_Lord]

Are you still working on this?

[Maxios]

Are you still working on this?

Yeah, I was taking some time off to update my style and to write out the plot. Regular Updates will start again tomorrow :smallbiggrin:

[Maxios]

Nexus010: That Media Res scene!
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus011.png

[ThePhantom]

Interesting. You have improved with the artwork.

[Maxios]

Interesting. You have improved with the artwork.

Thanks. I decided that every AMEN minion will look different, which is why the one in Panel 2 has a Mustache

[Maxios]

An update a day keeps the Doctor away...

Nexus #11: But...why aren't you in NCR armor, or Power Armor?!?!
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus012.png

Sorry about how the dialouge appears. I have to work on making the dialouge (and word balloons) appearence better

[Reinholdt]

Errr... this is the Programmer's house, correct? :smallconfused:

[Maxios]

Errr... this is the Programmer's house, correct? :smallconfused:

Right. At the end of #10, he ran into a closet (which is apparently large enough to have a sectret exit)

[Reinholdt]

So... umm... why does Courier know about a secret exit that the Programmer doesn't within his own home?

[Maxios]

So... umm... why does Courier know about a secret exit that the Programmer doesn't within his own home?

Good point. We can just assume that AMEN held a meeting showing the Programmer's blue prints, and the Courier paid attention (Which the others, for the point of plot, didn't)
And the Programmer: Two reasons. The first: For the point of Plot. The second, a lot of jokes will be made in the next couple strips about the Programmer not knowing about the Secret Exit

[Reinholdt]

Good point. We can just assume that AMEN held a meeting showing the Programmer's blue prints, and the Courier paid attention (Which the others, for the point of plot, didn't)
And the Programmer: Two reasons. The first: For the point of Plot. The second, a lot of jokes will be made in the next couple strips about the Programmer not knowing about the Secret Exit

Assumptions made.

And ThePhantom is correct. Your artwork style is improving.

[Maxios]

Assumptions made.

And ThePhantom is correct. Your artwork style is improving.

Thanks, Reinholdt :smallsmile:

Before, I'd be rushing to make the comic, each strip being finished within ten minutes.
Now, I'm taking my time, to make it, and the comic's become a lot better because of it

[Maxios]

The Nexus #12: Apparently, the Nexus-Home-Owners-Association tells one story first, and another one later

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus13.png

((The Programmer entered the secret door in between strips))

[Maxios]

Sorry this hasn't updated in a couple days, I had to make a lot more templates for the characters that will soon appear.

Templates made include:
The vampire known as Rot
Gordon
Trog's Tavern Barkeep
Magtok

The comic will update tomorrow

[Maxios]

The Nexus #13: The magical ability to make Packages appear
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/TheNexus014.png

[Lord Magtok]

Sorry this hasn't updated in a couple days, I had to make a lot more templates for the characters that will soon appear.

Templates made include:
The vampire known as Rot
Gordon
Trog's Tavern Barkeep
Magtok

The comic will update tomorrow

I don't recall ever granting my permission for such a thing, Maxios. I hope I'm not screwing up any plot ideas you'd had in mind, but I don't see myself changing my mind later and giving you permission, either.

[Maxios]

Nexus Bonus Strip 1: A LOT of Curtains
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Alotofcurtains.png
To those who don't FFRP: The curtains are an in-joke. A Curtain is FFRP term for Romance Plots or anything similar. HALO is the current leading in how many Curtains have been pulled
Edit: Maxios' dialouge is nearly unreadable in the second panel. This is what he says: "Hurry up and open the door! This is really heavy!"


Nexus Bonus/History Strip 2: And so it begins...
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Soitbegins.png
This strip is different in one special way. The events of this strip actually took place in the Nexus FFRP. This was a very notable FFRP event, the first time Maxios met Mercury. Mercury later became Maxios' sworn enemy, and the two fought each other several times. The Treasure Quest later led to the formation of LANTERN, a superhero/crime fighting orginization.

[Maxios]

Nexus Bonus Strip 3 "A lot of curtains...Part 2"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Alotcurtainspart2.png

[Maxios]

Nexus #14 "Back to your regulary scheduled webcomic"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus012.png

[Maxios]

Nexus #15: Those guys look really familiar...
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus013.png
Rogo and Gork were originally going to appear in a webcomic idea I had right before I created this comic

In other news, I severly have to improve upon my drawing of backgrounds. I also made a bunch of new templates today, so expect tomorrow's comic to be of a better quality ((I made this one before the whole Troll incident))

[Ashen Lilies]

I can't believe I'm actually suggesting this but... have you looked at Trazoi's guide (http://www.trazoi.net/tutorials/inkscape/oots/)? It might help. A lot.
...
Now if you excuse me I'mma go and jump off the nearest cliff.
*shudders*
Inkscape... :smallyuk:

[smuchmuch]

Now if you excuse me I'mma go and jump off the nearest cliff.
*shudders*
Inkscape... :smallyuk:

Wait, wait
(What are you using for your avatars, then ? because I'm pretty sure those thing were not made in Paint)

[Maxios]

I can't believe I'm actually suggesting this but... have you looked at Trazoi's guide (http://www.trazoi.net/tutorials/inkscape/oots/)? It might help. A lot.
...
Now if you excuse me I'mma go and jump off the nearest cliff.
*shudders*
Inkscape... :smallyuk:

I tried making a comic using that guide. It looked a lot worse then it does now

[Ashen Lilies]

Wait, wait
(What are you using for your avatars, then ? because I'm pretty sure those thing were not made in Paint)

They are, in fact, made in Paint.... dot NET (http://www.getpaint.net/). :smalltongue:

It's probably an inferior tool compared to Inkscape when it comes to OotS-style drawings, but it's what I was comfortable with when I started avataring so I use it to this day. I've tried Inkscape a couple of times, but it's just different enough to make me not want to take the effort to adapt. Also because I want to be a rebel.

And now, back to the comic. :smallwink:

[Maxios]

They are, in fact, made in Paint.... dot NET (http://www.getpaint.net/). :smalltongue:

It's probably an inferior tool compared to Inkscape when it comes to OotS-style drawings, but it's what I was comfortable with when I started avataring so I use it to this day. I've tried Inkscape a couple of times, but it's just different enough to make me not want to take the effort to adapt. Also because I want to be a rebel.

And now, back to the comic. :smallwink:

Yup. Tomorrow, there's going to be two updates, showing two more potential bodyguard canidates, including a Halfling Jedi, and a Laser Samurai

[Maxios]

Nexus #16: Like Yoda, but not Green
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus014.png

Sorry, only one update tonight :smallfrown:

[Maxios]

Surprise! Double Updates!
Nexus #17 "A barman that doesn't want to be in a bar"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus015.png

Nexus #18 "Apparently, he can really get better"
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus016-2.png

[Maxios]

Nexus #19 "Apparently Miko has a clone of her..."
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus017.png

[Reinholdt]

Silly anger. :smallbiggrin:

[Maxios]

Silly anger. :smallbiggrin:

Indeed. Silly, silly, homicidal, anger :smallcool:

[Maxios]

Misc
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Lizardman.png

Nexus #19: Just Clowning Around
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus018.png

Nexus #20: Booooooo!!! ((Who comes up with these titles?)) :smalltongue:
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy59/maxios5/Nexus019.png

[Maxios]

Chances for an update tonight are low. I have a LOT of new templates to make

[Maxios]

The comic is now on hiatus. Sorry to eveyrbody who reads it :smallfrown: