Steve Rude was born in Madison Wisconson on December 31 1956. A big fan of comics as a child he loved Kirby's marvel heroes, the fabulous Alex Toth and art god Alex Raymond. He began to draw comics because as Steve puts it, "It was fun"!!!

Educated at both the Milwaukee School of Arts and later the California Art Institute he was introduced to comics fans when upon his return to Milwaukee he and childhood friend/fellow comics fan Mike Baron created the comic hero Nexus for Capital Comics in 1981. An immediate hit, Nexus catipulted Steve to cult stardom. His clean lines, feathered stroke, liberal use of blacks and stylized design techniques evoked memories of Kirby and Raymond as well as the Milton Caniff inspired designs of Alex Toth.

He has continued to work on Nexus for a variety of publishers over the years as well as doing other work for publishers including DC.

Steve says.."I feel sure to spend the bulk of my career as an artist in comics. I like story telling & the endless ways & approaches to it. I work in my sketch book daily and continue to learn from books and teachers off and on.

Jack Kirby will always be my spiritual guiding light and main inspiration. My awe and respect for him grows more almost on a daily level. All the pages he turned out, faster and better than anyone else for decades....

Like kirby I hope & intend for my career in comics to span the same length. Kirby is my role model & I would like to inspire likewise in my lifetime."

Whoa Steve, slow down....

He loves to read old comics by Jack Kirby and says he likes animals better than people! Hmmmmm.