Surveys are rolling out! A small batch just went out first so we can make sure everything works before it goes to all 632 of you. If yours already showed up, congrats, you’re the test crew. If anything looks off, tell us in the comments. Everyone else, yours is coming in the next few days.
It’ll come as an email from BackerKit, so if you don’t see it, check your spam folder.
A few things to know before you check out:
THE EXTRAS
The 1988 Nexus Tee, Nexus Trading Card, Vault Drop 5x7 Print, and 4″ Title Stickers are only available in the survey, and only through November 1.
WANT THEM FOR CHRISTMAS?
For a flat $15, your extras can ship in early December instead of waiting for the book.
SHIPPING CHARGED LATER
It’s charged in 2027, closer to when the book ships, so nobody pays for a guess. Today’s charge doesn’t include it.
PAYING OVER TIME?
Your survey unlocks once your last payment goes through. That’s January on the regular schedule, or sooner if you pay off early. We order extras right after November 1, so if you want any (including extra stone coasters), email us at [email protected] by November 1 and we’ll add them to your order. Pay off by December 1 and your extras can ship in time for Christmas.
After November 1, extras are limited to whatever’s left over.
Thank you again for making this book happen. We can’t wait to get these in your hands.
Keep Drawing,
Steve and the Rude Dude Crew
P.S. Ask Steve Anything is this Sunday, October 25, at 11 AM Arizona (2 PM Eastern). We’re also live every Saturday at 1:30 PM Arizona. www.steverude.com/YouTubeLive
First, sorry for the quiet. The flu went through the whole house last week and took all of us down with it. We're back on our feet, and here's everything Steve announced on Saturday's stream.
Ask Steve Anything is Sunday, October 25 at 11 AM Arizona (2 PM Eastern).
You voted, Sunday won, and Steve's in. It's a live, backers-only stream. The link comes in a backers-only update before we go live, and we'll add it to your rewards so you can always find it. Can't make it? The replay stays up for backers.
What should Steve tackle first on Ask Steve Anything?
The poll below is closed, but click into it and add your question in the comments. Steve reads every one.
Nexus is on the trading card, lightning and all
56% of you said so, and it wasn't close. Steve draws it live this Saturday on the stream, then it's printed once, for this campaign only. It's a $10 add-on in your survey. VIP backers get one automatically.
Sasha update
Sasha is not home and doctors are calling her a Miracle Dog, and we mean it. Thank you to everyone who sent love, orders, and gifts toward her bill. We read every one. We were initially told she would need lifelong liver support, but it’s looking like all her values are nearing normal and she will just need bloodwork a few times a year!
Your survey
Almost done. We're finishing it now, BackerKit's team gives it a final check, and then it lands in your inbox. Nothing to do until then. When it arrives, that's where you pick your tee size, grab add-ons, upgrade to VIP, or add Get It Early if you want your extras before Christmas.
One thing to do today
Put Sunday, Oct 25, 11 AM Arizona on your calendar, and leave a question for Steve in the poll comments.
This Saturday at 1:30 PM Arizona
Steve draws the Nexus Trading Card live, then it's Bride of Frankenstein for Universal Monster Month. Grab a brush or a pencil and work along with him: www.steverude.com/YouTubeLive
Quick roundup before the survey goes out, so nothing gets missed. You took this from $40,000 to $70,537 and unlocked eleven rewards along the way.
Every add-on is in your survey. VIP backers get one of each automatically.
Ask Steve Anything
You pick the time. Vote in the poll below. Steve announces the winning time live on Saturday’s stream, and the link goes out in a backers-only update. Keep dropping your questions in the comments. Can’t make it live? The replay stays up for backers.
A Hidden Treasure for the Troops
Steve is drawing one original piece and hiding it inside one book in the troops box, with a handwritten note. We’ll post the receipt when the box ships.
Nexus Trading Card: The Vote is Back Open
The card unlocked in the final days of the campaign, and the poll closed before most of you ever saw it. Only one vote made it in. That’s not enough to put a character on a card that’s printed once, for this campaign only, so we’re reopening it through Saturday. Sundra Peale has the lone vote. Nexus, the Hammer and the Merk are still in it. Steve announces the winner on Saturday’s stream, then draws it live.
The Process Pack, The Vault Drop and every other download land in your BackerKit downloads at the end of October, once cards are charged. The digital edition of the book follows in 2027, once the book is at the printer.
1988 Nexus Tee
Pick your size in the survey.
The 4" Title Sticker
There’s nothing to add. It’s already in every physical pledge. (Our last update made it sound like an extra. That’s our mistake.)
Steve Rude’s Holiday Vault opens November 18
It’s our corner of BackerKit’s Holiday Market, open through December 1. It’s remainders and rare items only, all guaranteed to arrive by Christmas, with a free 2026 ornament in every order. Follow now and you get in 3 hours before everyone else.
Steve announces both winners live. It’s also Universal Monster Month on the stream, and this week Steve paints Frankenstein. Grab a brush or a pencil and paint or draw along with him. The challenge: can he finish it in one hour? Come find out: www.steverude.com/YouTubeLive
We are finishing up the post-campaign surveys. They include the extras we couldn't add before the campaign ended:
Nexus 4" stickers
5x7 archive print
Vintage Nexus 1988 tee reprint
We'll let you know as soon as the surveys go out.
SASHA UPDATE
Sasha, our 2-year-old husky, is still in the ER. She is improving, but she is not ready to come home. Her platelet count needs to come up a little more so she can get a feeding tube. Then we can care for her at home.
Her care costs about $4,000 a day, and we are doing everything we can to keep her there until she can get a feeding tube in safely.
No pressure to donate. If you know someone who loves dogs, please pass her story along: steverude.com/sasha
We're also still offering a 10% discount on everything in the store with code WELOVESASHA, and we've added the $1000 commission to the store. We've also added a PayPal Invoice option so we can get funds right away instead of 3-5 days. We still need about $3k for tonight in the next 2 hours.
It’s closed. Nexus: What It Is! finished at $70,537 from 632 backers, 176% of the goal.
With 27 minutes left you were $437 short of the 1988 Nexus tee. You got it, then pushed the campaign into overtime more than once.
What you unlocked
• In every pledge: the Steve Rude Process Pack, The Vault Drop, and a seat at Ask Steve Anything, live. Every physical pledge also gets the die-cut sticker.
• For the troops: a box of books to ComicBooks For Troops, with a Steve Rude original hidden inside one of them.
• New add-ons: the Nexus Archive Wallpaper Pack, the 5x7 Vault Drop print, the Nexus Trading Card, and the 1988 Nexus tee. VIP backers get one of each automatically.
What happens next
1. BackerKit charges your card within the next day. If it doesn’t go through, BackerKit emails you a link to fix it.
2. The pledge manager opens in the next few weeks, and BackerKit emails you when it does. That’s where you confirm your address, pick your tee size and add any of the new add-ons.
3. Your Nexus Reading Library link is already yours. Keep reading.
4. The book is estimated to ship by May 2027. We’ll show you pages as they come together.
5. Ask Steve Anything gets a date soon. The link comes in a backers-only update, so keep your questions coming in the comments.
One last vote: how should the book end? The poll is at the bottom. And in the comments, give us one sentence to Steve, 45 years in. He reads them all, and his favorites get read on a Saturday stream. These polls steer the book. Steve and the editor make the final call, but you’re in the room.
Steve is live this Saturday at 1:30 PM Arizona, same as always. Come celebrate with us: https://www.youtube.com/steverudethedude And the crew at https://www.patreon.com/steverude sees what happens next first.
One more thing, because some of you asked. Sasha is still in the hospital, and the doctors don’t have an answer yet as to what is causing her liver failure. If you’d like to help with her vet bill, it’s all here: https://steverude.com/sasha No pressure, ever. You’ve already done more than enough.
The final hour! A few hundred dollars from the 1988 Nexus tee
Hey everyone,
Two things happened since yesterday. You passed 600 backers, so Steve is hiding an original drawing inside a book for the troops. And you unlocked the Nexus Trading Card.
We’re a few hundred dollars from unlocking the 1988 Nexus tee. It opens as an add-on after the campaign ($30, or $35 for 3XL and up), you pick your size then, and VIP backers get one automatically.
The campaign closes today at 1 PM Arizona (4 PM Eastern). Two ways to help in the next couple of hours, and each takes a minute:
Add to your pledge. Open your pledge, then add an add-on or step up an edition.
Send one friend this: You need to see this. Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Nexus. $5 gets you 80 Nexus books to read today, and it closes at 1 PM Arizona: https://steverude.com/whatitis-friend
Thank you for three incredible weeks.
Keep Drawing, Steve and the Rude Dude Crew
P.S. Thank you for every kind word about Sasha. She is still at the emergency hospital, and we’ll share more after the campaign closes.
Vote below then ask a specific question in the comments! We will compile for Steve once we hit 500 backers - don't forget to share the campaign so we get there faster!
At 500 backers, Steve goes live for a backers-only Q&A. Send your questions ahead, then join the private stream and ask the follow-ups yourself in chat. Date announced after we unlock it. Also opens the Nexus Archive Wallpaper Pack as an add-on.
Goal: 500 backers reached! — We did it! This project reached this goal!
Surveys are rolling out! A small batch just went out first so we can make sure everything works before it goes to all 632 of you. If yours already showed up, congrats, you’re the test crew. If anything looks off, tell us in the comments. Everyone else, yours is coming in the next few days.
It’ll come as an email from BackerKit, so if you don’t see it, check your spam folder.
A few things to know before you check out:
THE EXTRAS
The 1988 Nexus Tee, Nexus Trading Card, Vault Drop 5x7 Print, and 4″ Title Stickers are only available in the survey, and only through November 1.
WANT THEM FOR CHRISTMAS?
For a flat $15, your extras can ship in early December instead of waiting for the book.
SHIPPING CHARGED LATER
It’s charged in 2027, closer to when the book ships, so nobody pays for a guess. Today’s charge doesn’t include it.
PAYING OVER TIME?
Your survey unlocks once your last payment goes through. That’s January on the regular schedule, or sooner if you pay off early. We order extras right after November 1, so if you want any (including extra stone coasters), email us at [email protected] by November 1 and we’ll add them to your order. Pay off by December 1 and your extras can ship in time for Christmas.
After November 1, extras are limited to whatever’s left over.
Thank you again for making this book happen. We can’t wait to get these in your hands.
Keep Drawing,
Steve and the Rude Dude Crew
P.S. Ask Steve Anything is this Sunday, October 25, at 11 AM Arizona (2 PM Eastern). We’re also live every Saturday at 1:30 PM Arizona. www.steverude.com/YouTubeLive
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