Steve Rude, also known as "The Dude", was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He attended grade school in Madison and high school in Escanaba, Michigan. After two years of study at the Milwaukee School of Art and Design, he returned to Madison for further training at both the University of Wisconsin and Madisson Area Technical College. With writer Mike Baron, he created the comic serial 'Nexus' during the summer of 1981. 'Nexus' first appeared at Capital Comics and was later continued at First Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Rude drew the series until the early 1990s, when the series was canceled by Dark Horse. Steve Rude worked also on several mainstream titles, such as 'Space Ghost', 'Johnny Quest', 'Spiderman: Lifeline', 'Legends of the DC Universe' and 'Captain America'. Steve received the Russ Manning Outstanding Newcomer Award in 1984, and has won comic industry awards as best artist, in 1986 and 1988.