There wasn't a garbage can to leave the costume in, but Horatio nails the Spider-Man walking away thing.

We haven't seen an issue of this one in a couple years, and although I'm pretty sure I had it I bought it with a bunch of other First comics from the quarter bin. From 1989, Nexus #52, "Take This Job and Shove It" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Paul Smith, inks by John Nyberg.

Events in the crossover Crossroads, along with the loss of his friend Kreed, have finally pushed Horatio to the point of quitting his 'job' as Nexus. Deep in the caves of Ylum, he confronts his alien benefactor, the Merk, who remains immobile and silent as Horatio renounces the title, his powers, and his costume; no longer caring if the Merk tortured him to death with dreams of murderers. Convinced the Merk's silence wasn't consent, but another of his attempts at manipulation, Horatio leaves, facing a long hike through the caves. (He had left equipment, so he wouldn't have to go in his underwear!) He pauses when he finds a stone, covered in glyphs: earlier, Horatio had been digging up artifacts of Ylum's earlier civilization, only to later be told by the Merk that he had created them all, in a single night, possibly to give him something to do. But this stone, was apparently the work of a race of demons, now believed extinct. Maybe not completely extinct, as one introduces himself...

In Ylum's habitations, it's election season, with capitalist huckster Vooper against the incumbent Tyrone. Tyrone was a somewhat stern individual that took his duties exceedingly seriously, so he had hired young Casper Wineburger (from an earlier issue) as campaign manager. Vooper's partner, the sour Swerdlow, notes he was an experienced "rabble-rouser," and sets his security staff on him, with laughable deniability. Dave, long a voice of reason in Ylum, makes a courtesy call to Vooper and then Tyrone, to let them know Sundra, Horatio's girlfriend, was entering the race. Casper recognizes her as a legitimate contender, while Dave fears they might split the vote and leave the door open for Vooper, who could easily outspend them both.

Back in the caves, Horatio has a pleasant conversation with the demon, who explains he had evolved past his malicious nature: that was how he avoided the Merk's wrath, and why he didn't kill Horatio on sight. The demon also claims to have known Horatio's father, but admits meeting a demon might have severely disturbed him. Horatio seems to be malingering a bit, as he sits in a hot spring with the demon: he didn't want to get mired down in Ylum's politics, and wasn't sure what to do with himself going forward. The demon, Farouk, advises a task: when he returns, the first person he sees will provide an answer.

Swerdlow's security man lures Casper to a trap, where he's sucker-punched by some goons who plan to drop him in a crevice. He almost escapes, but catches a knife in the back, just as Horatio arrives. Reflexively, Horatio tries to burn the goons down with a fusion blast, then has to kill one with a shovel and the other with a kick into that crevice. The dying Casper asks Nexus to avenge him, assuming his killers were from his homeworld Flatlandia. Carrying Casper's body, Horatio then is greeted by Sundra, who after brief dismay over the body, has to tell him she's running for president. Which strikes Horatio as funny, she had originally come there as a spy.

The story closes with the reading of Kreed's will: among other things, there was proof of Swerdlow's treason, and he and his goon are arrested. (Horatio appears to hold the security man at 'gunpoint' merely by pointing at him, as he would've assumed Nexus still had powers!) Next up, debates! How often do you see those in comics...Also this issue: "Baron's (Nonlinear) Guide to the Nexus Universe." Man, I feel like this series could've gone so much further, if it hadn't been ankled when First went under. It would go on at Dark Horse, but I feel like a lot of momentum was lost.