Horatio Hellpop was the only son of an Earth general, who was sent to the distant moon of Ylum (as in "asYlum") with his family. Growing up as a lonely child, Horatio invented imaginary friends to play with -- or did he? As more and more of Ylum was explored by the Hellpop's, they uncovered the remains of an ancient civilization that was befriending Horatio and helping shape his mind. As he matured, he was ultimately endowed with nearly-divine powers based on fusion-casting, drawing its energy directly from nearby suns.

The "gift" of this power came with a great price -- he would have to use it to kill his race's most egregious killers. If he disobeyed, he would be given unbearable headaches, the only cure for which would be to go into a dreaming chamber, where he would envision his next target.

In a galaxy very deep in complex politics, the "web" of planets did not look kindly upon this new power, called Nexus. For his part, he vowed to use his power and mostly empty (but habitable) moon as a haven for political refugees from across the universe.

These refugees came in all colors and shapes, among them allies of "The Great Nexus", notably famous wrestler and chef Judah Macabee, and Wisconsin psychopath The Badger. Nexus became the masthead of Ylum, but refused to be its leader, allowing the populace to elect their own. He met an agent of the web, Sundra, who became his lover, and by the series' end was pregnant with his child.