Nemesis the Warlock: Death to All Aliens (2003) Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill & Jesus Redondo, Titan Books/2000AD, £19.99, hrdbk, 128pp, ISBN 1-84023-475-X
The Termight Empire terrifies the galaxy with its message of intolerance towards all alien forms of life using persecution, torture and outright murder to spread their doctrine. Their leader is the dread-inspiring fanatic, the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, and he has a message to his subjects: "Be pure... be vigilant... behave!" But fear not, for Torquemada is opposed by the most cunning, most powerful alien of them all... Nemesis the Warlock. In the invincible blitzspear, Seth, his symbiotic spacecraft, Nemesis fights the oppressor with his own message: "Credo!" So begins the saga of Nemesis, way back in 2000AD prog.167, on the 5th of July 1980, when the comic was just 12p! Created by Pat Mills, creator/editor of 2000AD, and strikingly drawn by Kevin O'Neill Nemesis inspired a lot of fans with its anti-authoritarian, anti-conformity message with its caustic satire and vitriolic wit. Comics, like animation, frequently slip below the radar of society and can be, at their best, subversive. This has definitely been true on many occasions of 2000AD generally and, I believe, of Nemesis in particular
Titan Books and 2000AD continue their hardback classics line with this book which reprints volumes one and two of the paperback releases. These are lovely editions for collectors and reasonably priced, but I sometimes wonder if the market is really there to continue to produce these titles for any length of time. For instance, it would be a shame if we didn't have further volumes of Nemesis, reprinting the Bryan Talbot drawn era of the title. Time will tell. In the meantime this is recommended both to the nostalgic and to those younger fans who have yet to encounter the pleasure of 2000AD's early triumphs. Enjoy.
Tony Chester
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