Managed to pick up the first two two issues of uber comic writer Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's creator owned Nemesis at the incredibly excellent Minotaur pop culture shop in Melbourne.
Nemesis is a very nasty man. He has a vendetta against police of all nations having had his very privileged upbringing torn from him when his parents were arrested for running a hunting club. With the father committing suicide and the mother sent to the chair, the young man who'll become Nemesis inherits a massive fortune and travels the world acquiring the skills that will make him a criminal genius. All to eventually to take revenge on Blake Morrow, the cop who "stole his life away".
Nemesis asks the question, basically, what if Batman were a criminal? It reverses the "good guys wear black" to "bad guys wear white" (and it doesn't even add any weight to Nemesis at all).
Nemesis asks the question, basically, what if Batman were a criminal? It reverses the "good guys wear black" to "bad guys wear white" (and it doesn't even add any weight to Nemesis at all).
I have to say I was pretty impressed with these two issues. This sort of storytelling reminds me of the early Image comics, only much better.
Millar hits all the cool points and sets up the Nemesis' motivation cleverly and succinctly. He doesn't waste any time on needless exposition - the mark of an accomplished writer - and heads straight for the action. These action sequences filled with train wrecks, exploding buildings and the required high body count are spectacular and plain over the top, which unfortunately for meant for a fairly quick read, with few pages sporting more than four panels.
Even so there's a lot to get into with McNiven's art (previously combining with Millar for Civil War) verging on stunning. McNiven seems to have pared back his line work since Civil War but the art loses nothing for it. It's detailed and highly individual. I've been going over the panels just taking in the intricacies. There's not one flaw or unnecessary line.
Millar hits all the cool points and sets up the Nemesis' motivation cleverly and succinctly. He doesn't waste any time on needless exposition - the mark of an accomplished writer - and heads straight for the action. These action sequences filled with train wrecks, exploding buildings and the required high body count are spectacular and plain over the top, which unfortunately for meant for a fairly quick read, with few pages sporting more than four panels.
Even so there's a lot to get into with McNiven's art (previously combining with Millar for Civil War) verging on stunning. McNiven seems to have pared back his line work since Civil War but the art loses nothing for it. It's detailed and highly individual. I've been going over the panels just taking in the intricacies. There's not one flaw or unnecessary line.
Millar writes in an Afterword that since the Wanted and Kick-Ass movie adaptations there's been many a person sniffing around Nemesis. Whoever gets the gig won't have much work to do in adapting it because whether deliberate or not Nemesis could easily be translated to the big screen with little trouble. It verily screams "summer blockbuster".
The challenge for Millar will be in making the "everyman" hero cop Blake Morrow more interesting than the supervillain-genius, Nemesis in the too cool all-white costume. Otherwise you won't want him defeated. I mean, this guy is bad - murdering cops and indiscriminately slaughtering civilians by the truckload. But, you know, carnage can be appealing. At this point I think Millar's got it about right with it looking like it's going to a battle of intellect and wits even though there's sure to be more high-stakes action.
The challenge for Millar will be in making the "everyman" hero cop Blake Morrow more interesting than the supervillain-genius, Nemesis in the too cool all-white costume. Otherwise you won't want him defeated. I mean, this guy is bad - murdering cops and indiscriminately slaughtering civilians by the truckload. But, you know, carnage can be appealing. At this point I think Millar's got it about right with it looking like it's going to a battle of intellect and wits even though there's sure to be more high-stakes action.
These: Highly recommended. Forthcoming: Highly anticipated.
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