As an aspiring artist and popular art devotee I will not hesitate to pick up an issue of something I have never read mid-arc just because it has a new artist, it’s this love of comic art that originally led me to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s Nemesis.
When originally released there was a substantial amount of bad press following the first issue of this book, understandable considering the names attached. Steve McNiven, in my opinion one of the finest and most consistent artists in the industry (his superb work on Old Man Logan is why I bought into Nemesis without a second glance) and Mark Millar, currently the golden child of comic writers, his work on Wanted and Kick-Ass means he is one of the most bankable names in the industry right now.
Before I convey my thoughts on why Nemesis was so badly received to begin with, and why you should read it anyway, here’s some background:
In simple terms Nemesis is what we would get if Bruce Wayne was a bored, calculating, sociopathic Bastard, who trained himself to the same peak condition as the Bat both physically and mentally (and financially) out of narcissism rather than the overwhelming desire to make the world a less shitty place. It’s what would happen if a Saturday morning cartoon villain was replaced with someone capable and willing to take those harebrained schemes and bring them to fruition. It’s an attempt to portray a villain lacking the modern tropes that allow the hero to save the day, we’re talking hijacking Air Force One and crashing it into a populated city, a gas attack on the Pentagon that kills all but two men and a womb that’s rigged to explode if an abortion is attempted. You read that last part right, Womb Bombs. . . . . . . . this guy means business.
Written more or less from the perspective of Nemesis himself and lacking the equally powered master crime fighter protagonist in lieu of a simple hero-cop who wants him dead, Nemesis is a concept hard to swallow for a long running series with a young audience in mind. It’s thankful then that the entire story runs four issues long and is firmly in the realm of kiddie unsafe.
Why it was unpopular with critics:
Honestly? I think they missed the point. The way i read Nemesis (without any prior knowledge or expectations) gave me a different perspective, here we have a short, independently published comic that reads as though you are coming in on the story in it’s final act. It’s clear that Millar never wanted this to be an ongoing ordeal, more an exercise in gritty reverse role play, as simple in concept as it is in execution. I view it like being able to buy a copy of the comic a couple of industry pro’s came up with in their spare time, like it was put together on weekends for kicks. And if you view it as such; it’s brilliant. Millars writing is quick and lacking the deeper content of his other works, and it fits. A common criticism is that the concept is ripe for a grander portrayal, okay sure but I got the impression that this isn’t why Millar’s here. McNivens visual story telling is evident, the panels are laid out simply but his usually finely crafted work is as cut back as Millars writing is brash. The language is vulgar the violence is crude, it’s easy to follow but not necessarily easy to look at.
No one really wins in the end but as a more gritty polished version of the “what if Batman was a bad guy” scenario than I have ever seen before, it’s a small triumph.
Nemesis is a cold, quick, dirty, evil little book and I recommend it highly.
-Expatriategamer
Check out some early details on the planned film adaptation Here Tony Scott to direct with Pitt and Depp as Nemesis and Morrow respectively. (we’ll see about that)
Expatriategamer 