Nemesis The Warlock: Eps 13 & 14
Like Thoth, I had to put up with being in the enemy’s world until I could escape, which I promptly did when I was sixteen. Soon after, I started writing books.
I’m blown away by Nemesis the Warlock: the Definitive Edition. My compliments to the publishers, Rebellion, and especially their designer Gemma Sheldrake for the truly inspired front and back covers.
Such a Definitive Edition requires a Definitive Commentary, a companion piece for when you’re looking at the beautiful art by art-creator Kevin O’Neill and the other talented artists that followed him. So it’s time for The Secret History of Nemesis the Warlock, an episode by episode revelation of what really went on behind the scenes.
Episodes 13 & 14 – the Death of Chira
The Terminators’ killing of Chira is sensational and tragic. Reviewing it so many years later, I pondered on the non-dialogue action sequence. Kevin’s storytelling is excellent, but I still wonder whether I should have added words. Words would help to complement the action and also slow the reader down.
I was trying to avoid the fatuous dialogue often found in superhero comics, which seem most unlikely in a fight. If I was writing it today I would have had text panels covering her thoughts and what she is going through.
Her death is followed by the warlock’s son, Thoth, being adopted by the Terminator Sir Hargan and becoming an alien cuckoo in the human nest, once again beautifully rendered by Kevin.
The idea of Thoth going undercover and being raised by the enemy is one that came easily to me because I was drawing on my own experiences as a kid. I was always aware from an early age that I was some kind of cuckoo in the Catholic family nest and later events have confirmed it. I was feral and independent-minded from as long ago as I can remember and simply pretended to be a member of this most dangerous of cults. Eventually the pretence wore thin and I rebelled against authority – although without Thoth’s magical powers to aid me, damn it.
Like Thoth, I had to put up with being in the enemy’s world until I could escape, which I promptly did when I was sixteen. Soon after, I started writing books. I don’t believe there was anything that remarkable about such teenage rebellion. The Roman author Pliny observed ‘Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents. And everyone is writing a book.’ I guess it’s always been that way because an Assyrian tablet from 2800BC also records ‘The earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.’ Prophets of doom, please note.
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