Nemesis The Warlock Book 2: Eps 1-3
It begins with the Boyhood of Torquemada as told by the storyteller. He’s still hanging up in the dungeon and talking to the charlady, which still amuses me greatly.
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.
Episode One - The Boyhood of Torquemada
2000AD’s mainstream youth audience wanted their favourite characters to appear in the comic constantly. Judge Dredd being the most obvious case. Sometimes different artists worked, sometimes it didn’t. Where Jesus Redondo is concerned, talking to mainstream readers today, they liked his art. But dedicated fans only wanted Kevin, so in collected editions Redondo’s work was excluded. So was Belardinelli’s work on Sláine and even the artist creator of Sláine – Angela Kincaid. Titan Books thus controlled 2000AD’s destiny, including on Nemesis. It’s to Rebellion’s credit that they include all artists that shaped classic stories, such as Redondo, and that is absolutely the right thing to do.
I think Kevin would have preferred a six-month or more wait until he had finished Book Three, but he knew I had to make a living. I had just about made up for the six week’s unpaid development time creating the serial, now, with the characters and the world in place, I had to make a profit on the story by writing a quick but powerful serial.
It begins with the Boyhood of Torquemada as told by the storyteller. He’s still hanging up in the dungeon and talking to the charlady, which still amuses me greatly. As I said in Olric’s Quest earlier, I hate this patronising story device.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Iconoblast to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.