Nemesis The Warlock: Witchfinder found & farewell to Bryan Talbot

Anyone who thought Torquemada was unbelievable had only to look at Hopkin or Chivington. And realise the Grand Master was not impossible but inevitable – the ultimate incarnation of human evil.

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.

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Episode 10: The Witchfinder found

Nemesis and his comrades find the remains of Mathew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General who featured in a cult Hammer movie. He came from Manningtree, not far from Colchester where I used to live, so I was always fascinated by him. Hence why I had Martha Hopkin, his wife, appearing in Defoe. The crimes of the 17^th century British Witchfinders were appalling, but – if there was a league table – they would be topped by the French Witchfinders.

See for example the opening page of Sha 1: The Shadow One, where a sixteen-year-old witch is being burnt alive and my text reads:

Top panel:
“IN  WITCH TRIALS, CHILDREN SHOULD BE FORCED TO TESTIFY AGAINST THEIR PARENTS. IN FACT, I RECOMMEND TORTURING CHILDREN AND INVALIDS. AND TO PUT THE FEAR OF GOD INTO THEM, I ADVOCATE CAUTERY AND HOT IRONS SO THAT THE PUTREFIED FLESH WILL HAVE TO BE CUT OUT.

Bottom panel:
AS FOR WITCHES, WHATEVER PUNISHMENT ONE CAN ORDER AGAINST THEM BY ROASTING AND COOKING THEM OVER A SLOW FIRE IS NOT REALLY VERY MUCH AND NOT AS BAD AS THE TORMENT WHICH SATAN HAS MADE FOR THEM IN THIS WORLD, TO SAY NOTHING OF THE ETERNAL AGONIES WHICH ARE PREPARED FOR THEM IN HELL.”
Jean Bodin, French Public Prosecutor and author of The Demonmania of Sorcerors (1580).

If you want to know more about Sha, start here: The Making of Sha: the 2000AD connection

Page 1 of Sha 1: The Shadow One

You can appreciate why we drew a blank with our first proposed publisher of Sha in France.