Nemesis The Warlock: The traps are set and Chainsaw Massacre

‘To be shown mercy by Demons… to be rejected by them as worthy of killing was the ultimate humiliation of the First Torquemada’s life.’

I’m blown away by Nemesis the Warlock: the Definitive Edition, Vols 1 and 2. My compliments to the publishers, Rebellion, and especially their designer Gemma Sheldrake for the truly inspired front and back covers.

Volume 2 is now on sale from the 2000AD store.

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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Episodes 8 and 9 -  The traps are set

Episode Eight is  remarkable for having the most splendid cathedral I have ever seen. It’s fabulous! It looks too amazing to be real and is probably a fantasy adaptation of existing churches. If only John could have made all his backgrounds so impressive! But, to be fair, backgrounds are never seen as important in British and American comics as I feel they should be. So he would not have had the role models that are omnipresent in French comics.

It’s fascinating seeing how Nemesis and Torquemada prepare traps for each other.  Nemesis captures the First Torquemada and uses him as bait for his son Thoth to enter mediaeval Spain. Thoth could kill him, but the First Torquemada longs for a martyr’s death because then it will justify his crimes. So Thoth decides to let him live. 

‘To be shown mercy by Demons… to be rejected by them as worthy of killing was the ultimate humiliation of the First Torquemada’s life.’

It’s a very effective twist. 

However, looking back on it, I’d have personally preferred him to be torn apart by his victims – the Heretics, Arabs and Jews, whom he cruelly persecuted. Spain would never be the same after the Arabs and Jews – the intelligentsia of the country – were driven out.