Nemesis The Warlock: Episode 10 The Visitor

Sir Evric says here, ‘No, Torquemada! No! It wasn’t my fault! No, Torquemada – not the red-hot pincers again!’

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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Sir Evric is beset by problems: he’s sick with alien fever; he would like to destroy Mek-Quake but realises that could be impossible; he worries who is going to tell Torquemada the siege may fail, and his teenage son is having doubts. The teenager, Balin, is a classic punk from the era and he is memorable for that reason alone. Balin refers to his bestiary and the alien creature Skiapode who has one giant foot which it uses as a sun umbrella. Surely such a creature is no threat to humans? says Balin to his father. I based the Skiapode on a description I read in a mediaeval bestiary and it is beautifully and comically visualised by Kevin. 

Then as Sir Evric sleeps, he has a visit from Nemesis in another beautifully detailed centre-spread with details that the readers could spend an hour or more poring over.