The Goths here are like any Republican that isn't lily-white; wondering why they're not considered part of the in-group.

I confess to not being super-organized, but look, sometimes it feels like these weren't reprinted in a coherent manner, either. From 1989, Nemesis the Warlock #6, written by Pat Mills, art by Kevin O'Neill. Cover by Sam Kieth!

We actually saw part of this before, reprinted in color in Quality's Spellbinders #1. The GCD didn't give reprint credits for this black-and-white one, but "The Gothic Empire" started in 2000 AD #387: the Goths were at war with the Terminators (not those ones--oh, never mind) but couldn't fathom why. The Goths were maybe just as xenophobic as the Terminators, and thought they were figuratively, on the same team; at war against 'aliens.' Unfortunately, the Goths didn't quite realize, they were aliens! They had received early earth radio broadcasts, and patterned themselves after early 20th century Britain; so they were kind of patronizing, colonizing bastards too. They also had a Jack the Ripper-type problem, in the person of serial killer "the Phantom," who is really series big-bad Torquemada! His various deaths and returns, had left him forced to suck the life-force out of aliens to maintain himself.

Nemesis wants to convince the Goths' ruling "Ion Duke" that Termight was a threat to them; but the Duke refuses to listen, instead taking potshots at Nemesis's messenger/familiar, Grobbendonk. Despite the fact that the Goths' space navy was outgunned and outclassed by Termight; the Duke refuses to even acknowledge that as a possibility: partially their faux-Brit superiority complex, the rest poison poured into his ears by his daughter and his aide, who were plotting against him. They wanted to upgrade Goth society from early 20th century Britain to late, and were willing to side with Torquemada to get their way; even if Torquemada is ridiculously untrustworthy. Kinda feels like they wanted to believe him, more than him convincing them in any way. Nemesis is accused of the "Phantom" murders, and telepathically discovers the plot to murder Queen Victoria; so under psychic disguise he takes a train with his new companion, Ro-Jaws--unaware that Torquemada, in a new body, is on the same train! (I do like how Nemesis seems to immediately take to this weird, smelly little robot.) There's also an aside to Ro-Jaws's old teammate from the ABC Warriors, Hammerstein; who was now fighting for Termight, until his conscience makes him question orders and refuse to massacre innocents.

Hammerstein has a surprisingly long bibliography; not quite to the length of Dredd or Anderson, but I wonder if he hasn't made more appearances than say Strontium Dog or Rogue Trooper? I think he's made more than Nemesis; if someone would sit down and count, that'd be swell. Read more!

It really made me want to read COPRA now too, come to think of it.

This is a bit of a classic, although picking it up again the other day I think I had forgotten Giffen drew this one! From 1988, Justice League International #13, "Collision Course" Plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, script by J.M. DeMatteis, inks by Al Gordon.

Nemesis has been lanquishing (I believe that is the technical term...) in a Russian prison since Suicide Squad #7, and it's about as much fun as it sounds. Colonel Flag wants to go back in to get him, but Amanda Waller absolutely refuses: it's obviously a trap, and would be a political disaster. They may not realize someone else is taking an interest in Nemesis's plight (another cliche, er, technical term...) as Batman wants to help as well: he knew him from Brave and the Bold appearances, and knew he was cool. Batman even goes so far as to lean a little on his new teammate, Rocket Red 8, Dmitri. Dmitri calmly explains, despite the "connections" Batman expects him to have, he doesn't know everything that goes on his country, but wasn't Nemesis caught breaking in somewhere? Then a Rocky & Bullwinkle joke, because this was the style at the time. (Dmitri was often played as a simpleton, largely because he was foreign, but he was a pleasant family man who the Soviet government apparently thought was a good candidate for stuffing into a rocket suit given to them by freakin' Kilowog!)

Flag calls the Squad together for an emergency mission, no time for briefings, go go go! With only Nightshade in on his plan, they make their way to Russia, but not unnoticed by Waller, who visits Reagan to get the okay to sic the J.L.I. on the rogue Squad. Both Black Canary and Blue Beetle suspect Bats of paying the "villains" off to go rescue Nemesis, and may only be half-joking. An increasingly sullen Batman is furious at going where he wanted to go "for the wrong reasons" and J'onn firmly suggests he not try to use this to help Nemesis. Meanwhile, the rest of the Rocket Red Brigade and "Red Star of the People's Heroes" are made aware of the situation as well, in two really jokey pages! Seriously, go check them out, then imagine the same spread in Suicide Squad with Ostrander providing dialog. It'd be a completely different tone.

At the prison, Batman tries to intimidate the warden into getting access to Nemesis, but is refused until Dmitri calls in a favor. Dmitri and J'onn both have to tell Batman to be on his best behavior, with Bats seemingly regretting putting J'onn in charge of the team at least a little: he was pretty used to getting his way, and this might be the first time J'onn gave him any pushback. When they find Nemesis in his cell, beaten and unconscious, Batman is back in their faces, though. It's undermined a bit by Beetle and Miracle in the background, but J'onn lets Bats know in no uncertain terms he will throw him off the team. (Just looking at that page now, I know we see him roughed up at the beginning of the issue, but I wonder if Nemesis isn't playing possum a bit.)

Batman does back down...for now; but the Suicide Squad has now entered the chat! As back in the states, Amanda Waller and Max Lord debate how it's going to play out; the Rocket Red Brigade, Red Star, and most of the Soviet army are closing on the prison...to be continued, in Suicide Squad #10! Wait, the next issue banner says #10, but it was actually #13: Batman did appear in Suicide Squad #10, though. I haven't re-read SS #13 in some time, but now I want to compare and contrast the jokes in it: in JLI, is everyone jokey just because that's what they did there? I seem to recall the jokes from the comedians of both groups not landing as well in Ostrander's book; not because they weren't funny, but because nobody was in a mood for that nonsense. Read more!

That cover's from 1993, but I'd swear he still looks like John Cena.

Lots still in the dollar bins, Peacemaker speculators--I mean, 'fans.' From 1993, Eclipso #11, "A Call To Arms" Written by Robert Loren Fleming, pencils by Audwynn Jermaine Newman, inks by Ray Kryssing. (I should apologize to Newman; I think I always thought this was Bart Sears!)

"Somebody's been sleeping in my bed," says Peacemaker; there's an intruder in his hanger. Kind of a Mark Twain-looking cat, who also happens to be bulletproof: Commander Steel! The original one? The older one? By using the right tone of voice, as Amanda Waller suggested, Peacemaker falls right in line for his mission: a little trip to Parador, where Eclipso is holding a little girl hostage, because she may know where three billion American is buried. (That would be about 30,000 kilograms, looking it up!) Eclipso does seem interested in getting the money (and tormenting the girl) but it's not clear why, save that he could probably do a lot of damage with it.

Bruce and Mona Gordon surprise the Creeper, in their bathroom, in the shower, using all the towels (a Dallas reference?) and tell him about Waller putting together a team; as Sarge Steel tells her he can't go, but has a sub: Major Victory. The Creeper then picks up Mark Shaw, my favorite Manhunter (except maybe he doesn't!) while Mona gathers Infinity, Inc.'s Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite. (So this issue is for fans of Peacemaker's show and Stargirl's!) Later, Amanda Waller gives the mission briefing, saying they couldn't wait for Bruce to get Nemesis, when Bruce arrives, saying he couldn't find him. Of course, 'Bruce' was Nemesis, who peels off his mask after "the stupidest plan I've ever heard," and stomps out, refusing to join "this kamikaze circus!" This would've been four years after he had quit--and quit hard--Waller's Suicide Squad; I'm surprised he would even hear her out.

Waller may not be as dumb as that, though: taking one of Professor Bennet and Chunk's solar weapons for a test, she shoots an Eclipso-possessed bat that had been listening in. Now she can tell them the real plan...which might work about as well, if not worse. I don't think I had been reading Suicide Squad regularly at the time, so I may have given Waller the benefit of the doubt; but reading it now I wonder if they were set up to fail all along, maybe in the hopes of getting proper A-list heroes to go after Eclipso. Read more!

Sometimes, when life doesn't make sense, it's time to read a comic that doesn't make a lot of sense! From 1982, Brave and the Bold #190, "Who Killed Adam Strange?" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sal Trapani. 

The lead story was only 17 pages, so it has to zip along; with Batman taking the zeta beam to Rann, fighting his way through some young guards, and getting to Adam Strange's wife Alanna by page 4. Bats had received a letter from Adam's "earth lawyer," that was to be delivered if Adam went missing for more than six months. (Which I thought would've been often, for an archeologist back then!) Batman followed the letter's instructions and took the zeta beam, to find out what happened to Adam. Good news, he got a statue! Bad news...

Bats admits to Alanna he did not know Adam well, but there's a sense of admiration: like maybe if his parents hadn't died, he could've led a life like his. (Doubtful! Bruce would've been idle rich. I don't think he would've been Elon Musk-level terrible, but probably not great.) As Rann is attacked again, Batman is directed to Alanna's father, Sardath; since Batman's detective skills were what they really needed. Rann was under attack by their "ancestral enemies" (who I don't think we've ever seen before) the Kirri, who are crushing Rann's forces with their "aqua-ray" that turns their foes into water. Adam had stopped the Kirri before, so Sardath was certain they arranged his murder. 

Viewing footage of the crime scene, Batman notes that even though he had been shot multiple times with a ray-gun, Adam still tried to write something in his own blood. Watching Adam's other cases, Batman has a revelation: when the zeta-beam wears off, Adam is always returned to earth, in the same state he left. (Today. That may not be a hard-and-fast rule.) Sardath withdraws the zeta-radiation from Adam's corpse and Batman, returning them to earth--and Adam to life! Catching another zeta-beam back, Batman does advise, don't try that again. Oh, and Batman has solved the mystery.  

Yes, by bluffing! He tricks one of the guards that first attacked him into confessing. Adam then leads the charge against the Kirri, even as Batman wonders if being dead has brain-damaged him; but Adam figures out how to stop the aqua-ray: it can't penetrate ice. Using massive chunks of ice as shields, they rally and defeat the Kirri, who promise to restore their aqua-victims. Batman and Adam have just about a page to hang out with Alanna, before the zeta ray brings them to earth again. 

Also this issue: a Nemesis back-up! Man, I think DC has slept on him for a while.

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Forget Wertham or the Code, comic books' biggest Nemesis is proper sequential numbering...

About a year or so back we looked at Quality's Spellbinders #1 reprint book featured "The Gothic Empire" and didn't start with his first appearance. So I was scratching my head why this one started with the first appearance, but duh, it's an earlier reprint from Eagle Comics: from 1984, Nemesis the Warlock #1, featuring "The Terror Tube" Written by Pat Mills, art by Kev (Kevin) O'Neill. Originally presented in 1980's 2000 AD and Tornado #167, which also featured Sam Slade, the Stainless Steel Rat, and Judge Dredd in the middle of the "Judge Child" storyline.

I know Dredd's stories also had nightmarish highways, but I couldn't say if they appeared before these. Then again, the underground travel tubes of the planet "Termight" are an even more nightmarish police state, overseen by "your friendly guardian of law and order," the masked Torquemada. "Be pure! Be vigilant! Behave!" The name's a pretty big red flag, yeah. And unlike Dredd, the fascist cops aren't the good guys here: instead, we have the mysterious Nemesis, head of the resistance group "Credo." While he's behind the wheel of his craft, the Blitzspear; we don't actually see Nemesis in his first episode! Conversely, we see a lot of Torquemada and what would be a recurring pattern for him: going after Nemesis, throwing underlings and bystanders under the bus (figuratively, probably occasionally literally) to save his own neck, then getting killed anyway in a manner esoteric enough for him to almost immediately return the next chapter, often at the expense of any of his underlings who maybe thought they could move up the ladder.

The next chapter establishes the seat of Torquemada's power and Nemesis's rebellion against it: "Termight" was once earth, allegedly nearly destroyed by aliens. That seems dubious, like they were being scapegoated; but humanity had rebuilt itself into a vast, and cruel, galactic empire; intent on exterminating aliens everywhere. Nemesis, of course, is an alien; possessed of strange and unearthly powers. And goals, for that matter: eventually I think the series presented him as not as bad as Torquemada, but not necessarily what we would consider 'good' either. He does have the traditional green and purple color scheme of a lot of villains--and the Hulk. Nemesis isn't my favorite 2000 AD feature, but still worth reading. 

Oddly, I think I bought this issue and a bunch of other Mills/O'Neill stuff together, namely several issues of Marshal Law. Who also isn't traditionally heroic either, but is also great!

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I was watching some episodes of Batman: the Brave and the Bold that I had inexplicably missed, when I saw the teaser before "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" featuring the Outsiders. I've probably mentioned it before, but I like the idea of the Outsiders far more than any execution of that idea I've seen so far.

Metamorpho is the coolest, but hard to use in that setting since 99% of the problems that show up in an Outsiders comic could be taken care of in three panels. Panel one: an army of goons attacks the Outsiders! Panel two: Metamorpho turns into fluorine gas, carbon monoxide, what have you. Panel three: the Outsiders stack the "unconscious" bodies of the goons...Black Lightning is a great and woefully underused character--although, I remember seeing the promo ads for his first appearance, and I think his afro was part of his mask? Weird. I don't think I mind Katana, although DC keeps trying to make her happen and it hasn't blown up yet; but I don't have much use for Geo-Force or Halo. Looker...y'know, I think most Outsider fans like her, because Alan Davis, even if they don't like any stories with her in the last twenty years.

What I'm getting at, is that Batman may have missed an opportunity, by not giving an Outsiders spot to Nemesis. From 1981, the Brave and the Bold #170, "...If Justice be Blind!" Written by Cary Burkett, art by Jim Aparo. Nemesis had a brother that was an federal agent, who inexplicably went rogue and murdered his superior, then died in the ensuing gunfight. Seeking to clear his brother's name, Nemesis discovered that he had been brainwashed by a former Nazi scientist working for a crime boss called the Head. (Batman isn't sure the Head really exists, but Nemesis points out the Head avoided Gotham City.)

Batman gives Nemesis a bit of hassle about using guns, although Nemesis used "toxin-bullets," not unlike the non-lethal "mercy bullets" the Punisher used to use. But Batman may be more than a little jealous over another kid's toys: a silent helicopter, ultra-thin masks that can duplicate facial expressions and dissolve in an instant, a knife hidden under fake skin. (OK, maybe not so much that last one.) In the end, the heroes discover the Head earned his nom de plume by running his criminal syndicate from an iron lung. The Head makes a pretty good argument for Nemesis killing him, since he figures if he could do his job from an iron lung, he could do it from a jail cell; but ultimately one of his dying flunkies cuts the iron lung's power cord.

Nemesis has appeared here and there since (including a stretch dating Wonder Woman!) but I've always suspected Batman "borrowed" his gadgets.
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Still picking this Nemesis/Rock/whoever scab...

Over at Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, said Siskoid has been running down the "Retirement Files" for the Suicide Squad. And he mentioned a dropped subplot that still bugs me today: Sgt. Rock's postwar time with the Suicide Squad, and his reintroduction to the modern DCU as General Rock, from around Our World at War.

Or was it Rock? In the last issue of the Rock-centric Suicide Squad series, 'Rock' and 'Bulldozer' unmasked Mission: Impossible style and walked away. The theory has been that Nemesis was in disguise as Rock...for some undisclosed reason and purpose. But that leads us to today's scan, from Superman #182, "The Secret, part one: Dead Men" Written by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Cam Smith.

As Clark and Lois piece together the conspiracy behind the Luthor presidency, Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad (this time, Deadshot, Killer Frost, and Solomon Grundy) to try and scare Lois off the story. (Which, duh, is about the absolute worst way to get Lois to drop a story; which makes me suspect Waller knew how Lois would react. If you wanted Lois to drop a story, send her a typed, formatted narrative of your evil plan; she'll get bored and throw it away.)

And Rock calls Waller on it. Or 'Rock.' In fact, as the issue opens, Lois visit General Rock's grave in Arlington, after hitting a dead end in her investigation; but Rock looks fine here...if that was him. Was Rock killed, then Nemesis took his place? Or was Rock ever Rock? The thing is, Waller knew Nemesis. I'm pretty sure she knew his tricks--for example, that the masks he wore would make him itch at his collar after a while. I could see Nemesis fooling Waller short-term, maybe even more than once; but not for any extended period of time. So, I'm positive whatever was planned for General Rock was scrapped, possibly at the editorial level, and Nemesis was kludged in there to cover the plot hole.

I mentioned this in the comments at Siskoid's, but it's kind of sad that I find this more interesting than most of DC's current output. Sadly, I don't think Nemesis: the Impostors set any sales records, so I don't know when he'll return, either. Phooey.
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