Nemesis #1 - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Nemesis #1
By Hervé St-Louis
March 26, 2010 - 23:43

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Mark Millar
Penciller(s): Steve McNiven
Inker(s): Steve McNiven
Colourist(s): Dave McCaig
Letterer(s): Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Artist(s): Steve mcNiven, Leinil Francis Yu
$2.99 US

Nemesis is a smart villain and the world’s only super villain. After having destroyed Tokyo and humiliated several police chiefs, he sets his sight on Blake Morrow of Washington, DC. Will Nemesis make another mess of an innocent city and its city chief?

I didn’t read any of the previews so that I could come fresh to this comic book series. It seems at first glance in the same vein as anything written by Warren Ellis, Chris Gage and Garth Ennis. It’s meant to shock and push the boundaries of the traditional super hero series much the way the Ultimates did a decade ago. The push is an ever exaggeration of the genre into its logical conclusion. It pits a very simple concept taken from a standard super hero series and transforms it into something more exotic. It’s some comic book fan’s wet dream and what they really would like to read about but have grown used to sedated materials. The plot is sharp and curt. The exposition of violence is burlesque and after a while numbs the reader. But this series is the thematic opposite of kick-Ass. It’s about the villain, not the super hero. It will well just fine.

McNiven is great here. The work feels European. The one thing I would change is to provide Niven with another inker who would give thicker lines to his work. It reminds me a lot of Frank Quietly in the shaky lines that populate the pages. From afar, it all looks like solid. Close by, you see the irregular lines that permeate the work.
Rating: 8.5/10