''Nemesis the Warlock'' is a comic series created by writer

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather ...

and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the British weekly

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

'' 2000 AD''. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant future, and his attempts to exterminate all alien life.

Publication history

The series began in 1980, in prog 167 of ''2000 AD'', with a story called ''Comic Rock'' "The Terror Tube", in which a freedom fighter called Nemesis escaped from Torquemada, the chief of the Tube Police, after a protracted chase through a complex travel-tube system on a planet called Termight, later revealed to be Earth ("Mighty Terra"). All that was seen of Nemesis was the outside of his streamlined organic spaceship, the Blitzspear. In "Terror Tube" the police were portrayed as a cross between the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

(Torquemada is named after the notorious inquisitor

Tomás de Torquemada Tomás de Torquemada (14 October 1420 – 16 September 1498), also anglicized as Thomas of Torquemada, was a Castilian Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal of the Holy Office (otherwise known as the Spanish Inquisition). ...

) and the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

(or from Spanish Easter penitents), making it easier to position them as the villains. "Terror Tube" was the first of a planned series of one-offs inspired by popular music, called "Comic Rock" – in this case

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

's "

Going Underground "Going Underground" is a single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. "Going Underground" was the first of four number one singles the band were to achieve throug ...

". The series never got going, but did produce a second Nemesis story, a two-parter called "Killer Watt", in which Torquemada chased Nemesis through a bizarre teleport system based on telephone lines. These stories proved popular, prompting Mills and O'Neill to develop a regular series, ''Nemesis the Warlock'', which combined the early high-concept science fiction with fantasy in the "sword and sorcery" mould. Torquemada was promoted from chief of the Tube Police to Grand Master of Termight. Nemesis was revealed as a demonic alien with a horned dragon-like head based on the finned nose of his Blitzspear, fighting to protect aliens from Torquemada's genocidal tyranny, although his inhuman attitude and anarchic "Khaos" philosophy gave him an ambiguous morality; for example, in Book Five, "The Vengeance of Thoth", Nemesis is forced to hijack a bus full of children, which he then deliberately crashes, killing all on board as he escapes. Book Nine concluded in 1989, and the character barely appeared for ten years. Finally, in 1999, Mills and artists

Henry Flint Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and O'Neill wrapped up the series with Book Ten: The Final Conflict, and an epilogue of sorts, ''Deadlock'', which explored the political state of Termight in the aftermath of Nemesis' and Torquemada's deaths.

Production

O'Neill's imaginative, grotesque art helped to establish the popularity of the series, but the efforts he put into creating it led to a low rate of productivity. There were a number of delays in the publication of Book One, and a second book was drawn by

Jesus Redondo Jesús Redondo Román (born 8 August 1934)
Down the Tubes, 9 June 2011 is ...

. This and the higher rates of pay available in America led O'Neill to leave the series prior to Book Four - although a handful of episodes he had drawn just after "Killer Watt" introduced the fourth book. O'Neill was replaced by

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequel '' Heart of Empire'', as well as the ''Grandville'' series of books. He collaborated ...

. Other artists to draw the series include

John Hicklenton John Hicklenton (8 May 1967 – 19 March 2010), aka John Deadstock, was a British comics artist best known for his brutal, visceral work on flagship '' 2000 AD'' characters like ''Judge Dredd'' (in particular ''Heavy Metal Dredd'') and ''Nemesi ...

David Roach David Roach may refer to: *David Roach (American football) (born 1985), American football safety *David Roach (saxophonist) (born 1955), British classical saxophonist *David Roach (comics), British comics artist * David Roach (athletic director) (b ...

Clint Langley Clint Langley (born July 30, 1970) is a British comic book artist best known for his work on series with Pat Mills at ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' and as the cover artist for Marvel Comics' ''Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team), Guardians of th ...

and

. O'Neill returned to the strip to illustrate its intended last ever episode and later for a special anniversary story.

Characters

Warlocks

Warlocks are a

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

species of aliens who are capable of sorcery. Both males and females are horned, fire-breathing and of demonic appearance; females have a

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

-like quadrupedal morphology while males are bipedal but have unusual combination plantigrade / digitigrade leg joints, somewhat resembling

satyrs In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exag ...

. ; Nemesis the Warlock : The main character and antihero of the series, Nemesis ostensibly fights to free the galaxy from tyranny. Mills decided that with a religious fanatic as the arch-villain, it would be fitting to have a demon as the hero. ; Chira : White Warlock and first wife of Nemesis, mother of his son Thoth. Assassinated by agents of Termight. ; Magna : Black Warlock and second wife of Nemesis. Jealous of Chira, she swallowed Nemesis'

familiar In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...

Grobbendonk whole as the first phase of her plan to separate him from his allies, and leaked information to Torquemada that allowed him to locate Chira and Thoth. Killed by Nemesis minutes after their wedding, when her telepathic block failed and he discovered her misdeeds. ; Thoth : Son of Nemesis and Chira. As a hideous

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

-like infant he hypnotizes Sir Hargan, the Terminator who killed his mother, into believing him to be a cute little human baby that he needed to protect. Years later he grows into a powerful rival to Nemesis, as he blames his father for not being there to save his mother. ; Great Uncle Baal : Nemesis' eccentric great uncle and former master of Grobbendonk, banished by Nemesis for his controversial experiments on humans.

Humans

;

Tomas de Torquemada Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian su ...

: Primary antagonist of the series, a haughty tyrant and fascist human supremacist who rules the Earth with an iron fist and is hellbent on ridding the universe of all alien life. Through

Past life regression Past life regression is a method that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations. The practice is widely considered discredited and unscientific by medical practitioners, and experts generally re ...

it is shown that he was many people from Earth's history, including

Matthew Hopkins Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...

, Colonel John Chivington,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and the original Torquemada himself. His motto is "Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!" ; Purity Brown : Human aide to Nemesis. Her father was taken away and presumably killed when she was only fourteen (as revealed in Book Five; The Vengeance of Thoth) by thought detectors for having a dream in which he insulted Torquemada. ; Candida de Torquemada : Wife of Tomas de Torquemada and mother of two of his children, both of whom are among those slain in a bus crash caused by Nemesis. On several occasions, including a major plot arc for book 5, Tomas is shown to genuinely love Candida to the extent he is willing to consort with aliens in an effort to prevent her from leaving him. ; Sister Stern : Insane wife of Tomas de Torquemada and mother of his third child, whom she occasionally considered impure, so tried to commit

Filicide Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word ''filicide'' is derived from the Latin words and ('son' and 'daughter') and the suffix ''-cide'', meaning to kill, murder, or cause death. The word can refer both ...

, before Tomas ordered her to commit suicide. ; Grand Dragon Mazarin : The leader of Termight after Torquemada's death. A reformer, he ended the persecution of aliens. After a Terminator

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

upon Torquemada's return he was executed by Tomas via torture. ; Nostradamus de Torquemada : Insane brother of Tomas de Torquemada. He was horribly disfigured when Tomas abandoned him during an ambush by the Primords, and was later hidden away in a lunatic asylum to conceal Tomas' disgrace. Nostradamus was originally introduced into the series as Tomas' Grandfather, and not shown to be his brother until Book five.

Other aliens

; Grobbendonk : The comical little rat/

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

-like alien familiar of Nemesis stolen from his Great Uncle Baal. Grobbendonk speaks Gibberish, a Fringe World dialect. Deliberately eaten alive by Magna days before her wedding to Nemesis.

Robots

; The

ABC Warriors ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

: Robot mercenaries and allies of Nemesis.

Stories

Most of the saga was told in 'books', with additional stories told in one-offs, which appeared in annuals, specials, or in the weekly comic. There are a number of collections of the original six-page instalments available, which roughly follow the books as they were originally published. The earlier books were not given individual titles.

Book One

The World of Termight In collected form this book also features the first three Nemesis stories – Terror Tube, Killer Watt and Olric's Great Quest.

Book Two

Credo – The Alien Resistance Takes the war to a variety of planets throughout the galaxy and features a plot by Torquemada to destroy the alien resistance.

Book Three

The World of Nemesis Features Chira, Nemesis' mate and the birth of Thoth, son of Nemesis. Chira is killed by imperial assassins and Thoth is adopted by Sir Hargan, his mother's killer.

Book Four

The Gothic Empire Originally intended to be the first full-length Nemesis story, other stories were written as an introduction to the character and his world(s), ballooning into the preceding three books. Torquemada is killed at the end of this book. Thoth, growing in power, is still in the 'care' of Sir Hargan and his wife.

Book Five

The Vengeance of Thoth Starting ten years after the end of Book Four, an earlier version of Torquemada is brought through time by Thoth, so that he can punish his mother's murderer. Nemesis ends up causing the deaths of Barbarossa de Torquemada and Pandora de Torquemada; offspring of Candida & Tomas. Satanus re-appears.

Book Six

Torquemurder! The introduction of the Monad. This book also gives the explanation for Torquemada's "grandfather" Nostradamus' words in the previous book about Termight ending in "a sea of fire and blood".

Torquemada the God

A five-part story not run under the Nemesis banner, in ''2000 AD'' #520–524. Torquemada consolidates his power on Terra, though is affected by a curious malady, which is eventually revealed to be a plot by Thoth to punish Tomas further, by killing his former incarnations.

Book Seven

The Two Torquemadas Nemesis and Purity go back in time to 15th century Spain to retrieve Thoth. Torquemada goes back in time to kill Thoth and prevent his degradation. Tomas de Torquemada meets his namesake.

Book Eight

Purity's Story During an interlude Purity recalls how she first met Nemesis, remembering details that had previously been blocked from her.

Book Nine

The Deathbringer Tomas escapes the time wastes into 1980s Britain, leaking time radiation as he does so. Subsequent side effects of the radiation leak create upheaval, and Tomas seizes on this to become variously a

slum landlord A slumlord (or slum landlord) is a slang term for a landlord, generally an absentee landlord with more than one property, who attempts to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods, and t ...

and

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

Book Ten

The Final Conflict The last series-length Nemesis story, after more than a decade of appearing only in shorter episodes, as well as "The Hammer of Warlocks", an 18-page series intended as a prelude to this book, telling the story so far and Torquemada's intentions of finding this ultimate weapon against the Warlock. The series ends with Nemesis and Torquemada both destroyed, yet occasionally haunting Earth in spectral forms, tied to the Warlock's "Blitzspear". Purity Brown takes over as leader (president) of Termight, renaming it Terra. The series ''

Deadlock In concurrent computing, deadlock is any situation in which no member of some group of entities can proceed because each waits for another member, including itself, to take action, such as sending a message or, more commonly, releasing a loc ...

'', by

and

, was a direct sequel to Nemesis. Prog 2000 (20 September 2016) featured a follow up Nemesis story (written by Mills and once more drawn by O'Neill) 'Tubular Hells' which reversed the destruction of Nemesis but it has to this point not led to further exploration of the character.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a number of

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

, including: *''The Complete Nemesis the Warlock'': ** ''Volume 1'' (collects "Terror Tube", "Killer Watt", ''Nemesis the Warlock'' Books 1–4, "The Sword Sinister" and "The Secret Life of the Blitzspear", 320 pages, Rebellion, 2007, ) ** ''Volume 2'' (collects ''Nemesis the Warlock'' Books 5–7, Rebellion, 2007, ) ** ''Volume 3'' (collects ''Nemesis the Warlock'' Books 8–10, Rebellion, 2007, )

In other media

Computer games

Nemesis the Warlock ''Nemesis the Warlock'' is a comic series created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the British weekly comics anthology '' 2000 AD''. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights again ...

: The Death of Torquemada'' was released as a game made for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

. The C64 version of this game was made by

Martech Martech Games was an early video game publisher based in Pevensey Bay between 1982 and 1989. It published a number of successful video games for the emerging home computer games marketplace, including BBC Micro, BBC Model B, ZX81, Sinclair ZX81, Z ...

in 1987, programmer Michael J. Archer, musician

Rob Hubbard Rob Hubbard (born 1955 in Kingston upon Hull, England) is a British composer best known for his musical and programming work for microcomputers of the 1980s, such as the Commodore 64. Early life Hubbard first started playing music at age seve ...

Music video

The video for

Shriekback Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four (bass), with Carl Marsh, formerly of ...

's 1985 single "Nemesis" from the album '' Oil & Gold'' features Nemesis the Warlock.Shriekback - Nemesis
YouTube, retrieved 1 June 2015

Toys and games

Wizkids / NECA have released three figures of Nemesis the Warlock as part of their Heroclix collectable miniatures game (Rookie, Experienced and Veteran versions). These were only released in the United Kingdom, alongside other 2000AD related figures, as part of the "Indy" expansion to the game. This led to something of an outcry from the American fans of both the game and the character, and this style of "regional" figure-release was not continued in later sets of Heroclix.

References

External links

Terror Tube-1st appearance of Nemesis and TorquemadaBARNEY ProfileEssay by artist Bryan Talbot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemesis the Warlock 1987 video games Amstrad CPC games Comics by Bryan Talbot Comics by Pat Mills Commodore 64 games Platform games Fantasy comics Steampunk comics Science fiction comics 2000 AD comic strips Comics adapted into video games Inquisition in fiction Cultural depictions of Tomás de Torquemada Video games scored by Rob Hubbard Video games developed in the United Kingdom