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The Complete Nemesis The Warlock #3
The Complete Nemesis The Warlock, Volume 3
Excellent Condition
Paperback
First published December 15, 2007
About the author
Pat Mills
848 books232 followersPat Mills, born in 1949 and nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a 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.
His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.
His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 19, 2015
Sorry, it is not exactly a review.
It is one of the earliest English comic books that I purchased and read for learning English. I found it yesterday when rearrange my books at new home (after the re-arrangement, I found the books are in worse arrangements but tidier for non-book reader eyes).
This is not a good book as a start of anything.
1. Plotwise, from what I read this book is the last of a trilogy. and at epilogue, there are so many clues for sequels.
2. There are ABC Warriors re-appearance, after the original ABC were disbanded. Of course, with some twists.
3. I consider this is as a dark fantasy, with black-white art, a lot of death in stories, and flawed protagonist using using devil arts to against fanatics antagonists.
It is one of the earliest English comic books that I purchased and read for learning English. I found it yesterday when rearrange my books at new home (after the re-arrangement, I found the books are in worse arrangements but tidier for non-book reader eyes).
This is not a good book as a start of anything.
1. Plotwise, from what I read this book is the last of a trilogy. and at epilogue, there are so many clues for sequels.
2. There are ABC Warriors re-appearance, after the original ABC were disbanded. Of course, with some twists.
3. I consider this is as a dark fantasy, with black-white art, a lot of death in stories, and flawed protagonist using using devil arts to against fanatics antagonists.
July 28, 2020
The conclusion of the Nemesis the Warlock saga. Nemesis has chased Torquemada to an alternative Earth created by a 'time blast'. But the blast does more than that: it also releases Purity Brown's (Nemesis's close human ally) repressed memory of her early days of involvement with Nemesis and reveals a history between her and Torquemada that she never realised before and causes her to rethink her relationship with Nemesis, which may be based less on friendship than she thought and she breaks free from Nemesis.
Upon returning to present-day Terminus, Nemesis and Torquemada continue their conflict but it is clear that things are coming to a end. Nemesis conjures a diabolic torture on Torquemada, which Torquemada repeals with an 'ultimate weapon'. But the rebellion ultimately succeeds and Torquemada is captured and put on trial. When he escapes his punishment, he prepares his doomsday device (the final solution to the alien problem) and it is only by Nemesis's ultimate sacrifice is the Earth saved and Torquemada forever imprisoned.
As usual, the artwork is manic and features various styles that help to push the story along.
The book also features a few vignettes about events that are mentioned in passing in the main story line but are put into their own stories in this volume.
Upon returning to present-day Terminus, Nemesis and Torquemada continue their conflict but it is clear that things are coming to a end. Nemesis conjures a diabolic torture on Torquemada, which Torquemada repeals with an 'ultimate weapon'. But the rebellion ultimately succeeds and Torquemada is captured and put on trial. When he escapes his punishment, he prepares his doomsday device (the final solution to the alien problem) and it is only by Nemesis's ultimate sacrifice is the Earth saved and Torquemada forever imprisoned.
As usual, the artwork is manic and features various styles that help to push the story along.
The book also features a few vignettes about events that are mentioned in passing in the main story line but are put into their own stories in this volume.
March 29, 2022
This book wraps up and completes the collection of Nemesis the Warlock strips originally published in 2000AD. In this volume we get the last three "books" of the Nemesis saga.
Book Eight is Purity's story with close to photo-realistic art by David Roach. If in the previous volume Pat Mills placed the focus firmly on Torquemada, in these last books he pulls back to look at Nemesis again - but what we see isn't very pretty. In Purity's story we learn that Nemesis has made Purity forget their first meeting and what he had her do. It changes the light we see Nemesis in. Always more an anti-hero than a hero, he begins to move towards villain, a move that is expounded in...
Book Nine, in which Nemesis and Purity go to Earth in the 1980's in search of Torquemada. Of course, while he's been there, Torque has turned Britain into a fascist state - an obvious satire and commentary on Thatcher's rule, with obvious parallels to the Jaspers Warp story line in Captain Britain by Alan Moore. John Hicklenton provides art for this story, which is improved over his offering in the last volume. Again, his work is twisted and dark and inconsistent, but there is a greater understanding of anatomy and better use of background to convey the environment and the twisted nature of reality and it comes off really well. As does the tale of a young girl who becomes the focus of Torquemada's attentions because she looks like his wife Candida.
There is then an intermission with gaudy painted art by Paul Staples in which Torquemada learns of the Hammer of the Warlocks, a weapon so powerful it can defeat even the now god-like Nemesis, before we head into the Final Conflict of Book Ten, in which having returned to the future and the world of Termight, Torquemada is deposed and put on trial before attempting to put his final solution to aliens into play and the final fates of Nemesis and Torquemada are decided. Art in this part of the story is by the Kevin O'Neill inspired Henry Flint and is as exciting to look at as his forbears work (Kev himself draws the final chapter in the story). It is in this chapter that we see the depiction of Nemesis at his lowest, he appears evil at points, only for some redemption at the end. Also, there is a scene that offers an explanation of Torquemada's evil too.
In fact, by the end Mills has gone beyond the idea of a traditional saga of good and evil, to suggest that everyone is capable of good or evil if the situation demands it. The saga has been a morality play, but a much more intelligent digression into morality and amorality than your average superhero story and I think there is much to be drawn from going back to it.
As extras, we get the Deadlock/Nemesis strips, again painted but by Carl Critchlow. The art is sometimes a little murky and hard to read but features an interesting story of magic that seems to put occultism to the sword and is fun if you know a little of Aleister Crowley. Finally comes a story by Chris Weston of Candida that seems like it should have been slotted in earlier in the book, as it is referenced in Book Ten.
This volume is not quite as good as the previous two because the story jumps around and loses its focus and the art is variable, with some of it being dark, murky, and impossible to figure out. I think the denouement with Nemesis and Torquemada is fitting given their characters, but it took a little to long to get to it and felt a bit rushed.
Book Eight is Purity's story with close to photo-realistic art by David Roach. If in the previous volume Pat Mills placed the focus firmly on Torquemada, in these last books he pulls back to look at Nemesis again - but what we see isn't very pretty. In Purity's story we learn that Nemesis has made Purity forget their first meeting and what he had her do. It changes the light we see Nemesis in. Always more an anti-hero than a hero, he begins to move towards villain, a move that is expounded in...
Book Nine, in which Nemesis and Purity go to Earth in the 1980's in search of Torquemada. Of course, while he's been there, Torque has turned Britain into a fascist state - an obvious satire and commentary on Thatcher's rule, with obvious parallels to the Jaspers Warp story line in Captain Britain by Alan Moore. John Hicklenton provides art for this story, which is improved over his offering in the last volume. Again, his work is twisted and dark and inconsistent, but there is a greater understanding of anatomy and better use of background to convey the environment and the twisted nature of reality and it comes off really well. As does the tale of a young girl who becomes the focus of Torquemada's attentions because she looks like his wife Candida.
There is then an intermission with gaudy painted art by Paul Staples in which Torquemada learns of the Hammer of the Warlocks, a weapon so powerful it can defeat even the now god-like Nemesis, before we head into the Final Conflict of Book Ten, in which having returned to the future and the world of Termight, Torquemada is deposed and put on trial before attempting to put his final solution to aliens into play and the final fates of Nemesis and Torquemada are decided. Art in this part of the story is by the Kevin O'Neill inspired Henry Flint and is as exciting to look at as his forbears work (Kev himself draws the final chapter in the story). It is in this chapter that we see the depiction of Nemesis at his lowest, he appears evil at points, only for some redemption at the end. Also, there is a scene that offers an explanation of Torquemada's evil too.
In fact, by the end Mills has gone beyond the idea of a traditional saga of good and evil, to suggest that everyone is capable of good or evil if the situation demands it. The saga has been a morality play, but a much more intelligent digression into morality and amorality than your average superhero story and I think there is much to be drawn from going back to it.
As extras, we get the Deadlock/Nemesis strips, again painted but by Carl Critchlow. The art is sometimes a little murky and hard to read but features an interesting story of magic that seems to put occultism to the sword and is fun if you know a little of Aleister Crowley. Finally comes a story by Chris Weston of Candida that seems like it should have been slotted in earlier in the book, as it is referenced in Book Ten.
This volume is not quite as good as the previous two because the story jumps around and loses its focus and the art is variable, with some of it being dark, murky, and impossible to figure out. I think the denouement with Nemesis and Torquemada is fitting given their characters, but it took a little to long to get to it and felt a bit rushed.
July 30, 2018
Book VIII - Purity's Story
Purity's story kinda explains (or tells the excuse) why Nemesis never actually gets Torquemada properly and permanently killed. Roach draws the humans pretty realistically, which is cool but also stands out quite a bit from all the other artists.
Book IX - Deathbringer
I still dislike Hickleton's artwork, it's awfully messy and... just too weird for my liking. The story is a bit of a tangled mess, apparently the point is that Torq got stuck on an alternate Terra and is just trying to get out while making the most out of it. And being a total psycho.
Maybe I remember the next time to skip this book altogether, I don't like it one bit and this 1/5 rating drags the rest of Volume III down for me by spaceboatloads.
Book X - The Final Conflict
Flint's art is much a huge step towards O'Neill's style from the first stories and there are tons of references to those as well. I found them amusing. O'Neill also returns for the final final, which was nice. The story here flies to its conclusion pretty rapidly, the Hammer of Witches/Warlocks doesn't do much after all, except delay Torquemada's downfall a tiny bit.
Extras
Curious little stories that take place between the main books. Fun stuff. It's just weird to see these in full colour instead of black and white.
Purity's story kinda explains (or tells the excuse) why Nemesis never actually gets Torquemada properly and permanently killed. Roach draws the humans pretty realistically, which is cool but also stands out quite a bit from all the other artists.
Book IX - Deathbringer
I still dislike Hickleton's artwork, it's awfully messy and... just too weird for my liking. The story is a bit of a tangled mess, apparently the point is that Torq got stuck on an alternate Terra and is just trying to get out while making the most out of it. And being a total psycho.
Maybe I remember the next time to skip this book altogether, I don't like it one bit and this 1/5 rating drags the rest of Volume III down for me by spaceboatloads.
Book X - The Final Conflict
Flint's art is much a huge step towards O'Neill's style from the first stories and there are tons of references to those as well. I found them amusing. O'Neill also returns for the final final, which was nice. The story here flies to its conclusion pretty rapidly, the Hammer of Witches/Warlocks doesn't do much after all, except delay Torquemada's downfall a tiny bit.
Extras
Curious little stories that take place between the main books. Fun stuff. It's just weird to see these in full colour instead of black and white.
July 28, 2015
Mills really dropped the ball as further the Nemesis saga went. It just seemed he wanted to get rid of the whole thing, fast and easily as possible. Also, there were strange sidepaths, like bringing ABC Warriors along. But that only made the main story line more distorted.
Alhtough, they did bring back co-creator of the series for the very last episode. But even that seemed a rush job.
Dissapointing.
Alhtough, they did bring back co-creator of the series for the very last episode. But even that seemed a rush job.
Dissapointing.
February 9, 2026
A conclusion as weird as everything else in the series. Could have done without the time travel back to 1980s England, but otherwise another great entry.
November 15, 2023
In which John Hicklenton absolutely breaks the series with Deathbringer. Purity’s Story felt very weird after the Two Torquemadas, because Roach’s art was so realist after such stylistic insanity, but now it feels like a wise choice to have a human portrayal of the saga’s great human character. Deathbringer is… firstly it’s incredibly hard to follow at times, but does feel like the strip juddering to the inevitable conclusion with a strange tale which feels like horror and SF and fantasy hitting this immovable force of realism. Mills’ work on Crisis clearly is the big inspiration here, but there’s a strange inevitability about seeing Torquemada as a fascistic gang leader and slum landlord. Hicklenton’s art is completely nightmarish and replicates a world where nothing is holding together anymore. It’s realism collapsing and only Hicklenton could have done this any justice. The story is impossibly hard to follow at times but Hicklenton is determined to show us the very worst of everyone here but also the worst grounded in a sort of realism the prog never really does. It’s extraordinary. And it also kills the series because it’s an extreme you can’t come back from
But it tries and it absolutely fails. Repeatedly. Langley is as muddled and ugly an artist as he always is, and only really Henry Flint on the last story does any justice to the ideas. But it’s all tired and boring and feels like old ideas reheated. There’s no triumphant return to the old style of storytelling. It feels like what it is, a strip just trickling away into nothingness. And the Deadlock stories are somehow even worse - just the tiresome, boring nineties Mills that everyone hates. Just boring and stupid and ugly to look at. If it weren’t for Hicklenton this would be a one and a half star book, but he absolutely saves it and makes it worthwhile. Otherwise, what a horrible way to go out
But it tries and it absolutely fails. Repeatedly. Langley is as muddled and ugly an artist as he always is, and only really Henry Flint on the last story does any justice to the ideas. But it’s all tired and boring and feels like old ideas reheated. There’s no triumphant return to the old style of storytelling. It feels like what it is, a strip just trickling away into nothingness. And the Deadlock stories are somehow even worse - just the tiresome, boring nineties Mills that everyone hates. Just boring and stupid and ugly to look at. If it weren’t for Hicklenton this would be a one and a half star book, but he absolutely saves it and makes it worthwhile. Otherwise, what a horrible way to go out
October 3, 2022
How many times can you tell the story of the epic final battle between Nemesis and Torquemada? Dozens it would seem. I enjoyed nemesis a lot more when I was younger. But the story doesn’t hold up for me, I’m afraid. The artwork is mad and great but the overall story just gets hashed and rehashed across this book. One for the completists. I got the luxury hardcover edition and I’m glad I own it from the perspective of completing my collection. But there’s other stories in the 2000ad family that I’ve enjoyed a lot more.
July 16, 2023
Painful how bad this got after the first few books.
November 19, 2020
I'm a big Nemesis the Warlock fanatic but in my opinion volume 3 was nowhere near as good as volumes 1 & 2. The continuation of the wild story line in 3 seemed a bit distorted like it lose some of the tremendous momentum present in the previous parts. Also the story aspects in the third part felt a bit forced at times. I didn't particularly like the revelations regarding Nemesis in volume 3, where his true godly nature is revealed to the reader. I felt that it diminished the intense struggle he went through in the first two parts in his ongoing battle against Torquemada. In the previous parts Nemesis was obviously extremely formidable but it sucked that this hero is shown to be a vastly powerful alien god just toying with humanity for its amusement, from the platform of godly over-watch and boredom born from immortality. He goes from being a dark champion of the occult to a cosmic god that was never really in any danger of being bested, all though i'm sure that some would argue that this aspect added to the intensity of Torquemada's struggle to overcome the arch deviant. Additionally the whole Nemesis the God theme made the anger, sorrow, morality of Nemesis seem meaningless, like Nemesis the God was merely some sort of hollow psychopath incapable of the vendetta he had so fervently pursued. The story of Nemesis ends fairly well. My favorite part in volume 3 was the public trial of Torquemada just for its hilarity. Worth reading if you love the first two volumes but as a stand alone comic it falls short of the mark.
Be pure, be vigilant, behave!
Be pure, be vigilant, behave!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2016
Very good dark futuristic Sifi comic story. The main character is a very different alien hero. Very Recommended
June 10, 2016
The conclusion to the epic galaxy spanning story of Nemesis the warlock against Torquemada the inquisitor. Crazy imagination humor and plot twists make this volume a great read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews