Sunday Musings - Nemesis The Warlock
As always, the idea behind a Sunday Musings is that Adam takes a concept and times an hour and a half to write it in. This week, we get … CREDOED!
2000AD is mostly, and rightly, most famous for the creation of the Lawman of the Future within it's pages. However, the the British sci-fi comic birthed many a concept and creation that is just as worthy to stand aside Judge Dredd and as a result, informed those first steps of 40k that Rogue Trader took*. Johnny Alpha, ABC Warriors, Slaine and more besides all deserve time in the spotlight, and with the upcoming Rogue Trooper movie on the horizon it feels like a good time to dip in and out of some 2000AD goodness,
Where else would I begin but with Nemesis The Warlock, the 1980 strip created by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill that not only stood out against it's remarkable peers, but has somehow managed to get better with time. A tale set against the fanatical, fascist world that Earth has become (and in doing so has been renamed Termight) where a growing but decaying empire holds firm against the deviant, the alien and the heretical. By which of course I mean, anything that isn't a baseline human. The xenocidal Terminators, the footsoldiers of Termight lead a genocidal campaign against all those who appear Other Than Us under the orders of Grand Inquisitor Torquemada. However, a resistance wars against the oppressors under the banner of CREDO, as led by the alien warlock Nemesis who blasts through the barricades of Termight in Blitzspear**.
It's a wonderful narrative with some familiar moving parts. It's fun to consider that even now, the main character being an "heroic" alien vs the worst elements of our species is not a more widespread fiction. However, the fact that this is the backdrop manages to create some stark imagery. Humans are dehumanised throughout The Terminators and Torquemada himself are hidden behind masks constantly when taking part in the mandatory Xenophobic religion and in fact, during day to day moments. The cry of "Be pure. Be vigilant. Behave!" rings out through all the levels of this new and ruined Earth as thoughts of pity towards all that isn't human is enforced by inhuman cruelty. The historic trappings of the Spanish Inquisition is not just in name and form as the ideological torture for those who do not conform is medieval in more ways than one.
Of course, Nemesis does not sit still within this setting, as the cloven hooved and be-horned Warlock travels the galaxy to war with the Humans that threaten to exterminate all other life, and along the way manages to actually kill Torquemada. Of course, this being a comic, the Grand Inquisitor simply sues this as a way to gain more power as his spirit infests and possess hosts, loosing what small grasp on humanity he had along the way.
Nemesis is pure punk sci-fi, filled to the brim with refences to historic events, musical movements and even deep into occult lore . It's surreal but with a fine hand of weight behind it, exploding off the page with mosh-pit energy and a sense of dark humour and rendered violence. It's telling that the humans for the most part are grotesque, broken little people whilst the aliens we meet portrayed in a much more flattering light. Humans in this world are the decay, the fall of society, barbaric in nature and form. The only motivation they have to exist is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of themselves and fear of power that is held over them. Whilst Nemesis is a prog-rock rollercoaster, the messaging of the traps of xenophobia is strong throughout, discussing that concepts of fear and hatred of someone different to us is not a natural response, but a learned one that is both a cause and a root of misery from one's own environment and is used as a way to force people to march to the beat drummed by those in power.
These are heavy concepts and they have time to breathe but never bludgeon, creating a joyride filled with 2000AD thrillpower, wonderful 70s-into-80's weirdness and a dry delivery of humour that balances out into a tale that still hits the mark now. If you can find the hardbacks, I cannot recommend reading them enough.
Credo!
Until next time, I remain-
Adam
*I am aware of the one to one concept sharing that took place. That's for another day.
**F&^%$£%g AMAZING SHIP