'Library Classics' – 'Nemesis the Warlock: The Gothic Empire'

I've got a few books on the go right now but none of them are anywhere near finished. Apparently, that's what happens when you ignore a work deadline right, until the very last minute, but anyway...

In an attempt to buy myself a little time (and also to come up with decent content, of course), I thought I'd occasionally pick a book/comic book off my shelves and have a little chat about why I love it. It may not be a classic in everyone's eyes but it is in mine and I like to share :o) Lets see how we go with that, shall we...?

I didn't get into Marvel comics until the mid-nineties (with 'Age of Apocalypse', a post for another time) but I was an avid comic reader for a long time before that with 'Victor' (a mix of WW2 stories, some sci-fi and a really weird story about a giant owl, but anyway) and the odd copy of 2000AD if I was lucky. I didn't mind a bit of Judge Dredd back then but I was more into the Celtic stylings of 'Slaine' and the far future weirdness of 'Nemesis the Warlock', this alien freedom fighter saving various alien races from death at the hands of a vicious human empire headed by Torquemada and his Terminators, a scenario flipped just enough (from the norm) to make it interesting to someone like me who was just starting to find their way through all of this.

'The Gothic Empire' was first published at the end of 1984/beginning of 1985 but I came across it in the early nineties as an almost completed collection (one of those comics that are really thick with content but aren't quite a trade paperback, you know what I mean) and was completely blown away by this tale of a alien race that had modeled itself on old radio signals from the days of the British Empire. The Goths (hence the title) can't wait to meet the humans that they have modeled their society on, what they get is an enraged bunch of Terminators packing superior weaponry and eager to use it... While the Goth frontier planets fight a losing battle against the Terminators, Nemesis tries to warn the Goth High Command of what is coming while also looking for Torquemada who is on business of his own.

As you can see, there is a lot going on here and Pat Mills does some superb work weaving all these strands into a coherent tale. Reading this back in the day was all about high adventure and loads of references to the British Empire and the various notable figures within it. It was a lot of fun to read, back then, but these days, re-reads are now tempered by the knowledge that the British Empire was an appalling thing and should not be celebrated at all.

Having said that, 'The Gothic Empire' is an interesting read, in that respect, as Mills actually shows us the depredations of Empire (from the human side), poking holes in the ideals that the Goths hold to. I wouldn't have noticed this back then (and I should have done) but it makes for a very different read now. The adventure and (kind of) space opera is there but with sobering undertones that give cause for a little reflection.

What I always come back to this book for though is the absolutely gorgeous artwork on display from Kevin O'Neill and Bryan Talbot. It is the perfect mix of Steampunk, Victoriana, horror and just that little hint of the alien to really set things off. I'm not the best person to talk about artwork so here's a couple of examples that can talk for themselves...

For me, there's a lot of good stuff in 'Nemesis the Warlock' but the highlight of it all is 'The Gothic Empire', a story that has it all and one that I return to regularly. If you're looking for a copy, it can be found in 'The Complete Nemesis the Warlock: Volume 1' (a little bit pricy but worth it).