Matthew Anderson is back and he's meaner and deadlier than ever!
Writer | Mark Millar |
Illustrator & Inker | Valerio Giangiordano |
Colorist | Lee Loughridge |
Publisher | Dark Horse | 07.24.24 |
Content Rating | Mature Readers |
Spoilers Ahead
Last year, Mark Millar announced via X that his Millarworld imprint of comic books would be jumping ship from Image to Netflix collaborator Dark Horse starting in 2024. The first series to come from this new publishing relationship would be Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, which just hit shops a couple of weeks ago. Following the events of Big Game, the enormous crossover that featured Millarworld's large pantheon of characters, Nemesis found himself with a shattered body and not a penny to his name. In Rogues' Gallery, we get to witness his dark rebirth.
As an opening salvo following both the transition to Dark Horse and Millar's first book since Big Game concluded, Rogues' Gallery makes quite a bang. After Big Game ended I found myself wondering where Millar could go next. The heroes had won in a resounding victory, one that felt so definitive it didn't seem to leave room for the bad guys to recover. Nemesis, especially, given the state of devastation inflicted upon him by the Ambassadors, who left him paralyzed from the neck down. However, we did learn by the end of Big Game that Nemesis was already plotting the murders of over 4,000 people and that he would be back on his feet in six months. And that's exactly where Rogues' Gallery begins.
Nemesis lies supine in a hospital bed being cared for by a kind nurse named Andy. Although unable to move anything besides his head, Nemesis remains a source of fear and intimidation to the guards. The intensity in his eyes, as depicted by artist Valerio Giangiordano, is perfectly conveyed. Nemesis looks absolutely nuts as he chomps on chicken bones, clearly hating every second of being bedridden. It's a testament to Giangiordano's skill that so much emotion is communicated to the reader without a line of dialogue from Nemesis himself.
Eventually, the guards and Andy disappear, leaving Nemesis alone with an assassin who's come to avenge the murder of his daughter. Despite being paralyzed, Nemesis is able to get the upper hand on his would-be killer, spitting a piece of bone into the man's eye and blinding him. Then, in the most brutal scene of the book, Nemesis uses the momentum of turning his head to launch himself downward and start eating the man's face. It's some grizzly, gnarly stuff, which readers have come to expect and love from so many of Millar's books.
What comes next is setting the stage for something that will likely bite Nemesis on the backside: as he ravages the failed assassin, a squad has come in to help the villain escape from the hospital. On their way out, they ask Nemesis what he wants to do with Andy. He tells them to blind him, and that he doesn't care what they do to him. Sure enough, poor Andy's eyes are ripped from his head (off panel) and he's eventually approached by a group of people who claim to have been the ones to send in the assassin. They offer Andy a chance to see again and get revenge against Nemesis.
This scene had my mind reeling, as I got a sense of glee wondering what Millar has in store for Andy. Millar enjoys creating analogues of famous superhero characters, so we might be glimpsing the beginnings of Millarworld's own Daredevil. More importantly, however, Nemesis not giving a single damn about Andy, who had been so kind, really reminds the reader what a cruel, evil character Nemesis is. He is the bad guy of the comic, and in a world where supervillains don't get to do awful things anymore lest someone be offended, it is so refreshing to get an honest to God bad guy on the printed page. He might be wounded, but Nemesis is still the devious, hateful creature he's always been.
Eventually, Nemesis appears before Ensi Ur-Baba, one of the last remaining members of the criminal organization known as the Fraternity. He remarks that Nemesis is now reduced to being Matthew Anderson once more thanks to his weakened condition, but that he'll repair his body—for a price. $50 million dollars and something else clearly quite daunting, but never stated. The cover of Rogues' Gallery is meant to evoke the Lazarus Pits from the Batman comics, but here it's actually an enchanted pool that needs the blood of 50 people per day for months to restore Nemesis back to health. It's a deliciously sadistic twist on the Lazarus Pits and speaks to the character's villainous nature.
By the end of the issue, Millar touches on the Batman mythos a couple more times by introducing Nemesis' butler, Margot, and we get a glimpse of someone who looks quite deranged that will seemingly become the villain's sidekick. That's right, Nemesis is getting his own Robin, and given Millar's penchant for young, violent characters like Hit-Girl, it's going to be a long wait for issue two to see what this new partner will bring to Nemesis' world. Although Big Game felt like something of an end to the Millarworld universe of characters, Millar has proven with this issue that he isn't slowing down one bit and that there are plenty of stories still left to tell.
Millar also chose the ideal sidekick of his own with illustrator Valeri0 Giangiordano. The art is hauntingly dark, with excellent use of shadows throughout. Strong figure work can be found on every page, but there's something about the way that Giangiordano draws Nemesis' face in particular that is so perfect. He's frightening to look at, with eyes that betray so much wanton hatred that you can feel it through the page. Lee Loughridge backs it all up with a color palette that is haunting and dour, which is just right for the dangerous world that Nemesis lives in. This is a sensational first issue and I really encourage readers to give Rogues' Gallery a shot, along with all of Millar's other Millarworld comics. There aren't many superstar writers left in comic books, so don't miss out on what Millar is doing here.
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