Nemesis The Warlock #7 - Eagle Comics

NEMESIS THE WARLOCK No. 7, March 1985

Despite allowing renowned artist Kevin O’Neill plenty of pulse-pounding panels within which to depict a truly cataclysmic confrontation between the super-sized ancient automatons Torque-Armada and Mek-Quake, as well as the emotionally-charged, distressing death of the titular character’s wife Chira on the planet Gandarva, Pat Mills’ penmanship during Issue Seven of “Nemesis The Warlock” almost certainly sags during the reprint’s middle portion, potentially promoting the feeling that the “leading light in British comics” had inexplicably become somewhat bored in his exploration of the Siege of Ydrasill Castle, and simply wanted the Terminator’s assault upon Muzurphus’ fortress finished so he could concentrate on providing the “extremely powerful warlock” with a suitably dramatic demise; “Within hours, a group of my assassins will… kill them both and… never will revenge have tasted sweeter!”

This sense of listlessness sadly appears to start just as soon as the “symbol of Termight’s glory” fatally explodes having been inadvertently immobilised by the robot, Fire-Raiser, with the “anti-authoritarianism” author rather contrivingly depicting Sir Evric suddenly being all-too willing to come to an agreement with “the Evil One” simply because the commander is “sick with alien fever” and wishes he “wasn’t so old and tired.” Admittedly, the leader “loyal to Torquemada” is clearly unwell, having seen half his siege machines, including the imperial flag robot, turned into “a heap of scrap”. But there’s clearly still plenty of fire left in the aged warrior’s belly when he remonstrates with his “weirdo” son, Balin, over the adolescent impudently challenging him for being “all eaten up with hate and fear of the unknown!”

However, rather than attempt to kill the deviant, the creator of “2000 A.D.” instead has the soldier surprisingly accept his hated foe’s offer to give him the courage to stand up to Torquemada, a chest full of golden treasure, as well as a promise to make him young again, and dutifully raises the siege against the Basilisks so as to return home at once. Needless to say such a bargain does not ultimately go well for “the sinischal” as “the leader of the bigoted human Terminators” is transmogrified into a truly grotesque-looking young male Catoblepas and subsequently “paraded through the tunnels of Termight”, yet it also brings a presumably planet-wide invasion to an abrupt, unsatisfactory end as well…

Script: Pat Mills, Art: Kevin O'Neill, and Color: Kevin O'Neill