Mills, Pat
About the Author:
Pat Mills is a British writer and editor. He launched the anthology comic 2000AD in 1977 and was instrumental in creating numerous of its most famous and enduring characters.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3.8 out of 5
(5 books)
TOP PICK:
Slaine: The Horned God
Nemesis The Warlock: Book Eight
(Art by David Roach)
This is the story of Nemesis' human companion and partner Purity Brown. Imprisoned as a young woman for questioning the rule of Torquemada, Purity is recruited by Nemesis to get close to and spy on the despot. However, her belief that Nemesis is the potential saviour of mankind is shaken when she learns that not only has he been manipulating her, but he has also been using his powers to influence her memories.
In many ways Purity is a more compelling protagonist than Nemesis himself, so it's nice to see her take centre stage and to get the background on her personal fight against Torquemada and his Terminators. She's tough, idealistic, self-reliant and makes the perfect freedom fighter. Sadly, her badass nature is a little undermined when the way she has to spy on Torquemada is by seducing him, leading to scenes where she's coquettishly stretched out at the foot of the villain's bed wearing only short-shorts and a crop top. Whilst it is all an act on her part, it just seems a shame to sexualise a character who is so clearly heroic without her looks even being relevant.
There's also a bittersweet nature to this book. The revelations about the truth of Nemesis' relationship to Purity and his attitudes to his war against Torquemada's injustice make for pretty cynical and depressing reading. It's a bit bleak to discover that one of our 'heroes' has been manipulating the other all along. It's a brilliantly executed element of the story and adds a whole new dimension to the series as a whole, but it is a bit emotionally deflating.
4 out of 5
Nemesis The Warlock: Book Seven
(Art by John Hicklenton)
This book sees the eternal enemies Nemesis and Torquemada travel back through time to Fifteenth Century Spain. Nemesis is hoping to reconcile with his estranged son Thoth, but Torquemada is seeking Tomas de Torquemada, his namesake and the infamous head of the Spanish Inquisition.
I enjoyed the idea of the enmity between Nemesis and Torquemada transcending time itself, not to mention the fact that this book is used to show that the zealotry, brutality and fascism of Torquemada's futuristic Terminators is absolutely rooted in the real history of our own world. The over-the-top tortures and self-justifying hypocrisies of the Inquisition are not an example of 2000 AD's usual exaggeration of ideas but are, instead, very real tools of so-called pious men in our own history.
I won't say that Hicklenton's art is bad in any way but it definitely wasn't to my taste, with some scenes being so warped in their depictions that I occasionally struggled to grasp simple things like 'which way is Nemesis actually facing here?'. The author, in his introduction, describes Hicklenton's art as being 'like wild electronic music', which is a pretty good description. So whilst it's definitely an interesting art style, it wasn't for me.
3 out of 5
Nemesis The Warlock: Book Three
(Art by Kevin O'Neill and Bryan Talbot)
Torquemada and his fanatical Terminators descend on the Goth Empire, determined to wipe out all non-human life. Standing in their way is Nemesis the Warlock, whose plan to fight his arch-enemy involves reforming a legendary team; the ABC Warriors.
What I enjoy most about this book is the juxtaposition of Nemesis and Torquemada. Here it is the human race, having become bigoted and fascistic, who are very much the villains and the demonic alien, with his squad of murderous robots, who are on the right side of the conflict. In fact, Torquemada is a perfect fascist villain because he is, after all, the embodiment (or 'disembodiment' in his case) of everything he claims to hate, being every bit the deviant that he drives his followers to destroy. It's a nice reminder than in almost every case bigots are also huge hypocrites.
I've been a fan of the ABC Warriors (particularly Joe Pineapples) since I was a child, so it was really cool to see Nemesis 'get the band back together' here.
Also worth noting is just how good Bryan Talbot's artwork is here, with his depictions of Torquemada's twisted form being particularly grotesque but in the best way.
4 out of 5
Slaine: The Horned God
(Art by Simon Bisley)
Having become King of his tribe, the warrior Slaine sets out to restore the Earth Goddess to her former glory by gathering her sacred weapons and defeating the immortal Lord Weird Slough Feg in order to become the embodiment of the goddess' consort; the Horned God.
To those unfamiliar with Slaine, he's a little bit like a Celtic Conan. However, that description does not really do him justice since he's certainly more of a schemer and, somewhat surprisingly, a feminist. Although inspired by the heroic fiction of Robert E. Howard and the like, Slaine is in many ways something of a rebellion against the tropes of that genre; almost an anti-Conan whose adventures are told with a wry sense of irony. A nod to all this occurs in this book when Slaine is proclaimed High King and Bisley has added a rather surly-looking Conan looking on disapprovingly.
Mills does a fantastic job of writing an impressively complex story, deeply rooted in real Gaelic and Celtic mythology, whilst still including all the over-the-top violence, gore and debauchery that you'd expect from 2000AD's more adult comics. As mentioned above, this book also includes a strong feminist narrative, with Slaine attempting to overthrow entrenched phallocentric religious views in order to return his people to the tempestuous bosom of the goddess.
Finally, I couldn't review this book without giving special mention to Bisley's stunning artwork. This story was the first time that 2000AD had an artist render a story completely in paintings rather than pencils and inks. The visceral, subtle depth it gives complements Mills' storytelling perfectly. After I finished reading this book, I thumbed backwards through it just to soak in Bisley's gorgeous artwork a second time.
4 out of 5
Slaine The King
(Art by Glenn Fabry)
This book sees Slaine giving up his wandering and adventuring in order to return to the home he was exiled from and free his people from the oppressive rule of the Fomorian Sea Demons.
There is an interesting and slightly surprising depth to Slaine in this story. Although the carefree "Kiss my axe!" adventurer is there, we see him also trying to reconcile himself with the traditions of his homeland, not to mention reconcile with Niamh, the woman he loved and left. It's very much a story about a young man tipping the balance from reckless youth towards responsible adult.
As can be expected with almost any 2000AD comic, there's also an undertone of wry humour to the whole book, particularly highlighted by Ukko's comentary and by the banal malice of the Fomorian tax collector and his habit of collecting noses from those with nothing else to offer.
4 out of 5