Customer Reviews
as good as book 1 - not likely! - By: Richard Priest, 31 Dec 2007 
what a crying shame that the great artwork from the first volume isnt carried through this one! i waited with baited breath for volume one as its some of the greatest work done by 2000ad(imho), but most of the art work in this voume just spoils what could have been the greatest series written in the galaxies greatest comic(ie 2000ad). the third series will be a good cheap way to complete my collection but i suspect it'll be a once only read unlike book one(cant get enough of mek - quake...big jobs indeed!)
Torquemada takes centre stage - By: S. Bentley, 30 Oct 2007 
Books five to seven of Nemesis the Warlock, along with some shorts, Torquemada the God & two Diceman "Fighting Fantasy" style games are presented in this second volume of the complete Nemesis the Warlock.
Nemesis has defeated Torquemada & looks set to rout the Termight Empire, so he now spends his time sunbathing by the pool. But then his son Thoth, whom he thought dead, sets about getting revenge on his mother's killer & summons Torquemada from the past to be murdered over & over again by his own men, & then travels into the past to kill Torquemada's previous incarnations. Nemesis goes looking for his son, knowing that his best bet for finding him is by using the time-displaced Torquemada as bait. Soon they're travelling to the far future to see the Earth after humanity has been destroyed before travelling into the past, where Torquemada meets his historical inspiration & namesake, Tomas de Torquemada of the Inquisition.
Logic takes a bit of a battering in this volume, as Pat Mills starts looking deeply into the abyss. It's clear that he's lost interest in Nemesis, as the character fades into the background to alllow Torquemada to take centre stage & for Mills to examine evil. The device of having Torquemada plucked out of time for another resurrection looks to have some interesting ramifications, but these aren't examined half as closely as the despicable & deluded nature of the Grand Master. The humour is still there but the darkness gets ramped up & the vendetta between Nemesis & Torquemada increases to the point where it begins to be hard to see the differences between them. But that's good & dramatic for you.
The art in this volume is mostly provided by Bryan Talbot, who is an artistic God. Kevin O'Neill, series co-creator reappears too & his contributions have the same high energy Gerald Scarfe gone punk feeling as in the previous volume. Also contributing is Tony Luke with two photo strips, which are very interesting, & John Hicklenton. Mills makes a point of defending Hicklenton's work in the foreword to the volume, which I guess must mean that it has been criticised in the past. I think his art is definitely a talking point. The figures are tortured & extremely visceral, which fits the demented nature of the storylines & the characters, but the art is also lacking in consistency, clear storytelling & backgrounds. I can't say that I know instinctively that it is good art as I can with Bryan Talbot. But I do think it feels appropriate & I applaud its use in the context.
So another solid package. Presumably the Third volume will complete the story with books eight to ten, & I can't wait!
