Writer Mark Millar is once again ready to investigate what billionaires with untapped wealth and a lust for masks really get up to in the evening. Set to be released by Image Comics in January, Nemesis: Reloaded takes comic fans back to one of Millar’s and artist Steve McNiven’s most violent creations: the supervillain known as Nemesis. For this series, Millar has found a collaborator who knows a thing or two about dark knights, capes, and cowls: Batman artist Jorge Jiménez.
CBR caught up with Millar and Jiménez to find out more about their brand-new five-issue series and what fans of the original run can expect to see. Millar revealed interesting tidbits about the adaptation rights for Nemesis, as well as why Nemesis: Reloaded is something of a reboot of the story. Jiménez also described what it was like stepping into McNiven’s shoes for this series and what he feels he brings to the artwork with his unique style.
CBR: First off, Mark, why the decision to revisit Nemesis? Has this been a story that has been sitting in the back of your head for a while?
Mark Millar: I’ve always wanted another crack at Nemesis. I did it 12-plus years ago, and even though it was just this wee four-issue thing, I get asked about it as much as my big evergreen books like Civil War, Red Son, Kick-Ass, or whatever. I see fan movies up on YouTube, and when I do signings, people bring me homemade toys of the character. We licensed the rights to Fox twice, and currently, they’re under license at Warner Bros., where they’ve been trying to put a movie together, and it all goes back to this tiny four-issue series. I think about it all the time and came up with a way of doing the story better.
This stands very much on its own and is a soft reboot of the franchise. A completely new problem [that has] nothing to do with what came previously. I wanted to integrate the character into the universe I’ve built, and this leads directly into the big summer event, Big Game with Pepe Larraz. I thought, “If I’m stealing Marvel’s biggest artist and DC’s big superstar, I wanted to tie these stories together.” They’ve worked out really great.
What can fans expect from Nemesis: Reloaded? Do readers need to familiarize themselves with the original run first?
Millar: This is a soft reboot like those Superman and Batman relaunches DC did every fifteen years. We don’t reference the old series at all. As much as I love it, I just thought of a better way of doing this, and it really takes the idea to the max this time. In terms of what to expect, Nemesis has always been me turned up to eleven. The idea is really simple. It’s, “What if that genius, billionaire playboy who lives in the big mansion outside of town is actually a city’s worst nightmare? How would the cops deal with this highly-trained monster and all his high-tech gadgets?” This is a guy with infinite wealth and power and probably more like what one of those benevolent billionaires from comic books would really be like in real life. How would a cop with a badge and a gun deal with someone who operates at that level? I love flipping things and turning concepts on their head. Red Son is Superman landing in Russia. Night Club is vampires being good guys. This is that same fun basic idea carried to a logical conclusion. We also get an origin for him here, which I didn’t have much room for before, and a really terrific mystery that begins in issue three. This book is not what you think it’s about, and when you get to the last issue, it’s such a forehead smack. I think people will love it.
What inspired you to choose Jorge as the artist for this book? What is it about his art that sold him to you?
Millar: Jorge is, without question, DC’s greatest asset. Stealing him this year was a total buzz thrill. I felt like the Joker breaking in, ignoring the alarm, and just running away with him. He’s an absolute joy to work with. He draws faster than I can write. There are pages coming in every day, and there’s just so much energy to his stuff. He’s got a great Manga vibe to his art that suits a nonstop action story like this. I’ve been a fan of his since he did Super Sons and have been circling like a shark, waiting for a break in his contract. [laughs]. Wait till you see this. It’s 2023’s best-drawn book.
Jorge, how did you tackle Nemesis from an art perspective to differentiate it from what you do in Batman?
Jorge Jiménez: This adventure is aimed at a more adult audience than other comics I’ve worked on previously. Therefore, I have complete freedom to play with elements such as explicit violence or blood. It’s not that my style is very gory; however, I always wanted to go a little crazier in my strokes on this issue. Let’s remember that my artistic roots and the main references I’ve had have always been Japanese Manga artists, and generally, this type of art is very violent, so I really wanted to do something like that! On the other hand, I have been in the American market for 10 years and have been learning from the best. For this reason, I consider that stages like Nemesis are a sublimation of all my learning over the last few years, where I mix the old of my style with the new. When you see issue two, you will see a clear example of this.
When you tackle something like Nemesis, how do you balance respecting the artist who came before you and adding your own mark on the character?
Jiménez: Steve McNiven is a great reference for everyone, and his shadow here is enormous for me, as I see myself as a student in comparison. His work on Nemesis was incredible, making it one of Millar’s great remembered works. Not only is it very aesthetically pleasing, but narratively, it is perfect. He only left me one option: to be myself. If I try to carry on something similar to Steve’s, then mine will be a bad surrogate version for it — but being myself, I can try to bring something different to it. For this, I have exploited my fast stroke lines. I have also tried to energize the visual narrative of the pages a lot. I want the reader to surf quickly through them. I do not want a slow reading that makes the receiver stop to admire the details. I want you to continually want more and more!
Mark’s script is just amazing and intriguing, but above all, it’s creepy, so my mission here is for you, as a reader, to dive in as soon as possible and see just [what a] badass bastard this Nemesis is. By the way, you know me, I like spectacular shots where I try to make our protagonists look as cool as possible, so I promise there will be a lot of this too! [laughs].
Of course, Nemesis is renowned for being packed with action and violence. As an artist who worked on a book like Batman, where blood and violence are toned down, did you find it easy to shift gears and go wild on Nemesis: Reloaded?
Jiménez: Like I said before, it’s time to go crazy with this and make y’all go crazy with me! I hope you like it!
Nemesis: Reloaded #1 arrives on Wednesday, Jan.11, from Image Comics.