Nemesis Reloaded

Nemesis Reloaded
Promotional poster. Art by Jorge Jiménez.
Publication information
Publisher	Image Comics Dark Horse Comics (omnibus)
Format	Limited series
Publication date	January – May 2023
No. of issues	5
Main character(s)	Matthew "Matt" Anderson / Nemesis Wesley Gibson / The Master
Creative team
Created by	Mark Millar J. G. Jones Steve McNiven
Written by	Mark Millar
Artist(s)	Jorge Jiménez Steve McNiven (cover artist) Frank Quitely (cover artist) Fiona Staples (cover artist)
Letterer(s)	Clem Robins
Colorist(s)	Giovanna Niro
Editor(s)	Rachel Fulton
Collected editions
Nemesis Reloaded	ISBN 978-153439-9907

Nemesis Reloaded is a British creator-owned comic book limited series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Jorge Jiménez. Published by Image Comics, the series is a stand-alone sequel/soft reboot of Nemesis by Millar and Steve McNiven, as well as a continuation of Wanted by Millar and J. G. Jones. Set in the Millarworld, the series follows a new version of Matthew "Matt" Anderson / Nemesis recruited by Wesley Gibson / The Master to the Fraternity of Super-Criminals become a supervillain, enacting violence and misery upon the world. Published across five issues from January 11 to May 10, 2023, and collectively as a graphic novel on July 12, 2023, the series was followed by Big Game by Millar and Pepe Larraz two months later, and will be republished as an omnibus by Dark Horse Comics in 2024, who will also publish a sequel, Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, later that year.

Premise

"Everything you heard before is a lie. This is my story. This is how it all began."

Following the events of Nemesis and the death of the first Nemesis, his benefactor, revealed to be Wesley Gibson, the leader of the multiverse-invading Fraternity of Super-Criminals, elects to create a new Nemesis, recruiting another young boy actually named Matthew Anderson (unlike the previous Nemesis, who used the name as an alias) and grooming him to become the billionaire supervillain, after erasing the world's memories of the previous Nemesis as Wesley's father had previously done to all the world's superheroes in 1986. Seeking to avenge the execution of his parents, framed for serial killings they did not commit, Nemesis elects to kill every police officer in New York City, placing a $10,000 bounty on any one officer's head.

Characters

• Matthew Anderson / Nemesis – An orphan groomed to become a supervillain by Wesley Gibson.
  • Fabrice Dubois – The financier of Joe Costello's campaign, and secretly an identity of Nemesis.

New York City Police Department

• Mayor "Honest Joe" Costello – The recently-elected Mayor of New York, a former police officer and district attorney with a tough line on crime, who finds himself one of the targets of Nemesis' vendetta.
• Reggie Cooper – A friend of Joe's and the current chief of police, whom Nemesis ties to a boat to drown.
• Eddie Ramirez – A friend of Joe's and a police captain, whom Nemesis ties to a boat to drown.
• Maggie Cheng – A paralysed former police officer and friend of Joe's, whom Nemesis kills in a manner inspired by V for Vendetta.

The Fraternity of Super-Criminals

• Wesley Gibson / The Master – Nemesis' mentor, the Secret Lord of Earth and leader of the Fraternity of Super-Criminals, who aims for the fledgling supervillain to become his successor.
• The Fox – Formerly known as Selina Kyle, the Catwoman of the DC Universe, an assassin and Wesley's wife, who was also his father's lover.
• Black Lotus – The head of the Castle of Reflection and the first rival Wesley had Nemesis kill for him, who had the ability to travel through mirrors.

Other characters

• Natalie "Nat" Costello – Joe's loving and supporting wife, with whom he has a son, Killian.
• Chuck and Katie Anderson – Matthew's deceased parents, drug dealers who were framed as serial killers and executed when he was a child.
• Jake and Margot – An elderly married couple of serial killers forced to be in Nemesis' service, whose crimes his parents were executed for.
• Edward Gerald Marshall – The President of the United States between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, wiped from public memory in 1986.
• Carrie – A suicide bomber created by Nemesis via heavy amounts of blackmail over the decades.

Development

In January 2012, following the publication of the four-issue miniseries Nemesis, a sequel series entitled Nemesis Returns was announced for September 2012, later delayed to January 2013, then March/April 2013, before ultimately entering development hell. By 2014, the events of Nemesis were referenced during the concluding chapter of Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years – Book Four, in precedence of an eventual crossover between the properties of the Millarworld. In 2017, a one-shot set during the events of Nemesis, subtitled We are Nemesis, written by Steve Lawrence and illustrated by Marcelo Salazo, was published by Image Comics as part of the Millarworld New Talent Annual 2017, an anthology annual consisting of one-shot specials containing winning entries from the online contest for up-and-coming creators held by Millar in 2016. In August 2022, the second volume of Nemesis, now titled Nemesis Reloaded, was officially announced, to be written by Millar and illustrated by Jorge Jiménez. On the series' development, Millar stated:

"This is a soft reboot like [those] 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."

The five-issue miniseries began publication in January 2023, and concluded in May, its ending (the aforementioned "forehead smack") revealing the story to also be a continuation of Millar's and J. G. Jones' Wanted, leading into the crossover miniseries Big Game two months later, illustrated by Pepe Larraz. In December 2023, Millar announced the Millarworld catalogue had been moved from Image to Dark Horse Comics, who would publish an omnibus of both volumes of Nemesis, as well as a third and final volume, Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, in 2024/2025.

Reception