NEMESIS 10: B&B #175

Brave and the Bold #175 (June 1981)

cover: Jim Aparo (signed)

title: "Queen: En Prise!"

writer: Cary Burkett

art: Dan Spiegle

letterer: John Costanza
colorist: Carl Gafford

editor: Paul Levitz 

Synopsis:

At an unknown flat somewhere in London where Nemesis' ally Valerie is being held captive, Chesterton thug Rod and Nemesis arrive. As soon as they are admitted, we realize that Nemesis is disguised as Rod, and Rod has been made-up to look like Nemesis! Nemesis tosses smoke bombs and shoots his toxin bullets at the other thugs, keeping them confused long enough for him to free Valerie and escape.

Later, Tom angrily confronts Valerie about showing up uninvited, then tells her to follow his orders or else. She angrily agrees. 

The next day Nemesis dumps the second thug (from last issue) at Scotland Yard, meeting up with Inspector Boche again. They compare notes, and find out that the Bishop of Winchester IS missing. Nemesis shares the notes he found at Chesterton's desk calendar, and they are both afraid that Queen Elizabeth is the intended target. 

We get a quick check-in with Chesterton, who is full of confidence that his plot will succeed. Meanwhile, Inspector Boche is notified that the Bishop of Winchester has returned, so he and Nemesis rush off to see him. 

The Bishop has no idea why he was attacked, which totally confuses both Inspector Boche and Nemesis. As they leave the Bishop's residence, Chesterton's men notice them and try to run them off the road. They manage to escape due to Nemesis' fancy driving. Nemesis asks about the great Shakespearean actor Sir Lionel Burbage, thinks that they might need to draft a "Knight" of their own. 

Commentary: 

Let's start at the very end of this story, and the mention of Sir Lionel Burbage. I would have been in high school when this story came out, and I remember it thrilled me no end to see my family name in the pages of a comic. Quick history lesson: Richard Burbage was a great Shakespearean actor; a contemporary of the Bard. He and his family helped run the famous theatre of that time, The Globe. (For more details I recommend the movie Shakespeare in Love). So it makes sense for writer Cary Burkett to introduce a fictional Burbage as a great Shakespearean actor. I can't wait to see him appear next issue! And before you ask, we haven't been able to find any hard genealogical proof that my family and I are actually related to Richard Burbage. 

As for the rest of the story, after its explosive opening scene it moves at a quick pace (it has to; there are only eight pages!) I was not a fan then and I'm not a fan now of how Nemesis interacted with Valerie. She seems to be too much of a "reason" than a character; someone Nemesis can explain his plot to so that the audience can get caught up. Also, the idea that she would not have known that cars in Great Britain drive on the left side of the road is preposterous. 

The art by Dan Spiegle is very good, from the extreme close-ups of Nemesis' frustration and Valerie's anger, to the car slamming through the fence and scaring the ducks on the last page. A shout-out to colorist Carl Gafford, as well, for doing excellent work on foreground vs background character colorings (such as on pages 2 and 5) and for adding ambience to the proceedings (such as on pages 3, 4, and the first panel of page 5) Check out the pages below to see what I mean. 

Nemesis Fact File:  

• The team-up in this issue is between Batman and Lois Lane, as they meet to battle Superman's enemy, Metallo. "The Heart of the Monster" is by Paul Kupperberg and Jim Aparo. It is Lois' one and only appearance in The Brave and the Bold. 
• The title for this story includes the French expression "En Prise," which means "to seize." In chess terms, it refers to leaving one of your pieces exposed to capture. In this case, it means that Chesterton is going after Queen Elizabeth.  
• There was only one letter mentioning this issue's Nemesis feature in B&B #180. Writer James Kelly liked it! By this time the editor had changed from Paul Levitz to Dick Giordano.   

This story has not yet been reprinted. Therefore, I gladly reproduce the eight-page story here it its entirety, exactly as it appeared in its comic-book form. 

Please do not allow it to fall into the hand of the Council!

NEMESIS created by Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle