#12Brave and the Bold #177 (August 1981)
Synopsis:
Tom and Valerie return to the USA from their recent adventure in London. Tom brings Valerie to a building he recently bought that on its first floor hosts the Albright Costume Shop, run by Charlie & Rosella Albright. They run their shop and live above it rent-free in return for being care-takers of the building whenever their landlord, "Tom Barton," is away.
Above the shop and the Albright's apartment are rooms for Tom and Valerie, as well as an office, a laboratory and a gymnasium. As he shows Valerie around Tom begins to share some of his secrets with her. When asked why, he tells her he has two reasons: 1) he has learned that he can trust her, and 2) she is in almost as much danger as he is. She is enthusiastic to help him in his mission, but he is deadly serious when he tells her she HAS to listen to him in the future. Both of their lives may depend on it.
Meanwhile, in the palatial home of crime boss Samuel Solomon, he reads of Chesterton's failed attempt to kidnap Queen Elizabeth and his arrest. In fact, Solomon is the one who called Scotland Yard anonymously and got them investigating Chesterton. Solomon was afraid that if Chesterton had been successful in his kidnapping attempt, then he would have been made the new head of The Council. Solomon wants that position himself, so he sabotaged Chesterton's efforts. Solomon is now concerned about the man known as Nemesis, and begins to plot against him.
Several days later, Valerie is flying the helicopter while Tom tries out his newest invention, a mini-parachute packed in his belt buckle. At the local airport, Nemesis is called "Mr. King" by Barney the mechanic. Valerie is beginning to catch on that Nemesis has no real name.
Nemesis tells Valerie that Solomon has gone on vacation, giving them an opportunity to make a visit to his empty home. Valerie flies the helicopter to upstate New York, where Nemesis drops onto Solomon's roof and then breaks into his home.
Unfortunately, Solomon and his goons are waiting for him. It was a trap! Nemesis thinks he will be killed, but Solomon tells him that he wants Nemesis to continue his work capturing the other members of The Council so that he, Solomon, will be the sole member in charge of everything!
Commentary:
This is a great starting point for anyone who hadn't been following the Nemesis series before this. The reader naturally takes the perspective of Valerie as she learns bits and pieces of Nemesis' motivations and characterization during the course of the story. This issue also references three previous Nemesis adventures: the trip to London that just ended last issue, the big casino winnings he got in the Southwestern adventure before that, and his selling a patent to Bruce Wayne after his shared adventure with Batman before *that*. Writer Cary Burkett is building a history for this character, and it, along with supporting characters like Valerie, Barney the mechanic, and the Allbrights, strengthens Nemesis' universe.
Other than the "supporting" elements of the story, the main thrust of the investigation is falling into a trap set by Solomon. It's a great idea, and of course if you are any type of criminal mastermind, you are going to try to get rid of the competition before they can come after YOU. It's nice that Solomon sets his sight on Chesterton, and then once he is out of the way sets it on Nemesis.
Too bad Nemesis is so prideful that he never even considers the idea that Solomon is setting him up. One hopes that if he survives this adventure, he'll learn not to be so arrogant.
The art by Dan Spiegle is great, as always. I marvel at the page layouts, especially page five with the parachuting Nemesis and page eight with the fight sequence. The only thing I keep noticing is the atrocious Eighties Hair on Nemesis, but I guess there's nothing to be done about THAT!
Nemesis Fact File:
- The team-up in this issue is between Batman and The Elongated Man. "The Hangman Club Murders" is by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo. It's an excellent murder mystery slash super-heroic tale. It's Ralph Dibny's sole B&B appearance.
- There was one letter printed in The Brave & The Bold #182 mentioning this Nemesis adventure. Mark Amundsen of New York praised the series as well as Burkett and Spiegle.
This story has not yet been reprinted. Therefore, I gladly reproduce the eight-page story here in its entirety, exactly as it appeared in its comic-book form. Please do not allow it to fall into the hand of The Council!
created by Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle
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