Nemesis 13: B&B #178

#13

Brave and the Bold #178 (Sept 1981)

Synopsis: 

Nemesis is the captive of Council member and NY crime boss Samuel Solomon. Solomon tells him that he has a choice: agree to take down the other members of the Council for Solomon, or be killed immediately. 

Under the circumstances, Nemesis has no choice but to agree. However, as soon as he has an opportunity he attempts to escape. Of course, Solomon expected that. As Nemesis fights wildly to escape, Solomon calmly takes out a remote-control device and activates an electronic stimulator that was placed over Nemesis' heart while he was unconscious. The device causes Nemesis' heart to beat faster; if not stopped, his heart will burst. Solomon further explains that if Nemesis tries to remove the stimulator, it will activate itself and will not turn off. So....Nemesis must work for Solomon. 

Meanwhile, Valerie is anxious that she has not heard from from Nemesis after she dropped him off at Solomon's supposedly empty house (last issue). 

Nemesis is told to target Jay Kingston in the Southwest, because Solomon fears Kingston's ambitions. Solomon tells Nemesis that he will be flown to Houston, accompanied by one of Solomon's goons, a hulk named Lucas. Lucas will have a remote control device to keep Nemesis on a short leash. 

The next day, in their small chartered plane headed towards Houston, as they fly over a large cloud bank, Nemesis makes his move. Nemesis picks a fight with Lucas. He then accidentally on purpose falls out of the airplane without a parachute. He activates his belt buckle mini-parachute, but hidden from sight by the cloud covers, hopes Lucas thinks he is dead. 

  

Commentary: 

Solomon has dropped Nemesis into a pretty tight trap this time out. I remember reading this the first time back in 1981 thinking, "How can he get out of this!?" Because I did not read any advance notices about comics then, I didn't know if Nemesis was contractually obligated to appear for the next year or anything; or, conversely, if he might show up dead in his next adventure. What I'm trying to say is that there was a real sense of suspense for this character and this series that I didn't have for corporate entities like Superman and Batman. I think that is one of the reasons I always enjoyed series like this or the Legion of Super-Heroes or Man-Bat, because the characters were NOT merchandising power-houses and things could actually HAPPEN to them.  

Anyway, I appreciated that writer Cary Burkett had painted his character into a tight corner with this story, and I could not wait to see how or if he would be able to extradite himself from this predicament. 

Artist Dan Spiegle did another bang-up job, and as Exhibit A I refer you to page 7, reprinted above. The jagged, uneven panels help "sell" the action amid the tight, crowded charter airplane. Likewise, page 3 (reprinted below) where Nemesis fights Solomon's goons and shocks one of them with Solomon's cane is also a well choreographed action scene. When you only have eight pages to do anything, it takes a professional to pull it off. Spiegle continues to keep his quality level high. 

Nemesis Fact File:  

• The team-up in this issue is between Batman and The Creeper. "Paper Chase" by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo features our heroes versus an Origami Monster, which turns out to be the embodiment of a self-righteous TV talk-show host. Dr. Clayton Wetley is so disgusted by our decadent society that his sub-conscious goes on a murderous rampage. 
• There were two letters printed in The Brave & The Bold #183 that mentioned the Nemesis series. Both John Ervin of Cortland, OH and Ken Lewallen of Austell, GA like Nemesis and want his adventures to continue. 

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!

NEMESIS 

created by Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle