Nemesis 15: B&B #181

#15

Brave and the Bold #181 (December 1981)

Synopsis: 

In the laboratory of the scientist hired to create the electronic heart stimulator, Nemesis has been surprised and is about to be killed by an electronically induced heart attack! Thinking fast, he throws his razor-knife at the scientist, making him drop the remote control trigger. Nemesis then pounces on Dr. Rice, knocking him out. 

The next day, Valerie is still worrying about Nemesis. She has successfully established herself  as Valerie Richards in order to protect herself from the Council, so she ponders what she knows about Nemesis. She knows that he goes by both Tom King and Tom Barton, former government agent airline pilot inventor. She's confused as to what she has gotten herself into, but sure that she is beginning to fall in love with him, whatever his actual name is. 

Dr. Rice arrives at crime boss Samuel Solomon's mansion demanding to see him. Dr. Rice tells Solomon that Nemesis came to see him last night and forced him to remove the electronic heart stimulator from Nemesis' chest. Solomon realizes that this is not Dr. Rice at all, but it's too late. Nemesis knocks out Solomon and then takes HIS place in order to get the master control switch. Nemesis as Solomon orders Solomon's goon, Lucas, away to give himself unrestricted freedom.  

Lucas is not as stupid as Nemesis thinks, however. He returns to Solomon's room to check on Dr. Rice, who he believes is still there. He finds the real Solomon, tied up, and together they rush to the laboratory. 

Nemesis is in the midst of disabling the stimulator when Lucas attacks. Solomon decides to cut his losses, and activates the stimulator in order to kill Nemesis once and for all. 

However, not only did Nemesis succeed in deactivating his device, he had put the extra device from Dr. Rice's lab onto Solomon while Solomon was unconscious. When the crime boss hits the trigger, he gives himself a mild heart attack. His older, weaker heart cannot stand even this short jolt, and he dies.  

 

Commentary: 

This is a great conclusion to the heart stimulator epic that started a few issues ago. Re-reading this story-line I could not wait to finish it; I would finish one issue and then move immediately to the next installment. That's proof of good writing! I then had to go back and re-read them all again to write up the summaries. I couldn't do both at the same time! 

Although writer Cary Burkett and artist Dan Spiegle continue to do a bang-up job, something I noticed this time makes me want to call out colorist Carl Gafford. Although Nemesis shows up at Solomon's mansion with green slacks while he is pretending to be Dr. Rice, by the end of the story they somehow morph into dark gray pants while he is fighting Lucas. I know that if this were a real film or TV series that continuity wouldn't have occurred, and it took me out of the story for a moment as soon as I realized it.   

Nemesis Fact File:  

• The team-up in this issue is between Batman and The Hawk and The Dove. "Time, See What's Become Of Me...." is by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo. This is one of the more well-known B&B stories, as novelist Brennert chooses to age the Hall brothers into adulthood above and beyond one-time contemporaries in the (still) Teen Titans. Ignoring continuity is it's only drawback, but Dick Giordano was the editor of their series in the Sixties and he worked with Brennert to craft this somewhat controversial story. As a potential conclusion to the Hawk and Dove story, however, it is a classic.  
• Due to the reaction to this lead story, there were no letters printed in The Brave & The Bold #186 mentioning the Nemesis series.   

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