Nemesis 22: B&B #188

#22

Brave and the Bold #188 (July 1982)

Synopsis: 

Nemesis is heading down a corridor in crime boss Jay Kingston's mansion, facing a "gladiator's gauntlet" set up by Kingston. He is there because Kingston kidnapped Marjorie Marshall, who Kingston learned from hired-gun Maddox is the woman Nemesis considered like a mother to him. 

As soon as Nemesis steps into the gauntlet he immediately comes across some of Kingston's goons. However, his smoke bomb and tranquilizers take quick care of them. Unbeknownst to Nemesis, Kingston and the other members of the Council are watching him via close-circuit television. Scarfield is happy at the prospect of Nemesis being killed, but Maddox is anxious, because if Kingston succeeds in killing Nemesis, Kingston will become the head of the Council. 

In the hallway, Nemesis accidentally trips a wire that causes a trapdoor to spring. Luckily for him, his rifle is long enough to reach across the crevice, acting as a bar to stop him from falling into a nest of spears. As he climbs back into the hall, he is attacked by four assassins. 

Nemesis is disarmed by the assassin with a whip, but is still able to knock out the martial artist. He then uses him as a wall between himself and the hooked man, causing "Captain Hook" to fall into the earlier trap. Nemesis is able to disarm the whip when the third assassin has to draw it back before cracking it again. Then Nemesis uses him as a shield and a battering ram against the knife thrower. Nemesis threatens him with one of his knives, demanding to know how the four of them seemed to pop out of nowhere. The assassin tells Nemesis of a secret panel in the wall. Nemesis knocks him out and then begins to search for it, not knowing that it is primed to explode. 

Feeling anxious that Nemesis is sure to die, Maddox calls Kingston's butler, who is secretly in Maddox' employ. Maddox orders him to kill Kingston. 

  

Commentary: 

This is the penultimate chapter of Nemesis vs Kingston. Crime-boss Jay Kingston has put in the most effort yet to destory Nemesis, and it appears that he will succeed where his former associates failed. However, based on the last panel of the butler about to "blow (Kingston's) brains out," the crime boss may not live to enjoy his imminent victory. 

This series was well plotted, based on suspense. Nearly every installment ended with a cliffhanger of some sort. However, I can't think of another instance where an episode ended with TWO such potentially fatal cliff-hangers---!  Bravo to writer Cary Burkett for setting both the protagonist AND the antagonist in such dangerous predicaments!

Artist Dan Spiegle does another bang-up job. The reader is pulled down the passageway as quickly as Nemesis. The change in points of view (Nemesis, closed-circuit TV, Maddox watching from home) are seamless and ratchets up the suspense. Pages five and seven are especially well done, creating a sense of claustrophobia as five men fight for their lives. 

Nemesis Fact File:  

• The team-up in this issue is between Batman and Rose & The Thorn. "A Grave As Wide As The World" is by Thorn's creator, Robert Kanigher and the great Jim Aparo.  This two-parter, a rarity in this book, features the heroes against modern day Nazis. You gotta hate Nazis. 

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