Nemesis 24: B&B #190

#24

Brave and the Bold #190 (September 1982)

Synopsis: 

Tom is working out while trying to come up with a way to prevent Marjorie Marshall from being used against him. She had been a pawn twice in his battle against The Council and he doesn't want her to become involved again. 

As his training ends, Valerie brings him a newspaper, which informs him of the murder of Jay Kingston. Tom knows that they were not responsible for the crime boss' death, so thinks that maybe the crime boss in charge of the zone next to Kingston's area, Leonard Maddox, had him killed. Tom decides to investigate, canceling a date he had with Valerie. 

A few days later we see Maddox talking to Miss Scarfield, as the remaining two members of the Council. She wants them to implement Operation Overkill, but Maddox brushes her off. One of Kingston's men, Owens, then shows up, confronting Maddox with the accusation that Maddox had something to do with Kingston's death. Owens leaves, and it turns out that he was really Nemesis.

Nemesis also planted a bug in Maddox's room, and from that Nemesis learns that Maddow has called "the Butcher" to fly to Houston and track someone down. Nemesis guesses it must be the man directly responsible for Kingston's death. 

Once in Houston, Nemesis tracks the Butcher to a small trailer park on the outskirts of the the city. The Butcher corners Sheffield, Kingston's former butler, but Nemesis interrupts the assassination. Sheffield escapes, but his girlfriend screams, distracting Nemesis long enough for the Butcher to get the drop on him. 

  

Commentary: 

From the first page, showing Nemesis working out in his own gym, you might assume that this story will be a break between all the drama. However, as soon as Valerie shows Tom the newspaper about Kingston's death, the story morphs into a "special investigation" rather than one of Tom's well thought- out plans. I love how Nemesis makes decisions in the field, as he switches identities at least three times in this story to try to keep one step ahead of the bad guys. And this issue's cliff-hanger seems to be the most dangerous of all: an assassin about to shoot him! How can he possibly escape? 

Writer Cary Burkett does another great job of ratcheting up the drama; Nemesis needs to know if Maddox was involved in the death of Kingston, so he pushes him (as Dawson). Artist Dan Spiegle turns in another excellent job; I especially like the extreme close-ups on pages 2, 4, and 5. And the action "zip" lines on pages 7 and 8 might be a tad over-used (six panels out of nine) but when done well, such as on the bottom of page 7 and the top of page 8, they definitely work. 

However, I do have one minor complaint. I have never, back in the Eighties or since, ever seen a guy wear what Nemesis is wearing while he works out! I guess it's supposed to be a gymnast's leotard, but why in the world would he wear something like that!?!   

Nemesis Fact File:  

• The team-up in this issue is between Batman and Adam Strange by the classic combo of Mike W. Barr and Carmine Infantino. "Who Killed Adam Strange?" is worth checking out for the art by Infantino, who of course drew both co-stars during the Sixties. His work this time out is inked by Sal Trapani. As for the story.... I don't suppose I'm spoiling anything to tell you that Adam gets better.  
• There were no letters in B&B #195 regarding this Nemesis installment.    

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