Sex, Drugs And Sidekicks — ‘Nemesis: Rogues’ Gallery’ #2 Advance Review

Continuing to parody Batman mercilessly in the pages of Nemesis: Rogues’ Gallery #2, writer Mark Millar and artist Valerio Giangiordano give the greatest villain in the world his very own very own teen sidekick. Ingeniously busted out of a Rio De Janeiro courthouse, Pedro Hernandez soon finds his previous low-life of crime is nothing compared to the riches available to him in swearing loyalty to Nemesis in a scene very reminiscent of the original Boy Wonder’s oath-taking by candlelight in Detective Comics #38. Only in this scenario, there’s drugs and hookers on hand to seal the deal. Every young adolescent teen’s dream, surely?

Nemesis: Rogues’ Gallery #2 is another issue of excess. Excessive violence, excessive wealth and more, all gloriously captured by the sharp eye of Giangiordano who’s realistic style gives it the appropriate grit and grimness this story demands. Even the colour palette chosen by colourist Lee Loughbridge is more muted. Washed-out browns and sepia are used in the depiction of the courtroom breakout which not only reflects the heat of Brazil but also gives the whole opening scene a murkiness that’s fitting to the unfolding narrative. These are replaced by the darkness of night, and when there is a splash of colour, it is the red light better associated with sex work and underground seedy strip clubs. It all helps sell this antithesis of the traditional sidekick set-up story we’ve all read countless times before. Whether Pedro has been saved from a worse life does seem to have been answered by his own gusto to get involved. Something he’s always dreamt of, and now a reality. 

Millar’s script is sharp, perversely reverential to its source material, and with more than a hint of foreshadowing too. It was a no-brainer to eventually take on the well-trodden trope of the superhero sidekick, but in Millar’s hands it is done with both style and a knowing smirk he shares with his readers. 

Nemesis: Rogues’ Gallery #2 is out on Wednesday 28th August from Dark Horse Comics.