Continuing their campaign to cleanse the galaxy, the Terminators lay siege to The Gothic Empire.

The Goths are aliens influenced by the earliest radio signals from Earth, and who sought to imitate humans. For a long time they believed themselves to be human, a fact Torquemada is more than happy to dispute. The Grand Master himself joins the campaign, now using alien technology to body hop, and finds assistance in some 'Young Goths,' Goths who have been more influenced by Earth's later radio transmissions and want the empire to change accordingly.

Nemesis travels to The Gothic Empire to assist in defending it from the Terminators, and, on his arrival is assigned a personal valet in the shape of Ro-Jaws. Receiving the news that Torquemada is heading to Whitechapel (scene of the infamous 'Phantom Murders') Nemesis and Ro-Jaws pursue and manage to confront the Grand Master. Narrowly escaping, Torquemada leaves Nemesis to the police, who have mistaken him for The Phantom.

Meanwhile, some reactivated ABC Warriors attack a Goth village. Hammerstein, leading the assault, finds a family of unformed Goths in hiding and decides to disobey his orders and leave them be. Upon hearing this, The Black Cardinal, head of the robot inquisition orders Hammerstein, Mad Ronn and Hitaki to be executed. They receive a last minute reprieve from the claws of Mek-Quake, when the three of them are re-programmed and sent on a suicide mission to kill the Goth Queen, Victoria.

Nemesis, now in disguise, manages to join the Royal party on their journey to the Brick Moon, but fails to realise Torquemada is also amongst them, now using the body of the Chinese ambassador. Without warning, the ABC Warriors burst into the party only to be stopped by Nemesis. The Warlock manages to save the queen from Torquemada, but the danger is far from over.

Realising Hammerstein may be of some use to him, Nemesis stops his execution and takes him on a whistle stop tour of the Empire, explaining how badly they need assistance. He suggests re-forming the ABC Warriors, and tracks down each one in turn, eventually bringing the original team back together to help the empire. Under Hammerstein's questioning, Nemesis reveals the final fate of Deadlock - he and The Warlock are one and the same.

Torquemada, continuing his dalliance with deviants, takes possession of a new super-body, made up of Goth corpses, but finds he has been double-crossed by the Young Goths, at which point he double-crosses them and leaves to re-join the inquisition in his new permanent body. Nemesis, meanwhile, receives word that the Cabal won't assist the Goths, and that his wife and son are dead. Vowing to turn Earth into a charnel house, The Warlock attacks the Terminators with a new found vigour, before seeming to surrender to his archenemy

Torquemada puts Nemesis through endless tortures before finally removing his head, only to discover it was nothing more than an ecto-plasmic double. Nemesis and The Warriors, now inside the Terminator flag ship, launch a vicious attack, and take control of the ship to turn it against the other craft. Nemesis pursues the Grand Master and fights him once more to the death; during a brief spell outside, Torquamada's body is accidently hit by a laser shot, which triggers a curious transformation. Once back inside the ship, Torquemada's body begins to mutate, causing his own Terminators to turn on him, finally ending the Grand Master's reign.

COMMENTS:

What more can be said about this one? Winner of the Eagle Award for Best Graphic Novel, this also brings the ABC Warriors (complete with two new members) and Ro-Jaws back into play after a long time in the wilderness. And, of course, debuts the now legendary Bryan Talbot run.

In his brief stint, O'Neill runs riot with the artwork, producing some seriously inspired moments of weirdness (such as Nemesis in his Y-fronts), before Talbot takes over with a darker and more fluid style. Although O'Neill's art seems to fit better with the outlandish elements of The Gothic Empire, Talbot soon draws you in to a darker world. His style adds a great dynamic to the action scenes, too, and his rendition of the Phantom Torquemada looks truly hideous.

Mills' love of that character seems to grow stronger with each panel, and you can see some of the seeds here that he took into the later books. The Grand Master's final fate is a nicely ironic twist, too.

One thing of note: Nemesis reveals the final fate of Deadlock, and that he and the Grand Wizard are one and the same. Many fans noticed how similar Nemesis and Deadlock looked when Nemesis first appeared, and often questioned it. Mills, however, stated in the past that Deadlock and Nemesis were two seperate entities in no way connected...

Humble filing clerk Henry Sprutenburg is a the perfect termite: always pure, always vigilant and always behaves. The secret of his success? He has no drive or ambition. He is the man without an ego!

Henry is always early for work, never listens to office gossip and never argues with his wife. He believes that agreeing with everyone will keep him out of trouble, that is until Nemesis happens along. Escaping a daring mission, Nemesis is wounded and needs somewhere to hide while he heals, or some body to hide in.

Chancing on Henry as he returns home from work, The Warlock uses the ego-less man as a host. The terminators surround the area and check all the purity meters in a nearby apartment block, only to discover a massive impurity reading from one flat in particular. At midnight, they burst into Henry's apartment, only to watch as his entire body moulds to the very shape of The Warlock.

Escaping once again, Nemesis leaves his host body, thus leaving poor Henry to the wrath of the Grand Master.

COMMENTS:

A nice little space filler by Mills and O'Neill. Their imaginations really run wild with the whole thing, O'Neill especially, with the badges and signs littering the panels. Possibly the most manic looking Torquemada to ever appear in Nemesis.

Bryan Talbot

Ten years have passed since the death of Torquemada. Thoth, Nemesis' son, is still alive and well, living on Termight under the care of the Terminator who killed his mother. Nemesis himself has since begun a relationship with Manga (the female warlock who betrayed his first wife, Chira, to the Terminators), but on the day of his marrige, discovers Thoth is still alive. After dropping her psychic guard, Manga is killed by Nemesis when he reads her mind and discovers what she has done. Returning to Termight with Purity, Nemesis begins a bid to track down Thoth and his new 'pet,' Satanus.

While Nemesis, Ro-Jaws and Purity make their way through the tubes, Thoth invokes a spell which makes the Blitzspear shed its skin, causing havoc with the surrounding traffic. The tube police are dispatched to deal with the problem, while Grand Dragon Mazarin, current power behind the throne, orders a cage to be thrown up to stop Nemesis. The Warlock comandeers a school bus and drives it toward the laser bars of the cage. Mazarin learns that Torquemada's children, Pandora and Barbarossa, are aboard the bus, and subsequently orders the voltage be increased. The bus hits the bars, leaving a hole big enough for the Blitzspear to escape through, and disappear.

Thoth has been busy orchestrating his revenge, however, having pulled Torquemada from an earlier point in time and allowing him to run riot on the now alien-friendly Termight. After being caught for cleansing an alien ambassador, Torquemada is sentenced to burn at the stake for heresy, after he claims to be the real Torquemada. Thoth, however, has other plans and places the former Grand Master in a time loop, to watch him burn at the stake for ever more. Nemesis catches up with his son, but before he has a chance to explain everything, Satanus attacks. Thoth and his pet escape through time.

Nemesis, seeing the Torquemada execution, sees a chance to not only flush out his son, but also to get one over on his hated enemy. Mazarin, meanwhile, has been visiting Candida De Torquemada, the Grand Masters widow, to tell her the news of her children, and to lay the blame and Nemesis' hooves. The Warlock himself comes to see Candida and explains the situation regarding Torquemada. Along with Purity, the three of them mount a rescue and free the Grand Master.

Thoth escapes into the Time Wastes, and Nemesis recalls the ABC Warriors (now one member short after losing Mad Ronn) to assist in the search, but not before introducing them to their newest member: Mek-Quake.

Nemesis manages to confront his son once more before entering the Time Wastes, and Thoth tells him of his plan to destroy the world: by gaining access to the black hole control room, Thoth has managed to destablize the black and white holes on either side of Termight. The resulting destruction would destroy not only Termight, but a good portion of the galaxy too.

Using Torquemada as a guide, Nemesis, Purity, Candida and The Warriors venture into the Time Wastes to find Thoth and attempt to repair the damage already done. Meanwhile on Termight, Grand Dragon Mazarin recruits the help of Torquemada's brother, Nostradamus, to guide him through the Time Wastes to find and kill the Grand Master, finally disposing of his threat once and for all.

COMMENTS:

The dark tone of the series gets cranked up another notch here, with the cold blooded murder of Torquemada's children. Talbot continues to draw you into the darker side of Termight, while throwing in some nicely off-beat touches (check out Nemesis in his wedding suit). Talbot also has the pleasure of drawing Torquemada without his mask for the first time, and a pleasant surprise it is, too. Rather than some hideously deformed monster we get an almost handsome skinhead under the traffic cone.

Mills' writing continues with it's darker and more mature overtones; Satanus, for instance, is portrayed as a more deadly and fearsome monster here than his appearance way back in The Cursed Earth. He also seems to be turning the series away from the more medieval tones of Books 1, 2 and 3, into a more solid mix of fantasy and sci-fi.

Kevin O'Neill

You are The Warlock Nemesis, alien freedom fighter and scourge of Termight's travel tubes.

Your arch-enemy, Torquemada, sinister Grand Master of Termight, has captured your top agent, Purity Brown. You only have until midnight to save her from her fate.

In your infamous Blitzspear, you have carried out many daring tube raids, and earned a reputation as a demon driver.

Torquemada knows you are stupid and arrogant enough to try and save her, so he has set up many traps along the tubes to his torture chamber.

The Grand Master gives you his solemn promise that you will never leave the tubes alive...

Do you dare accept the challenge?

COMMENTS:

Confession time. I haven't actually read this, but from what I know of Trapped in the Garden of Alien Delights and ABC Warrior, I can tell you that it came from short lived the role playing magazine Diceman, which formulated from the minds of Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill.

The biggest problems with the games in the magazine were that they were marketed somewhere between 2000AD fans and Fighting Fantasy gamebook fans. Because of the genre, the games proved to be too linear (not to mention too short), but there's still some novelty value to had from them, if you can find them.

Bryan Talbot

Below is the introduction to the game as scripted by Pat Mills:

YOU are the most evil man in the World: TORQUEMADA, Grand Master of Termight - Earth thousands of years in the future. You have been captured by your greatest enemy - NEMESIS THE WARLOCK, leader of the aliens you have sworn to exterminate.

Held in a stasis beam, powerless to resist, Nemesis reads from a vast list of your crimes: Aliens on a thousand planets put to death by your Terminators... Humans imprisoned and tortured because they tried to help them... Entire species exterminated because they were 'different' to human beings...

"Because they were Deviants," you interrupt, "and there can be only one sentence for Deviation... DEATH!"

"As you sentenced the following," continues Nemesis, completing the list of your victims.

"Wait!" you cry. "You missed some out." You reel off more planets whose inhabitants ended up in your vapourisation vats... Solar systems 'cleansed' with deadly radiation... Alien leaders executed after they begged you to forget the past and make peace...

"You know my motto: NEVER forget! NEVER forgive! NEVER for fun! I personally cut off their slimey heads!" you proclaim proudly.

"You're a sick bigot! An evil fascist!" snarls Nemesis.

"What?" you retort. "How DARE you call me a bigot and a fascist? I've put up with your insults and abuse - but this time you go TOO FAR!

"I AM THE SUPREME BIGOT! I AM THE ULTIMATE FASCIST!

"Thanks to my bigotry, my hatred, I united the Human Race against the rest of the Galaxy! For the first time in Earth's history, humans no longer kill each other if they're a different colour, creed, or political belief...

"Because now we've really got something to hate...something to fear...something to KILL! Out there - in space - are creatures who are really different...really weird... A universe full of 'em!"

You rant on until Nemesis gives you a hoof in the face.

"That's right," you sneer. "Kick a human when he can't fight back - that's what I'd expect from an alien! Come on - do your worst! I'm not afraid of a Deviant!"

Nemesis grins down at you. "Yes, I know that. And I realise there's nothing you'd enjoy more than for me to kill or torture you - to justify your evil doctrine, and become a martyr to the Human Race.

"So I have prepared something a little more...subtle. MY GARDEN OF ALIEN DELIGHTS!"

You look around at the strange creatures of this nightmare World and mutter, "Oh, foul and unspeakable are the ways of the Deviants. Loathsome their looks..."

The Warlock chuckles, "And you'll have to ask THEIR help to escape. The only way out of the Garden is by BEING KIND TO ALIENS. That is your punishment, Torquemada!"

"To dally with the Deviant? Have truck with the Extra-Terrestrial? Give succour to the Succubus? NEVER!" you scream.

"But it's your only chance. And it still won't be easy - because some of them will LIE, and others will try to kill you.

"You must decide which aliens to fight...which ones to befriend... It will be a real test of your famous cunning.

"And if you fail, it will mean I - a mere Alien - am smarter! That will be the ultimate humiliation!

"Of course, if you're too scared to even try...?" Nemesis pauses and leers down at you.

"Well...are you?"

Text copyright 2003 Rebellion.

COMMENTS:

Ever wondered what it'd be like to don the traffic cone and rush head long into a hate frenzy? Here's your chance to see how you do...

Well, maybe not. Like the other strips in Diceman, it seems to be written in a way that tries to appeal to both 2000AD and Fighting Fantasy gamebook fans, and manages to pull it off to some degree. However, this leads to its biggest drawback: how much it's been toned down. Not once do you get to yell "Be Pure! Be Vigilant! BEHAVE!" at any passing deviants, nor do you get the impression this is the same character who was voted Favourite Villain in The Eagle Awards. Also, the linear nature of these games means you're adventure is very limited.

That said, the novelty value of getting to play Torquemada is a lot of fun; the scoring system is excellent, too, with the player being allocated 'Purity Points' that diminish as you dally with the deviants.

As ever, Bryan Talbot's artwork is fantastic, with a great monochrome colour job.

Nice to see the return of Great Uncle Baal, too.

Bryan Talbot

482 - 487, 500 - 504

In a bid to find Thoth, Nemesis and the ABC Warriors venture into the Time Wastes of Termight, with Torquemada as their guide, and find themselves at the end of the world, where The Grand Master finally confronts the extent of his evil.

Millions of years in the future, when the sun had become a red giant, mankind had simply decided to stop its evolution and regress back to the sea. Like lemmings, humans were driven by an overwhelming urge to return to the waters that first spawned them, in the final act of the human race.

Just as man today breaks down food inside his body for energy, so future man could break down his body into a liquid life form, a pool of plasma floating on the ocean at the end of the world, finally returned to the primordial soup which had spawned him. For millions of years, humanity slept, enjoying a peace it could never find on land.

And then Torquemada arrived.

The Terminators discovered the Primords (the name given to future man) were composed of a hydrocarbon fluid similar to oil. It proved to be a vast source of energy that Torquemada needed to power his engines of destruction. And so purification plants were set up, to pump and refine future man, flaring off his 'useless' spirits into the atmosphere, filling the air with screaming as they were separated from their bodies, which would be used in Terminator war machines.

The spirits did not die however. They flared up into the atmosphere to form a vast intelligence, a huge mind cloud of electro-magnetic energy, an evil intelligence, twisted by the pain of purification. It was the quintessence of human evil. It had become The Monad.

Torquemada, feeling no remorse for what he has done, goes off into a hate frenzy, while a storm gathers around the party. The Monad attacks Nemesis and his team, causing them to lose another ABC Warrior, Hitaki. Nemesis draws on some of his power to create his own mind monsters to fight The Monad, but it does little more than buy them time. Then suddenly the Terminators decide to launch their own attack. Torquemada and Candida flee, but Candida is succumbing to the hypnotic call of The Primords. Torquemada decides to leave her to her fate and find a new wife to carry his children, only to be drawn back when he hears Nostradamus' voice. After a brief reunion with his dear brother, Nostradamus attempts to kiss Candida, running the risk of setting off the micro bomb in her head, implanted by the Grand Master to ward off admirers.

Nemesis intervenes just in time to stop their 'ten mega-ton snogging session' and hand Torquemada over to The Primords. The creatures are about to force the Grand Master to drink from their cup, which will make him one of them, but Nemesis steps in to explain the problem Torquemada's 'pollution' may give them. The Primords leave his fate to Nemesis, who decides to hand him over to his own Terminators and let them deal with the problem. Unfortunately, Torquemada inspires his men to leave the control of Grand Dragon Mazarin and follow him once more on his crusade.

With Torquemada back in power, Nemesis resolves to find his son quickly. Discovering a tube block, the ABC Warriors clear the wreckage only to find a half eaten body: Matthew Hopkin, Witchfinder General. Realising there's more Khaos ahead, Nemesis dispatches the ABC Warriors into the Time Wastes to find the black hole control room and shut it down, while he and Purity continue the search for Thoth.

Meanwhile in 1864, Colonel John M. Chivington, infamous murderer of Indian women and children, was running for his life from some kind of monster, apparently controlled by a demon...

COMMENTS:

Worth reading for the opening spread alone; the Torquemada convention is a terrific idea played out to it's full by Mills and Talbot. Walkie Torqueys... BWA HA-HA-HA-HA!!

After destorying the entire human race of the future, is it really any wonder Torquemada was voted 'Favourite Villain' in the Eagle Awards? Ending it with the classic 2000AD moment of Torquemada screaming "You ain't seen nothing yet!" at Nemesis, can surely leave no doubt in anyone's mind who the real star of this series is.

Kevin O'Neill

520 - 524

While Nemesis and Purity continue their search for Thoth, and The ABC Warriors continue in their attempts to prevent Termight's black and white holes destroying the planet, Tomas De Torquemada returns to his home in triumph to be hailed as a God. Who could doubt, after so many returns from the grave, that the Grand Master was indeed immortal? Least of all Tomas himself...

Torquemada addresses his people, blaming all the destruction and Khaos on the arch deviant, but secretly plots to let Nemesis save the planet, allowing Torquemada time to prepare for the coming conflict. But in the meantime, there was much good work to be done. Starting with the elimination of the pretender to his throne, Krassan, a new government of hard liners is installed (with Brother Lawrence as D.P.P. (Director of Public Persecutions) and Brother Satchmo as Public Relations advisor), and soon a new reign of terror begins. The Termites soon turn on the aliens who had settled there during the period of detente as an outlet for their fears.

At last, Torquemada's dream had come true: the human race was finally united behind him.

Unfortunately, there is still one cloud on the horizon: Candida. The peace she had felt at the end of the world, followed by the sudden shock of returning to Termight, she had slipped into a state of madness. She was in a place now where Torquemada could never hurt her again. She was finally free. Torquemada would have to divorce her and re-marry - for there must be an heir to the throne - but it wouldn't be the same. Nothing would be the same again.

He had destroyed the one person he had ever loved.

The woman who caught his eye was Sister Sturn. She was in charge of the forcible repatriation of aliens to their home planets. The teleporters used to send the aliens back are actually disguised versions of the vapourisation vats - it was a more convenient way of disposing of deviants. Sister Sturn really only loves two creatures: her dog Scamp and Torquemada. The Grand Master stands for the one thing in life she really cares about: death.

There was only one problem, however: Brother Sturn. And it was a problem Torquemada intended to solve, by sending him on a great quest far off into the galaxy. Once that's taken care of, Tomas pays a visit to Sister Sturn and makes his intentions clear. Torquemada divorces Candida on the grounds of insanity (though the details are never released), and quickly marries Sister Sturn; the happy couple are soon rewarded with a son - Atilla de Torquemada.

Meanwhile, Candida reflects on her life, while Torquemada's insane brother Nostradamus continuously taps out messages of love to the object of his infections, day and night without rest.

Time passes, and to the public, The Torquemada's are happily married, but behind the facade, their marriage has already run into trouble. Sister Sturm (or 'S.S.' as she was affectionately known), fed by years of Torquemada's hatred and poison, had begun to see deviants everywhere and had tried to kill her own son on more than one occasion. Refusing to have S.S. cleanses, Torquemada has Atilla placed under guard day and night, and allows his wife to have free run of the palace grounds to find any deviants. And if she discovered one or two amongst the kitchen staff... Well, they were replaceable, and it did help to keep her occupied.

Torquemada, however, was dealing with problems of his own. He was decaying again. He calls on the ever faithful Brother Mikron to diagnose the cause of his condition and find him a cure. Vowing never to rest until he has the answers, Mikron studies tissue samples and discovers that the origins of this strange malady lie not in the the organic sphere, but in the spirit or Ka.

In a bid to discover what is attacking Torquemada's Ka, Mikron uses hypnotic regression to take The Grand Master back through his past lives. When they reach the incarnation that was Colonel John M. Chivington of the U.S. Cavalry (responsible for the massacre of 400 Indian women and children at Sand Creek), Mikron makes a startling discovery; the Colonel is attacked by some dark beast, accompanied by a demon. Mikron takes Torquemada back to the previous incarnation, Matthew Hopkins, the notorious Witchfinder General.

Hopkins is attacked by a scaly beast and demon - Satanus and Thoth, causing Mikron to have The Grand Master go back to his previous incarnation: The first Torquemada, Torquemada's namesake and greatest inspiration. The great inquisitor who unleashed the nightmare of the Spanish Inquisition, and the most likely next target for Thoth's revenge...

COMMENTS:

Bit of an odd one this. At first, it seems like Mills is clearing up after Books 5 and 6, but it soon moves into being a prelude to Book 7.

Mills seems to be enjoying himself with the scripts, almost as much as O'Neill is drawing them. The black humour produces more than a choice few moments (watch out for Torquemada doing his best John Cleese impression as he regresses through his past lives), while O'Neill's art goes into overdrive, giving some of his best work of the series. And the final fate of Candida is nothing short of creepy.

Definitely one of the best Nemesis stories, even though Nemesis is nowhere to be found.

Photos by Tony Luke

2000AD Sci-Fi special 1987

Chasing Torquemada through time, Nemesis and Purity find themselves walking along Oxford Street in present day London. Under the cover of a psychic aura, they wander into a café for a rest and a quiet cup of tea. As they discuss their feelings for each other, The Warlock senses the overpowering stench of unspeakable evil.

Nearby, Torquemada wanders into a comic shop to hide amongst the other weirdos. Upon entering, he comes across shelves full of Nemesis The Warlock graphic novels, and is truly horrified by this turn of events. He kills the shop owner for selling such disgusting trash to the masses, then proceeds to purify the rest of the patrons for reading it, insisting the place should be stocked with his own tracts, like "How To Stay Pure" and "If It Makes You Feel Good, It's Bad" and other improving works. Nemesis and Purity enter the shop in time to see this happening.

Seeing his enemies, Torquemada realises such a low dive is the perfect place to find them and engages in battle with the Arch Deviant. Temporarily besting Nemesis, Torquemada grabs Purity as a hostage, but Purity manages to get free and kick the Grand Master back, leaving him to stagger out the back way.

Both Nemesis and Purity wonder why the other didn't make a move to kill Torquemada, but they both agree that a quick death would have been too merciful for such evil, but his end will come.

As The Warlock points out "Every demon has his day..."

COMMENTS:

This one you really have to read for yourself...

Photos by Tony Luke

534

Shortly after her divorce from Torquemada, Candida lies alone in her cell, haunted by nightmares. This particular night, however, she is visited by The Warlock Nemesis. He has come to help her forget, and make her feel young and carefree again. Of course this is all part of a plan to get back at Torquemada, and it works as Candida listens to Nemesis explain how she must begin to think for herself.

Meanwhile, Torquemada, unable to get his beloved Candida out of his mind, strides through the public ward, shocked by some of the graffiti the patients have scrawled across the walls. Reaching Candida's cell, he's left speechless at the sight of her and Nemesis together, and immediately attacks The Warlock, breaking his spell.

Nemesis disappears, promising that he'll be back to finish Candida's treatment. Torquemada, still in a state of shock, questions his former wife about what exactly was happening, but Candida insists it was nothing - even after Torquemada makes her sing all fifteen verses of the Deviatus along with him.

Torquemada is still not convinced of Candida's innocence and demands the truth.

"The truth is..." she finally tells him "It's all in the mind."

COMMENTS:

In some ways a better outing than Forbidden Planet, but in others slighty weaker. It lacks the humour of its predecessor, but attempts to play a bigger role in the overall story of Nemesis and Torquemada.

The costumes are better than the ones in Forbidden Planet, and Christine Gravel fills the part of Candida very well.

Kevin O'Neill

2000AD Annual 1988

Shortly after Torquemada had become a phantom, he takes over the body of a Terminator and whisks his beloved Candida away to Karma, the love planet, whose blue moon turned all who bathed in its rays into lovers. And where he hoped to save his own marriage.

After they walk through the ruins of the temple of Xali, goddess of love (ruined when the planet was invaded by terminators), looking at the few drawings not defaced (after Torquemada had taken one look at them) showing scenes of aliens of every shape and size in love, despite all she'd been through, even Candida comes under the planet's spell. For a few idyllic hours, they swim and frolic in the purple ocean, enjoy strange and exotic dishes, and slowly Candida begins to forget the bad times.

Then Termintors brings terrifying news: A gang of alien fanatics - The Zuggees - intend to sacrifice her to Xali. Torquemada assures his wife that he'll protect her, and stay closer than she ever thouht possible. However, learning how he plans to do this, Candida refuses, but is assured that this is the only way. She reluctantly agrees to let his phantom possess her, so he can lie in ambush for The Zuggees.

Candida/Torquemada approaches the Stone of Sacrifice, where the creatures of this planet once carried out their grusome rituals, and planned to again. The Zuggees attack. Candida/Torquemada reaches for a weapon concealed behind the Stone and proceeds to cleanse all the aliens. Afterwards, s/he learns that The Zuggees lured travellers from all over the galaxy to their planet with the promise of romance, so they could sacrifice them to their insatiable goddess.

Candida learns that Torquemada knew this all along and had specially planned the trip to cleanse this nest of deviants. She orders him out of her body. He goes back to the Terminator he had possessed, and asks her where the harm is in mixing a little business with pleasure. After all they did have a wonderful time.

Candida, angry at her husband, tries to think of what to say to the most insensitive man in the world. But what do you say to the most foul monster you ever met? The most feared, most cruel man in the galaxy? What do you say to a husband whose previous wives died in sinister circumstances...?

"You were wonderful..." Candida says. "You're the best!"

COMMENTS:

An interesting little tale, this one. Tomas de Torquemada a romantic soul? Determined to save his marriage by taking the only woman he ever really loved on a second honeymoon? Of course not! There's deviants to be cleansed!

A solid piece of story telling from Mills and O'Neill, and the first Nemesis story to be in full colour. It's short, to the point, and just good, clean, deviant-slaying fun.

Is this really the first time Torquemada appears and doesn't utter his infamous catchphrase...?