Story: Zach Snyder
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Federico Bertoni
Colorist: Fares Maese
Letterer: Andworld Design
Cover Artists: Kael Ngu, Danny Earls, Reza Afshar, Alice
Meichi Li & Chris Christodoulou
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: July 16, 2025
Nemesis may be an assassin. But everyone comes from
somewhere, and we all change as we grow. Long ago, Nemesis lived a different
life. She gazed upon the world in wonder, questioned what she saw and thought,
and told her parents she loved them. What tragedy befell the little girl with a
heart of gold? Let’s grab our swords, leap into Rebel Moon: Nemesis #1, and
see!
Story
Nemesis grew up in a fishing village. Her parents named her Tatan
and called her sister Gahbi. As much as Tatan enjoyed life with her parents,
fate drew her away from them. Her new masters instructed the little girl in
their ways. Every day was a punishment and a trial of endurance. Her new
masters beat the exuberance for life out of young Tatan. Surrounded by others, she
was alone.
In Rebel Moon: Nemesis #1, Tatan feared she held the power
to destroy. The little girl misunderstood her father, who was tired of Tatan's
constant chatter. But, without knowing it, her father also spoke the truth. Tatan
and her sister received a special honor. They had the chance to become more
than a fisherman's daughter or wife. Despite the pitfalls of her new community,
Tatan survived her teaching and training. The resilience she learned in her
adolescence would help her survive the tragedy to come.
Zach Snyder and Gail Simone's story is about how our youth
shapes us. But it also reminds us how one society influences another. Society
on Byeol, the planet of Tatan's birth, was founded by a repentant warrior.
Tatan's teachers instructed her in their ways. But they also repressed her
individuality. In so doing, they prepared her for later life. Not as someone
who would repent for dispatching her opponents. But as an unstoppable killing
machine, utterly dedicated to her cause.
Art
Federico Bertoni’s artwork has a fractal appearance,
portraying characters as edgy, sharp, and unforgiving as the worlds they fight
over. Locals in ethnic attire huddle in an alley. Soldiers intrude wearing
armor, uniforms, and the accolades of conquest. A glimpse into the distant past
reveals a battle in a fishing village. Swords and axes clash beneath a stormy
sky in Rebel Moon: Nemesis #1. Energy crackles in the air, while a warrior’s
glowing sword illuminates the tattoos carved into his subdued opponent’s chest
and shoulder.
While golden candlelight and glowing red blades light
Nemesis' dark path, Fares Maese fills Tatan's youth with blues and greens. The
girl rides in a brown boat with a basket of gray fish near her parents' brown
and gray house on the water. When her father brings her to her new home, he
presses a brown book, a black pen, and a bottle of ink into her hands. Then
Tatan trades her pink kimono for a beige, black, and white uniform in Rebel
Moon: Nemesis #1. Tatan’s hair, skin, and attire blend with everyone else in
her new world.
Andworld Design fills white dialogue balloons with uppercase
black letters and brown boxes with white uppercase narration. Larger white
letters on transparent brown-gray banners located us in time and space, while
looming white numbers follow Nemesis' countdown to solace. Sound effects
accompany Nemesis' attacks and Imperial cruelty. Hand-printed white letters
hover over black symbols above a skull in a brown book. Thanks to Titan Comics
for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
A mission fueled by lofty ideals can become a machine that crushes
those it intends to help. Nemesis has seen everything she valued destroyed by
the emissaries of civilization. So in Rebel Moon: Nemesis #1, she’s making things
right by exterminating wrongs.
Rating 9.6/10
To look inside see my preview of Rebel Moon: Nemesis #1.
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