Nemesis

Mark Millar took the top spot in The List’s Hot 100 at the end of 2010 and with the release of Nemesis in hardback you can see why. It’s a full-throttle thrill ride boasting some of Millar’s most audacious action set pieces to date and with a title character who is nothing less than a suave bastard. Very much the anti-Batman, our bored multi-millionaire playboy has used his resources to become the world’s ultimate criminal, leaving a body count that hits the hundreds (if not thousands) in his wake, before locking horns with Washington’s top cop in a vicious battle of wits.

Packed with profanity, ultra-violence and immorality, there’s so much forward momentum that you hurtle past any implausibilites in the plot. The writing is sharp and focussed and never takes its foot off the accelerator and while there is a certain gratuitousness in places, it’s all told with a knowing wink and a crooked smile. Despite his brash writing style, Millar never treats his readers like idiots and signs off with a sting in the tail that leaves things open for another series. Even under all that gore, Steven McNiven’s art is still utterly gorgeous. Wholesale destruction has never looked so good.

Published by Titan.