Project Nemesis began life as a novel by Jeremy Robinson written in 2012 and it has become one of the most popular entries in Kaiju fiction. There are a total of six books in the franchise and in 2015 the first book in the series was adapted into a comic. Robinson himself handled the adaptation and the art was provided by Matt Frank, who is one of the highest-profile Kaiju artists working in the comics industry. As we continue on this journey, you’ll grow to appreciate his artwork, and notice how ubiquitous he truly is. The end result of condensing a 400-page novel to a 6 issue comic series is akin to listening to a podcast on 3x speed. The broad strokes of Robinson’s story are there, but as a result of the truncated plot the characters are forced to spout ridiculous amounts of exposition. The intimate moments are what makes Robinson’s book rise up above the trappings of a generic monster movie. The art by Matt Frank is wonderful but much like the titular Nemesis, this version of the tale has no heart.
Project Nemesis entails the rebirth of the goddess of Vengeance. This rebirth is facilitated through the cloning of a murdered girl named Maigo. Her heart is removed and placed into the body of a corrupt army General before her transformation into a Kaiju can be complete. Now Humanity has two foes to contend with. The series follows Jon Hudson, the head of the Paranormal branch of Homeland Security.
The comic introduces us to Nemesis much quicker than the novel, with the corpse of Nemesis Prime being shown as the title page. In the novel, there is a lot more mystery behind what they find in Alaska and the motivation of series anti-hero Katsu Endo. Contrast this with the fact that the comic leaves the death of Maigo (the girl who is cloned and becomes the titular Project Nemesis) shrouded in mystery, whilst the novel opens with you experiencing her murder. The small details at the opening of the first issue are the adaptations most interesting conceits. In essence, it reverses what the reader knows going in, depending on which text they chose. Unfortunately, this is where the smart differences end, as the comic quickly becomes a stereotypical monster tale as Sheriff Collins and Jon Hudson try to solve the mystery of Project Nemesis to save the world.
If you’re privy to the world of Kaiju-ega you’ll see one complaint levied constantly: “There are too many human scenes and not enough monster action.” This criticism is really put to the test in this comic, as all of the slow intimate moments from the source material have been removed. This comic does not have time to build the relationship of Hudson and Collins, it’s too busy with the Kaiju rampage. Monster rampages only truly work if you care about the people trapped within them. The human element is essential to a good Kaiju flick and without being attached to the human element you really lose something. In the original novel, Hudson’s paranormal home team have emotions and throughout the story they form a bond through their shared trauma. In this comic, they only give explanations and exposition.
The artwork in this comic is the one unassailable positive about the series. Matt Frank brings up the Giger inspired Nemesis to life splendidly. The comic script removes the blatant and direct references to Kaiju movies which were present in the novel. However, Frank hides a lot of subtle references in the background of his artwork. You’ll notice little details and notes like the fact that one of the military bases were formed in 1954, which was the year the original Gojira was released. He captures the transformation of General Gordon fantastically.
General Gordon is without a doubt the best character in this version of the tale. All of his sequences are kept and he actually has a few added character moments. Frank makes the General look truly terrifying and when you see him slowly trounce down the hallway, scrapping his claws… it really adds a sense of dread. Moments like these make him feel like Freddy Krueger as he begins to take pleasure in his depravity.
If you’re looking for a cool Kaiju artbook then this series is definitely worth picking up. It has some beautiful looking artwork that makes up for the truly barebones plot. Robinson creates an interesting world and it should not be written off if you’ve only experienced this version of the tale. I’d like to see Robinson craft a comic of his own creation and not an adaptation. Hopefully one day he gets that chance.
