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.
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.