REVIEW: Fall of Cthulhu: Nemesis #2
Release Date: 28 May 2009
Writer: Michael Alan Nelson
Artist: Todd Herman
Covers: Jeffrey Spokes, Chuck BB
Colours: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
The fight for Atlantis continues in this second issue. King Levin sees treachery in every shadow, every groveling subject. His brother, Hadron, sees a king weakened by paranoia and leading his people to ruin. Will this help the followers of The Crawling Chaos in their cause or will the Athenians swoop in and destroy the whole of Atlantis?
I’m going to get this out of the way first: I think this is a great cover. Wonderfully done. That face is just fantastic. Thought I’d point that out since BOOM! has a great stable of cover artists and I don’t usually mention it.
Beyond the eye candy, this story really ramped up this issue! Where the first issue was a bit slow, this one has plot points coming out at Ludicrous Speed. I mean, the political intrigue has gotten so thick, you can’t even trust the King anymore, let alone the rest of Atlantis or the King’s brother and advisor! Everyone is suspect, which I guess shouldn’t have surprised me since the story’s taking place during a big power struggle.
So, we start with Hadron finding the head priest to the Nyarlathotep cult taking root in Atlantis. Hadron has him dragged off to The Pit (said in a deep, dark, scary voice), then goes to update his brother on what’s what. This is when we realize that maybe Hadron really is interested in ruling Atlantis and that he may have weaseled Levin into a deal that could get Levin removed from being King. I can’t tell yet if this theory is right or if Hadron really is just concerned with getting rid of the Nyarlathotep cult and keeping Atlantis the way it is already. He seems pretty certain he needs to do whatever it takes to keep Atlantis thriving.
But then you have the advisor, and everyone knows he’s the first dude you suspect when treason’s in the air. Especially when he has to put up with physical abuse and then go back to being Levin’s bootlicker. Like I said, everyone seems shady in this issue and it makes for a great read.
