Johnny Nemo

by Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins (illustrator), Steve Dillon (illustrator)

Un noir futuristico, una collezione di storie con protagonista Johnny Nemo, un ultra-violento, sboccato, irresistibile Investigatore Privato nella distopica Londra del 2921. Johnny Nemo: il sicario esistenzialista del futuro, un detective di strada che commercia in morte... e che offre soluzioni semplici (di solito a base di piombo...) a problemi complessi. Una satira provocativa ed esilarante creata dal genio trasgressivo e scatenato di Peter Milligan.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Humor

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

These comics originally appeared in DEADLINE magazine back in the late 80's. Johnny Nemo is a creation of Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon. He's a sardonic, satirical take on a Chandleresque tough-guy private eye, set in a bizarro, crazed-future world not unlike the lighter moments in JUDGE DREDD. There's great fun to be had here, even if the package itself is a bit shoddy (a thin reprint volume by some outfit called Cyberosia that double prints one page such that part of a story is missing).

If you like your heroes tough, violent, but also seriously funny and sardonic, check it out.

[Alasondro Alegré · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½

[Nate]

Tongue-in-cheek stories about an arrogant and sardonic P.I./hitman in futuristic London. Most of the stories are wacky – exploding nuns, a Bing Crosby worshiping cult, death-juice drugs – but also funny. One of Milligan’s better early comics.

[Anubhav · Rating 4 out of 5]

y'know how girls in pornos whelp out an excited high pitched "oh yeah" every second?
that was me reading this book.

[Carlo Gnutti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un fumetto super irriverente che raccoglie le avventure dell’omonimo protagonista, uno dei detective più bastardi della storia del fumetto -infame, ninfomane, spudoratamente attaccato ai soldi, indifferente alla vita umana ecc…-, che si destreggia, a bordo della sua rolls royce rosa volante e armata di tutto punto, in un mondo grottesco fatto di suore esplosive, principesse ninfomani (ma e’ tutto una maschera: bel ribaltamento della classica femme fatale), skinheads e addirittura Gesù Cristo (a mio avviso il numero più divertente e irriverente).
Due pagine dell’ultima storia sono disegnate da Jock

[Highland G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Unapologetic dark satire at it’s grittiest.
This felt like a precursor to something like transmetropoliton and left me wanting more.
The only downside was that the b/w issues felt harder to read/follow than the coloured ones.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This remastered collection of 80s/90s sci-fi comic Johnny Nemo is a LOT of fun. Violent, explicit and overflowing with creativity, I only wish there was more of this to enjoy.

[Alex Sarll]

Down these mean streets a man must go who's the meanest bastard of them all. On one level, the saga of Johnny Nemo works as sheer simple thrill-power (it's from Strange Days not 2000AD, but emphatically a child of the same blackly comic vision of the future as the present replayed with bigger guns). Johnny has an improbable coat and excellent hair, and shoots and shags his way around a decadent, ultra-capitalist future London all too close to the real thing. But he also has just enough in the way of existential doubt to justify the tagline, and provide a little leaven. After all, wouldn't L'Etranger have been much more fun if Meursault had engaged in a few more why-not killings, assisted by outlandish hardware and a robot flying car?

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun collection of stories featuring Johnny Nemo futuristic detective/hit man who operates in a weird noir/surreal future full of flying cars, robots and aliens.
mixes genres with just the right mix of humor and violence and tweaking of the cliches of both genres.

While a street-wise PI, Johnny tends to deal with things by shooting something or punching them. He also always gets the girl, as well as having a hot robot secretary.
Like Bladerunner mixed with 80's new wave and Hanna-Barbara cartoons.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, early Peter Milligan work. Would love to see him return to this character some day.

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting Character, would have like more of Johnny Nemo and his world. Sad really it got over in three issues. Nemo is a crazy detective/manic in a crazy drugged up world.

[Sara Habein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really for me, but there were a few funny bits, especially the bizarro Bing Crosby story.

[Charlie Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but you kind of need a thorough shower afterwards.