DC Reacts To Mark Millar’s ‘Nemesis’ Project At Marvel

It looks like Marvel's March "Nemesis" debut is between solicitation covers, clearing out a previous illustration of a white-cowled character fond of liquidy red makeup. According to BleedingCool it's because Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Batman-meets-Joker-like creation was a little too Batman-meets-Joker-like for DC Comics, who reportedly contacted the involved parties about the matter legal-style.

Thanks to "Wanted" and the upcoming "Kick-Ass," "Nemesis" has basically come out of the gate as a potentially huge, pulsing multimedia property before so much as a full issue hits the stands, which likely factored into DC's decision to make themselves clear sooner rather than later.

Part of me wonders why this didn't happen even sooner, while the other part of me assumed Marvel and Millar knew what might happen and were already prepared for it. I'm no lawyer, but when a creator bills his project as Batman-gone-Joker in a major interview, either assumption seems prudent.

Nothing too serious seems to have shaken down thus far, but as the financial stakes continue to rise, it's likely the project could potentially continue walking a thinner and thinner line between homage and, well, the kind of homage that is slightly more than homage. Is that vague enough for everyone? Good.