Nathan Never #18
Nathan Never #18 — 'L'abisso delle memorie' (The Abyss of Memories), November 1992 — stands as the definitive origin chapter of Italy's most important sci-fi comics series, the first of a two-part story (#18–19) that fully lifts the curtain on Nathan's pre-Agenzia Alfa life: his marriage to Laura Lorring, his affair with prosecutor Sara McBain, the psychopathic Ned Mace's murder of Laura and kidnapping of their daughter Ann, and the guilt-fueled trauma that explains every distinguishing trait of the character — including his signature white hair. At a time when Bonelli titles largely avoided morally compromised protagonists, writer Michele Medda gave Nathan an act of adultery at the very center of his origin, a choice repeatedly noted by Italian comics historians as a boundary-pushing step for the publisher. The issue also introduces key recurring figures — Dr. Leyla Duchateau, the sinister Professor Victor Hicks, and the asylum where Ann is cared for — who thread through the series' emotional core for years afterward.
In "L'abisso delle memorie," Nathan Never confronts haunting echoes of his past as he visits his late wife Laura’s grave and then his daughter Ann at the Synclair Asylum. There, Dr. Leyla Duchateau reveals disturbing sketches from Ann that eerily mirror the memories tied to the elusive super-criminal Ned Mace. Meanwhile, at the Cook Hospital, the enigmatic criminal John Smith is admitted under the care of Dr. Victor Hicks—uncovering a web of forgotten trauma that pulls Nathan deeper into a mystery he thought he’d left behind. Written by Michele Medda and illustrated by Nicola Mari, with a striking cover by Claudio Castellini, this 1992 issue from Sergio Bonelli Editore blends psychological tension with the series’ signature noir edge.
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Nathan Never was conceived by three Sardinian writers — Michele Medda, Antonio Serra, and Bepi Vigna — who had each initially proposed separate characters to Sergio Bonelli Editore before combining their ideas into a single cyberpunk-inflected sci-fi series that launched in June 1991, becoming Bonelli's first dedicated science-fiction title. Issue #18 arrived seventeen months into the run, when the series had established its futuristic milieu but had yet to systematically excavate its hero's past; Medda wrote the script with intercut flashback sequences designed to reveal, piece by piece, the catastrophe that made Nathan who he is. Interior art was entrusted to Nicola Mari, whose high-contrast black-and-white layouts — stylized silhouettes against stark backgrounds — gave the issue a visual register distinctly its own within the Bonelli catalogue, and the cover was provided by series covertinista Claudio Castellini.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'L'abisso delle memorie' ('The Abyss of Memories'); published November 1992 as Nathan Never #18 by Sergio Bonelli Editore; 94 pages.
- Script and story by Michele Medda; interior art by Nicola Mari; cover by Claudio Castellini.
- First full in-series revelation of Nathan Never's origin: his marriage to Laura Lorring, his affair with district attorney Sara McBain, and the psychopathic criminal Ned Mace's murder of Laura and abduction of their daughter Ann — the trauma that turned Nathan's hair white and sent him into a Shaolin monastery.
- First appearance of Dr. Leyla Duchateau (Ann's psychiatrist at the Synclair Asylum) and Professor Victor Hicks (director of Cook Hospital, conducting secret experiments on Ned Mace) as named, recurring characters.
- The adultery subplot — Nathan in bed with Sara McBain while Ned Mace murders his wife — was widely remarked upon as unusually morally complex for a Bonelli series of the early 1990s.
- Forms the first half of a two-part story completed in Nathan Never #19, 'L'undicesimo comandamento'; the pair of issues is consistently cited by reviewers and the series' own creative team as among the artistic peaks of the entire run.
- Reprinted four times: Oscar Bestsellers #703 (Mondadori, May 1996); Nathan Never Grande Ristampa #6 (Sergio Bonelli Editore, May 2010); Libri Nathan Never (cartonati) #1 (Sergio Bonelli Editore, November 2016); Nathan Never Edizione Cronologica #9 / Gazzetta dello Sport (November 2017).
- Nathan Never was Sergio Bonelli Editore's first dedicated science-fiction series; the character was created by Michele Medda, Antonio Serra, and Bepi Vigna and launched in June 1991, inspired by cyberpunk literature and cinema including Blade Runner.
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Reprinted in Nathan Never #16, Nathan Never #18
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