Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The three commands read like a school rule book, and that is the joke: Mills made his fascist inquisitor sound like a prefect. The slogan stands for the bullying, thought-policing side of any authority, and 2000 AD readers have used it as a wry warning ever since. Behave is the sting in the tail, a small word for a regime that burns people.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for 2000 ADShow the scene
Torquemada is the villain of Pat Mills's Nemesis the Warlock, which began in 2000 AD Prog 167 in July 1980 with Kevin O'Neill's art. He debuts as the chief of the Tube Police in the story "Terror Tube," hunting the fugitive Nemesis through a travel-tube system on the planet Termight, which turns out to be a far-future Earth. Torquemada is later promoted to Grand Master, a hooded fanatic modelled on the Spanish Inquisition who leads a genocidal crusade against aliens, and the line is his motto.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: Nemesis the Warlockinfobox, publication history and characters sectionsReference checked
Context reviewed
