Foley sound effects artist Buzz Moran accompanies a live performance of THE INTERGALACTIC NEMESIS, Book One of which invades the Count Basie on January 28. (Click to enlarge)

Described as a “live action graphic novel,” Nemesis is a theatrical experience that traces its alien DNA to Flash Gordon comic strips, Victorian “magic lantern” shows — and the lost art of the radio play, under which form the project took shape among a group of friends in Austin, Texas more than a dozen years ago.

As conceptualized by co-writer, producer and director Jason Neulander, Book One of the story (subtitled Target Earth) takes place in the pulp-magazine world of the 1930s, where an intrepid newspaper reporter — remember those? — by the name of Molly Sloan joins her assistant Timmy in a battle against the Zygon sludge monster invasion force. As detailed in the show, our heroes wage an epic but lonely fight that places them in encounters with an enigmatic hypnotist and a gallant, time-traveling librarian — bringing them from Earthly ports of call to the Robot Planet and Imperial Zygon itself.

Through constant workshopping and fine-tuning, the slambang sci-fi story expanded into a serial stage presentation. With the addition of a companion book featuring sequential art by Tim Doyle, Nemesis mutated into a crowd-pleasing production that boasts over 1,200 projected illustrations, an original score by acclaimed composer Graham Reynolds, TWO touring units of actors, musicians and Foley sound effects artists — and a couple of sequels waiting in the wings.