Nowhere Men’s first arc ended more than two years ago, and it went out with a bang. Now, Eric Stephenson’s series returns with Dave Taylor and Emi Lenox on art.

Nowhere Men #7 is a comic about a world where scientists have the pop cultural impact of rock stars like The Beatles, but readers don’t need a science background to enjoy the comic. The newest issue is a direct continuation of the first arc, and introduces a few new characters, including Emerson Strange’s daughter, Monica, who was only mentioned once in the first issue. The story also jumps directly into the fallout of the previous issue, and clarifies some of the points that were lost in the chaos of Ellis, Strange, and the station scientists’ escape from the Arctic lab.

This is also a welcome refresher for the series because of the two-year gap between arcs one and two. Image’s website advertises that Nowhere Men will be released monthly through May 2016–a good thing, because nothing seems to have suffered for the break, and the story is more compelling than ever. Even the exposition necessary to begin the new plot lines is interesting, because it asks, but also answers and provides hints about other characters. Readers get to delve a little more into who Ellis and Strange are outside of their science careers, and may also soon find out what happened to the elusive Thomas Walker. 

The writing didn’t lose momentum during this time, and Dave Taylor, Emi Lenox, and Jordie Bellaire fill Nate Bellegarde’s shoes well. (The artist change occurred after Nate Bellegarde took time to deal with personal issues, which he wrote about here. We at Graphic Policy wish him all the best.) The art styles are comparable, most notable in their use of clean lines and expressive faces.

Overall, Nowhere Men #7 is a good continuation of the previous story and a strong beginning to the new one.

Story: Eric Stephenson Art: Dave Taylor, Emi Lenox
Story: 8.9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Read

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review