The Nice House on the Lake #3 continues the impressive run for the series which delivers an amazing mystery, so solid tense moments, and lots of emotion.
Story: James Tynion IV Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: Andworld Design
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Written by: James Tynion IV Art by: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
Walter’s “rules” for their getaway strongly suggested the residents not leave the property lines of the House…but how far do they go? It’s not like Sam, the Reporter, to leave a question like that unanswered…but what he finds when he walks the perimeter of the lake might turn out to be the story of his lifetime-however much longer it lasts!
James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno try to tame the urgencies of the end of the world in The Nice House on the Lake #3 to look at a specific character and how everything affects just one person in a group that’s stuck together. While the tension’s still running on high, this character-centric issue is one that nonetheless helps deepen the mystery behind the apocalypse and the role Walter, the person responsible for the house on the lake, plays as one of its agents.
Issue #3 centers on Sam, a queer character that reveals Walter was the first person he came out to and how he felt a kind of unstable duty to please this friend that only appeared at certain moments throughout his life. As the group tries to create some kind of routine or distraction to deal with the situation at the house, Sam decides it’s too early to settle and accept the new normal. Instead, he goes out to explore the limits of the land surrounding the house.
This part of the story finds great success in holding the idea of post-apocalyptic life over the group’s collective thought. While some might be more inclined to try and find comfort in distraction, others will find there’s no hope of acceptance when so many questions are yet to be answered. Tynion and Martínez Bueno latch on to this dynamic to great effect to set up what will eventually lead to rifts within the group.
The Nice House on the Lake #3
Martínez Bueno finally has the opportunity to let loose with the overall weirdness found on the land surrounding the house, especially with the strange geometry of the sculptures lying around. As Sam explores further, we get to see strange things hiding beyond the house and they do a great job of turning an already terrifying situation into a more disturbing one. I can’t wait to see what other hidden horrors await in the coming issues, and how Martínez Bueno will bring them to life.
Tynion’s focus on Sam shows that each character in Nice House has a continent’s worth of story in them. Not only should we expect more of these single-character studies in the future, but they might also become the some of the best parts of the whole series. It’s getting harder and harder to wait for the next installment of The Nice House on the Lake and it’s looking like it has no intention of letting up on that.
Story: James Tynion IV, Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy and remember to bring your own snacks to the end of the world
Written by: James Tynion IV Art by: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
Walter’s “rules” for their getaway strongly suggested the residents not leave the property lines of the House…but how far do they go? It’s not like Sam, the Reporter, to leave a question like that unanswered…but what he finds when he walks the perimeter of the lake might turn out to be the story of his lifetime-however much longer it lasts!
BOOM! Studios has announced House of Slaughter, a brand new ongoing original series in the world of the Eisner Award-nominated Something is Killing the Children, written by co-creator James Tynion IV and co-writer Tate Brombal, and illustrated by co-creator Werther Dell‘Edera and artist Chris Shehan, colorist Miquel Muerto, and letterer AndWorld Design. Discover the inner workings of the mysterious House of Slaughter in this new horror series exploring the secret history of the Order that forged Erica Slaughter into the monster hunter she is today, available in October 2021.
You know Aaron Slaughter as Erica’s handler and rival. But before he donned the black mask, Aaron was a teenager training within the House of Slaughter. Surviving within the school is tough enough, but it gets even more complicated when Aaron falls for a mysterious boy destined to be his competition. . .
House of Slaughter #1features main cover art by series artists Dell’Edera and Shehan, as well as variant cover art by acclaimed illustrators Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Jenny Frison, and Mike Del Mundo.
Impressively, The Nice House on the Lake #2 is as good as the debut with an amazing focus on the characters and intensity of the situation.
Story: James Tynion IV Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: Andworld Design
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
The first issue of James Tynion and Álvaro Martínez Bueno’s The Nice House on the Lake set up an end of the world scenario with a huge cast and a mysterious host at the center of it, all of them weathering the apocalypse inside a well-stocked house. The people who were spared the final moments of human existence are all in shock come issue #2 of the series, and they’re in a mad scramble for answers.
Us readers can only be certain of one thing once the second part of the story has reached its final page: Tynion and Martínez Bueno are still on their way to give us one of the best new comic series of the year.
The Nice House on the Lake #2 puts its cast of characters through the wringer as they try to make some sense of how the world just decided to self-combust and melt almost everyone not on the house with them. Emotions run high and there’s a sense of disconnection among the guests. Reality as they knew it just stopped and anything that comes after the event is now going to be post-apocalyptic. Not an easy realization to come to.
Tynion and Martínez Bueno employ a few different techniques to the storytelling here to shake things up while also building the world their characters inhabit. For instance, the comic contains several pages that unravel as an official log of things said during certain moments immediately after the world seemingly ended. This presents the possibility some kind of secret group or organization is behind it all, perhaps torturing or experimenting with the people at the house for reasons unknown.
This is one of the series’ strong suits, guiding readers to make dark assumptions on what’s actually happening. In a sense, the horror on display in the comic is being driven by elements more commonly found in the Mystery genre. There’s a bit of a “whodunnit” at play here and it helps make the comic an even richer and more complex mystery box in the process.
Martínez Bueno’s art continues to impress in issue #2, presenting everything and everyone in a kind of haze that just deepens the horror being experienced by everyone in the house. It helps that Martínez Bueno also proves to have complete control over the characters’ body language. It’s theatrical, to a point, in terms of making the reader take everything into account to get a better sense of the story.
The Nice House on the Lake #2
The Nice House on the Lake is an intoxicating read, period. It’s hard to stop pouring over each panel, each line of dialogue trying to figure everything out. Issue #2 gives readers enough story to keep them hooked while also teasing so much more horror to come. The monthly wait is starting to get difficult, and I can only see it getting harder to hold out till the next chapter.
Story: James Tynion, Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Colors: Jordie Bellaire Publisher: DC Black Label Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy, read, read it again, come up with multiple theories, repeat
Written by: James Tynion IV Art by: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
After the life-changing events of the previous issue, the guests at the nice house on the lake must decide their next steps-but there’s not exactly perfect agreement about the situation. Who among them is ready to walk out the door? And who is content to simply…float?
Go into this comic with as little knowledge of it as possible. The Nice House on the Lake #1 is as good as everyone says.
Story: James Tynion IV Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: Andworld Design
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
James Tynion IV has been doing career-defining horror work as of late, with books like Something is Killing The Children, his self-published horror anthology Razorblades, and The Department of Truth standing as prime examples of what the idea of “new horror” should truly stand for. Among those books, though, it’s his most recent one, The Nice House on The Lake, that might end up being his most unsettling. It could even result in becoming his greatest work should the entire story capitalize on the dark promises made in its first issue.
Co-created with artist Álvaro Martínez Bueno, The Nice House on The Lake concerns itself with a group of eleven people who have been invited to a luxurious house by a mysterious figure called Walter that’s acquired their friendship and acquaintance over the years. It’s supposed to be a long weekend, but something will keep them in place for a long time.
Walter is obsessed with the end of the world. Not the why, necessarily, but the how. With that macabre interest leading the way, what transpires in the story’s first chapter is the culmination of Walter’s apocalyptic desires and the beginning of a terrifying new status quo that marks a point of no return for humanity. That is, except for the select few currently staying at the house.
There’s a substantial amount of story packed into this first issue. Not only do Tynion and Martínez Bueno set up the conditions through which the end of world becomes a reality, it introduces a large cast of characters all with their own distinct look and personality. There’s a sense of purpose to each character’s presence as well, as if they’re meant to play a special role in the proceedings.
Each character is presented via title card that includes their assigned role—be it The Writer or The Painter—and the specifics of their first encounters with Walter. The style in which this is presented reminded me of Dungeons & Dragons character creation cards, minus the stats. Eleven characters might feel like a lot, but the cards are quite helpful in keeping tabs on everyone and I suggest you keep the first issue handy while reading upcoming issues to stay on track with what everyone’s doing.
While there are more than enough clues as to where the story will go in future instalments, The Nice House on The Lake does seem to be settling in for an extended stay in the titular house. Martínez Bueno wastes not a single panel producing stunning images of the house and its surroundings. There’s an air of House on Haunted Hill (1959) about it and how it stands alone overlooking everything below it. Martínez Bueno imbues the structure with a heavy sense of dread that’s as inviting as it is ominous, excessive as it is threatening.
Fans of the exceptionally sinister horror movie The Invitation (2015) will find a lot to love here as well. Directed by Karyn Kusama, the movie follows a man who’s invited to a friendly get-together only to discover there’s a violent agenda shared among some of the guests. It’s one of the most disturbing movies in recent years and its isolated house of horrors setup shares certain similarities with Tynion and Martínez’s story. I highly recommend The Invitation, especially as a good companion piece to the comic in terms of how it manages to capture an acute sense of dread that’s also present in The Nice House on The Lake.
The Nice House on The Lake has arrived with the intent of reaching deep within our souls in search of that primal fear that entertains the end of the world. Surprises abound and new horror concepts push the comic into uncharted waters. The first issue alone carries enough fear to scare readers into following the entire series all while questioning just how they would react knowing the end of the world has finally left the realm of imagination and violently entered the confines of reality.
Writer: James Tynion IV Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: AndWorld Design Script: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy, watch The Invitation, and start prepping your doomsday stash
