The Nice House on the Lake is one issue away from wrapping everything up and I’m not entirely sure everyone will be left with the answers they’re expecting. Walter’s origins are still vague and his grand design remains somewhat of a mystery. While it’s not looking like answers will be served on a silver platter in the final issue, it does look like a some sort of finality will settle over matters. This is in no way indication of the comic having lost a step or having failed to live up to expectations. On the contrary, it has managed the anticipation well and it’s all thanks to the ability of creators James Tynion and Álvaro Martínez Bueno to push the narrative in different directions every issue.

Issue #11 is crucial to the landing of the big finale. In a sense, it’s the last chance the story has to line up its landing trajectory, to calibrate its descent into darkness as smoothly as possible. This certainly comes through here as Walter’s chosen see the rules of their existence in the Nice House absolutely shattered. It feels like a point of no return has been reached and that the remaining time we have in the world Tynion and Martínez Bueno have built is fated to be spent in death, betrayal, and collapse.

Without incurring in spoilers, it seems fair to say that not every single question posed in the book will be met with an answer. The true nature of Walter’s being remains vague, even with the amount of information revealed as to his hopes with the group of friends he roped together in the house. Some characters are dealing with returning memories while others are struggling with the decision to either safeguard Walter’s secrets or expose them.

It’s all leading to the group being put in a position to choose a side, to either perpetuate the lies Walter has used to manipulate them into accepting their place in the house or to break free from his influence and deny his living arrangements. It speaks to the book’s interests in pulling apart the dynamics of friendship and how people lock themselves in terrible situations because of them.

The house at the center of the story is metaphorically built on human connections that should’ve been reevaluated way before things got to the point where they’re at in the series. It questions our ability to sever ties that can compromise our mechanisms for self-preservation as to the amount of support we should offer people that hide behind friendship to further their dependence on others. It’s about how friendship can become a transaction built on often unrealistic expectations.

Walter’s generosity (i.e. complying with every material desire the group might have), for instance, puts pressure on the group to return the favor in kind. Being available and present at a moments notice becomes a “reasonable” given this, which can also be forced upon friends as coerced expressions of gratitude. Just how much of that is fair and how much of it is manipulation is where the comic finds its source of tension and horror, especially when you consider the friend in question seems to be an otherworldly being that hasn’t been entirely honest with anyone.

Tynion and Martínez Bueno remain as they have throughout the entire series, laser-focused on character work. Martínez Bueno’s character are all in a state of emotional distortion and his approach to illustrating that on a basis of body language and facial expressions makes every bit of existential anguish and pain come through. Tynion’s dialogue continues to dig deeper into the depths of each character’s motivations and identities. It has all led to the creation of a delicately unpredictable situation that’s sure to make the final issue one that won’t be easy to shake off.

It’s all down to a single final issue. The end is finally upon us. We might even get to know why every chapter starts with one character talking a bit about themselves surrounded by fire and ruin (the remnants of the Nice House perhaps). Now’s a good time to reread the series in full to prepare for what’s coming. Until then, enjoy the time you have left in the Nice House. It’s possible it won’t be there a few pages into issue #12.

Story: James Tynion IV Art: Álvaro Martínez Bueno
Color: Jordie Bellaire Letterer: Andworld Design
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Read and then reevaluate your friends.

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – comiXology/Kindle