The Nice House on the Lake #9 – James Tynion IV, Writer; Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: As we enter the last arc of this brilliant Black Label maxiseries, Walter’s carefully created fishbowl starts to unravel. Every issue turns the focus on another member of the “invited”, with this issue centering on Arturo the acupuncturist. One of the more practical members of the crew and the one who is the least close to Walter, he’s an interesting POV character – and his art comes into play in a curious way towards the end of the issue. But he’s only one player who is starting to question the simulacrum they live in. Walter has mysteriously gone missing, no one remembers Norah, and one of the characters is getting odd messages on a wall – messages written in steam, the way your average kid used to do on the bus during winter. Those messages, of course, come from Norah – who is now part of Walter’s “bubble” and is slowly starting to get under the skin of the puppet-master.
The battle of wills between Norah and Walter is one of the most fascinating parts of this issue. Walter could be defined as the villain of this run – he seems to have had something to do with the apparent end of the world, and took these people into a bubble against their will. But at the same time, he seems to genuinely want to protect them and to recreate the friendship they used to have – even if he barely seems to understand how to be human. That makes him ripe for manipulation by Norah, as she manages to work her way close to the inner circle and discover the secrets of the lake house – and she’s not the only one. This issue is one of the more laid-back of the run so far, with few scare moments or shocking twists. But it’s all the more impressive that it’s never anything but completely compelling. I have a feeling the last three issues are going to be no-holds-barred all the way to the end.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
