The Nice House By The Sea #1 – James Tynion IV, Writer; Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Black Label has led to a resurgence in creator-owned books at DC, with none getting more acclaim and success than James Tynion IV’s The Nice House on the Lake, a fascinating thriller about the people who survived the end of the world due to the intervention of an old friend – who turned out to be a manipulative alien intelligence who trapped them in a strange house where they gained control over their environment and maybe the world itself. Faced with the end of everything they knew and the beginning of eternity, many of them went mad and the experiment devolved in horrific fashion. Which raises the question – what if it went horribly right instead? This sequel, featuring an all-new cast, reveals a second house that took a very different route. Instead of it being a random selection of people who the “host” knew, it was some of the most accomplished people around the world. And this time, they all knew what was happening.
We pick up with this house not at the beginning, but two years into the grand experiment, when everyone has adapted to the new way of life – and begun to toy with what it means to be beyond human lifespan. This house is mostly composed of older people, with the youngest being 33 and the oldest being in his 80s – and few of them look like what they’re supposed to anymore. A 74-year-old author has made himself into a wizened bodybuilder, an 82-year-old is now a handsome 20-something lounge lizard, and a 56-year-old geneticist is reliving her 20s. Amid all this, a Priest starts to question if they’re all losing what makes them human, two men squabble over what the weather should be, and the master of ceremonies lurks in the background. It all feels a little like a pantheon of Gods in their own private Olympus, and it all comes together into an eerie, fascinating sequel to one of the best books DC has put out in years. And we’re just getting started.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
