The Nice House on the Lake Volume One
James Tynion IV, writer; Álvaro Martínez Bueno, artist; Jordie Bellaire, colorist
DC Black Label, 2022
James Tynion IV has really been on a horror comics roll recently, with Something Is Killing the Children and The Department of Truth. Two very different stories, and this is yet another kind of horror. But at first it doesn't look like horror at all. A group of people are invited for a week's vacation in a beautiful house on a secluded lake by Walter. They all know him, although not very well--and he has always seemed a little bit off.
Over the course of the story we see how all of them met Walter. The meetings all seem somewhat random, but the important thing is that a connection is made (the significance of that turns out to be central). When the guests arrive at the lake house they all have nicknames assigned by Walter (e.g. "The Artist" and "The Comedian"), along with strange stalker-like notes about when they were "chosen."
The strangeness ramps way up when they start getting messages from outside about apocalyptic events happening all over the world. It looks like the lake house is the only safe place left on the planet, and Walter tells them that they can't leave (we also see him doing some kind of visual dissolve, so he is clearly not human). The group does not take this well (some more than others), despite the magical delivery system that brings them whatever supplies they request. When the woman stranded there without her husband tries to commit suicide, they discover that they apparently cannot die.
Things are clearly nothing like normal. When the group finally really begins to explore the grounds beyond the house they meet up with another friend they did not realize was there. He thinks he knows a way to reverse what is happening and save the world. Just when things look hopeful Walter appears and orders them to forget (as he was shown doing earlier in their relationship). Which reveals more about what is happening while being a kind of reset at the same time. Anything can happen in the next installment.
There is very distinctive story telling going on here. Bueno and Bellaire's art is quite realistic when called for, but can be mysterious and horrific as well.
Replies