The nice house on the lake vol 1 by James Tynion IV

Illustrated by Álvaro Martínez Bueno, colored by Jordie Bellaire

​A group of loose associates find themselves in a large, extravagant house on a beautiful lake, seemingly without other people or houses around them. They all discover they know Walter - some grew up with him, some crossed paths with him only a few months ago - but he was always heavily invested in them, someone who was right there at the right time and maybe faded away since. Then, Walter appears in the house and explains his intentions. He reveals he is part of an alien race, and his people intend to destroy the Earth, but he was tasked with picking the best of humanity to be saved. They will all be safe from the coming apocalypse in this lake house, where they will also have all their needs provided for, but everyone else they know and love will be horrifically killed. And they’re supposed to be thankful. But not all of them can sit idly by and enjoy the bounty of their sanctuary. Some of them start exploring their idilic prison and discover what was probably meant to be hidden from them forever.

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This volume was pretty intense, especially with the Earth being destroyed so quickly in the first chapter. After the first one, each chapter focuses on a different person. It might helpful for readers to keep tabs somehow on who everyone is as they’re introduced in issue one with their titles, because the little extras, like transcripts of scenes we don’t see, refer to them as their titles instead of their names. Their symbols appear on the front cover and aren’t really explained until the sixth chapter. Aside from these things that make the plot a little hard to follow, this is a great thriller with some pretty big twists and turns. Tynion is also a master at crafting characters and making sure they are different people. The structure of each chapter is the same, but it doesn't feel like one narrative voice is speaking throughout the entire volume.

Bueno's illustration are colored beautifully by the skillful Bellaire, and there are several panels and pages full of gorgeous detail. There were many times where I paused to take in a full page of illustrations because there was so much to look at. The people are a little less detailed, especially Walter, which gives him an otherworldly presence on the page. ​

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Adult

Publisher: DC Comics, Black Label
Publication Date: Expected March 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781779514349 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: Adult, Comicbooks, Horror, Suspense, Friendship, DC Comics​