It’s The Nice House On The Lake #1, from DC Comics. You know, the summer escape, the idyllic retreat with all the bells, whistles, horns of plenty, plenty of boating, great bug spray, not so many weasels.
This comic is a strongly constructed, well-framed invention from veteran story builder James Tynion IV. The front cover and subsequent variants give us some hints on what’s in the interior: skeletons in and out of the closet, a walk out of horror, a floor plan that plans to scare, a grand piano to intimidate, and tray ceilings that shapeshift.
Call the house inspector!
The plotline of this first issue is intense, with a lot of character information to unpack as you make yourself ‘at home’. Artist Alvaro Martinez Bueno, with Jordie Bellaire on colours, (AndWorld Design on letters) provides a unique borderless illustration style. No black panel borders, instead we freely float from panel to panel, accompanied by a ‘Paperback Cover Impressionism’ look. The colours fill in where the lines are missing or left out. Areas are not over rendered, they are instead suggested. We are getting the gist of the scene, the atmosphere. Sidebars of smartphone information is superimposed on the narrative, little bullets and nuggets of info are helpfully infused as we are swept along in the euphoria of our House On The Lake vacation.
This is a powerful book, densely packed, as I mentioned. It has the feeling of dread throughout, of something too good to be true. We wonder if the basement will flood if the roof is solid and all about the septic tank. But rest assured, this first story is going somewhere scary good. Please consider this purchasing this listing, for at this price the property won’t be available for long!!
DC Comics, Black Label, The Nice House On The Lake #1, $4.99 for 23 pages of content. 17+ rating.
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