The Nice House on the Lake by @jamesthefourth, @alvaromartinezbueno_comic, & Jordie Bellaire, from @dcofficial, is a dystopian blend of cabin in the woods horror and end of the world science fiction.

When Walter brings his closest friends together for a weekend getaway at the most luxurious mountain retreat they could imagine, everyone took the opportunity to get away from their lives and have a break. What they couldn’t have been prepared for was the apocalyptic scenario they find themselves in when the world is ending around them, they’re basically prisoners in the house, and maybe Walter is to blame for all of it?

I am quickly becoming a fan of James Tynion IV and his particular brand of horror. Something is Killing the Children and The Woods have both been great reads, and while not full on horror, his WYND series has consistently been a favorite of mine. I’ve got The Department of Truth on Mt.TBR and it’s quickly moving up the stack. I’m not sure that I’ve experienced Álvaro Martinez Bueno’s art before, but it gave me Pepe Larraz-vibes, and I’m here for it. Jordie Bellaire’s colors are atmospheric and moody, fitting the tone of the book perfectly.

While this is a contained story between both volumes, there is room for more in this story and I’m hoping we’ll get to see more of these characters in the future.

#horror #graphicnovel #dccomics #dcblacklabel #jamestynioniv #alvaromartinezbueno #jordiebellaire #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #booklover #horrorbookstagram #bookreview #frommybookshelf #frommybookshelfblog ( )

...and, as I feared, the wrap up did not hold up to the opening's promise.

I compared the large, diverse, rich cast and intricate plotting to Alan Moore's Watchmen when talking about the first volume, and hoped that he could stick the landing better than Moore did.

Unfortunately, he fell into the same trap of having set up something so large, so earthshaking, that he had to come up with an explanation-heavy and over-complicated plot device to bring it to a (sort of) ending.

I'm not saying the ending was horrible, because it wasn't, and they were smart enough to roll an emotional subplot through it.

Unfortunately, with the cast so large, I felt like I didn't really get to fall in love with all of them enough. The casts' relationships with Walter were explored in depth and, strictly by association, with each other, to a point. But when it came time to really feel something for a couple of them, they were still too much removed to feel what needed to be felt for the story to slap me around like it should have.

And then there was the explanations of all the machinations behind the scenes. To be honest, I actually feel like I would have enjoyed this more if Tynion and company had actually left this part unexplained and let the readers create their own theories as to what was going on.

And, the very last line of the book? Yeah, to me, it felt cheap. It's the whole, "stay tuned, there's more to come" when we should have just been left with a "holy shit, what are they gonna do now?" ending.

Overall, like the ending to Watchmen, this one was only somewhat satisfying. ( )