"The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1" by James Tynion IV is a gripping and suspenseful graphic novel that dives into the depths of psychological horror and the complexities of human relationships. Tynion's storytelling mastery shines as he crafts a tale of mystery, survival, and the eerie unknown. The graphic novel's captivating artwork and chilling plot create an immersive reading experience that captivates fans of comics and graphic novels. Tynion skillfully navigates the emotions of fear, paranoia, and the unraveling of reality, adding depth to the narrative. "The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1" is a haunting exploration of the darkness that can lurk beneath seemingly idyllic surfaces, leaving readers with a sense of unease and anticipation for the unfolding twists and turns of this unsettling tale.

James Tynion IV is an author I am always waiting with anticipation for news of new books authored by. I love the premise of this book and the twist was totally unexpected. Strong sense of place created with this sprawling landscape setting. Looking forward to the next volume.

I'll save any condemnation until I read the 2nd half of this series and see if Tynion can stick the landing. It's an end of the world series about 10 people who are all friends of Walter. They are headed to a remote house in Wisconsin for a week when they start seeing all kinds of crazy stuff and are told they can't leave. It's a strong first issue. Subsequent issues meander and I realize how shallow all these people are, to the point where I wish they'd all start dying. But this is really more sci-fi than horror and it moves at a snail's pace. Part of it is the numerous pages of email threads and notes. I like my comics to be filled with 100% art and pictures. The text just bogs the story down without adding anything to it.

Alvaro Martinez's pencils are nice. There are too many two page spreads with poor layouts that need arrows to tell you what panel to read next but otherwise they are fine. We'll see if this team can make me care more about what happens in volume 2 because large portions of volume 1 were a slog.

I love a good spooky story, especially when I’m not in danger of any jump scares! The Nice House on the Lake was a chilling graphic novel. I love when spooky stories are told well and The Nice House on the Lake was amazing. The art was dark and compelling. Loved it and can’t wait for the next volume!

A wonderfully chilling graphic novel; very present in our time (which might date it in a few years but works now) and gives very good Christie-esque mystery vibes.

Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter—well, they know him a little, anyway. Some met him in childhood; some met him months ago. And Walter’s always been a little…off. But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter’s invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake. It’s beautiful, it’s opulent, it’s private—so a week of putting up with Walter’s weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime? Why not?

DC has another hit and James Tynion seems to have a formula lately that just works. Story after story by Tynion easily gain steam and can keep going for a while. The Nice House on the Lake is another that will capture its audience and keep them waiting for what happens next. Although dark, the premise and structure of the story were both interesting and seeing how it unravels should keep readers pretty interested with all the different storylines that could open up. 4 stars

Thanks to DC Entertainment and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc. This is very much the first volume in what will become another cornerstone series of the James Tynion IV mythos. I am looking forward to reading more in the future as the characters are strong.

I read this book through a courtesy copy given at an event, since I had download issues. As always, Tynion is superb, he's writing is imaginative and inventing, giving the reader a perfect thrill. Wonderfully written and entertaining. The unique situations surrounding the house are out there. I suggest this if you're looking for an original spin on the cabin in the woods horror flicks and books.

An odd guy named Walter invites a bunch of friends to a weekend getaway at the titular nice house on a lake, and the group gets into more than they bargained for. Turns out apocalyptic doom starts happening as soon as everyone arrives, and now they're the only humans left. Walter chose his remnants carefully, and now they're stuck in this admittedly really nice place for who knows how long, maybe forever. Tensions rise as everyone tries to not only figure out what's but going, but how to deal with it as well. What will they discover as they explore the area they're trapped in, and push the limits of what is possible in their new world? Why were they the ones chosen, and what, if anything, can they do?
I liked this one a lot. The tension is taut and controlled, and gets dished out nicely. We get to know the characters through flashbacks and present day interactions, and they're pretty well fleshed out; not necessarily likeable people all the time, but a good group of interesting characters. I enjoyed the mystery of everything, all the weird little clues, the different reactions the characters had to the situation, and how they dealt with it, mentally and physically. I look forward to seeing where this goes, what the results of Walter's experiment will be, and the why of it all. Good stuff.

#TheNiceHouseontheLakeVol1 #NetGalley

Super dark. Not my cup of tea, but again--my students will enjoy the darkness in the over book. I'm unsure about purchasing volume 2 yet.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about this. I mean, I enjoyed it, but it ends so smack-dab in the middle of things really picking up that I felt a little jarred by the ending of this first volume. I definitely want to continue the series and I'm incredibly intrigued by the premise, and I need to know more about Walter and what is actually happening outside of the lake house/property.

All of the characters are a little hard to keep apart from one another, which is the main reason I'm only giving this 4 stars: I think a cast of characters this large doesn't work well in a graphic novel unless the art style lends well to telling everyone apart, and that isn't the case here. (They're also mostly obnoxious and fairly unlikable people, which is something I weirdly enjoy in stories, but if you don't, YMMV on the overall storytelling.)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

James Tynion IV does it again with a dark and eerie read. Follow the characters on this mysterious journey as they figure out why they were invited to a cabin specifically designed for their group. I really enjoyed learning more about each of the characters and their relationship to Walter. There were times that It was confusing with having so many characters and I feel like not all of them got a decent amount of page time to learn more about them. I also enjoyed the atmosphere created by the secluded house and the impending doom that Walter informs the group on throughout the novel. As an avid reader of James Tynion IV's non-superhero works, he and his team have done yet another amazing job at creating a memorable and gritty graphic novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story: a group of friends and acquaintances to the mysterious Walter are invited to an enchanting lake house after a year of pandemic-fueled chaos. Following a strange itinerary filled with odd symbols representing each guest seems a harmless enough exchange for a week of relaxation, right?
Thoughts: This is a slow burn horror/sci-fi. I was expecting a similar pace as the author’s previous work, Something is Killing the Children, but this definitely requires more patience. Although it deals with horrific concepts, I wouldn’t consider this a “scary” horror story. It’s an interesting concept with plenty of room for a sequel, but I felt it was often confusing and meandering. Hardcore
sci-fi readers may be the best target audience. I will probably read the sequel, but it’s not at the top of my list.
Read this if you: enjoy slow burn horror or thrillers, complex characterization, or sci-fi

"The Nice House on the Lake Vol. 1" is a disturbing apocalyptic tale that is both horrifying and fascinating. The art and story are well developed and work together to immerse readers in the world of the tale. There is much to love here for horror fans, and James Tynion IV continues to deliver as expected after his previous work. Highly recommended where horror comics circulate.

The Nice House on the Lake is a thriller/suspense comic. I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Possible Spoilers:

I liked the overall apocalyptic setting where most 30-year-olds get trapped together in a house/property. However, following the characters around the house and completing mundane tasks while the world burned was a bit boring. I enjoyed how the characters found out about the catastrophes happening in the world but found some inconsistencies; I could be wrong, but there were a bunch of status updates from people saying they were not in pain, even though the skin was peeling off. Also, the areas affected had no communications coming out, so that, to me, was off. I will have to reread it when it comes out, some of the fonts looked a little blurry to me, so there is a good chance I misread some details. I also found the time jumps a little jarring. Finally, the art style was great!
Overall I recommend this to any comic lover who likes horror/suspense/mystery.

Excellent! My favorite kind of apocalyptic stories are the ones where the backstory and the character arcs are just as interesting as the apocalypse itself, and this absolutely delivers on that front. I have two small complaints: the dark tones make it hard to note which character is which for a while and also I wish vol. 1 ended with something a little more concrete. Other than that, it’s near-flawless in my book. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

“The Nice House on the Lake” is everything I wanted in a horror graphic novel. The focus isn’t on some terrible event or gore and shock value, but on a diverse cast of individuals (with a great spectrum of gender identities!) and how they are grappling with the situation that they are in. I can’t wait to handsell this to people so they can also discover this immersive, gripping story that is doing things no other comic is doing.

In the present time (there are vague references to covid: masking, taking temperatures) a man who has friends from varying times in his life invites a group on them to stay together on a Lake House. Many of these friends have strange stories of their interactions with him, but all of them feel as though he is a good friend, the kind you can always rely on.

But he's still a little bit odd. Why throughout their friendships has he kept asking some friends how they think the world is going to end?

Well when they are all together for the week, they find out that he is more than just a little strange and that this is not just a social visit. But with the end of the world happening outside of this nice little house on the lake... what can they do with this paradise, and is there anything they can do to stop the apocalypse?

After thinking I had lost access to this book (didn't download my arc in time) I recently found it on my ipad so I'm here with a review!

The Nice House on the Lake is a short horror graphic novel series about this group of "friends" who are brought together to live in this nice house on a lake by a mutual friend they all share. After getting there he tells them the rest of the world is gone and some weird things start happening .

I was really excited to try this horror/scifi graphic novel. I saw the art was amazing and was so excited to get super creeped out. Unfortunately I was let down in almost all areas.

The story was boring and introduced its characters back to back, leaving no time for any of them to develop beyond their title in this house. Along with the fast paced nature, the story jumps in time leaving me with a feeling of loss and confusion. Like I said I was drawn in by the art, but the page to page style wasn't my personal favorite and left it feeling like it had no personality. The coloring and line art were things I could find in any other graphic novel, and did not lead to a better understanding of the story. Along with that there were pages of text, which took too long to read for a graphic novel.

The one good thing I can say about this graphic novel is the one shot pages were phenomenal!

Thanks to Netgalley and DC comics for giving me a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review!

Comic writer James Tynion IV first came up on my radar through an 8 page back up for Scott Snyder’s Batman run. The story was a series of characterful vignettes connecting the extended Bat-family (Robin, Batgirl, etc.) by showing the moment Batman inspired them to be a better person in some way but long before they became actual superheroes. It was effective and inspiring, and all done in 8 pages. I knew immediately either a) this is a skilled writer, or b) he got very lucky, as writers tend to do at least once, and would never do work of this quality again.

My first experience with Tynion’s longer work is The Nice House on the Lake, not his currently more popular Something is Killing the Children, but guess what? Tynion isn’t lucky, he’s just good.

The fatiguing effects of the now overused decompressed comics storytelling, where a single conversation can be a full 20+ page issue, are not here. The same efficiency of story as with the Batman back up is present in The Nice House on the Lake, though this is not a superhero joint. This is—I think it is best described as sci-fi horror mystery.

To give you a better idea of what this whole thing is, the plot: a loosely connected group who all share one friend in common, Walter, get invited by Walter to a vacation week at a lake house. As everyone is chowing down and swimming on the first night, social media is suddenly flooded with news of mass death across the country. Less invasion, it's closer to extinction. It’s similar to a nuke attack, but stranger, leaving buildings intact but filling human beings with an intense burning feeling until their skin falls off. The skies glow cloudy and red. Walter reveals he is part of the attack and that he invited the friends he made over the years so that they would be saved in the part prison, part paradise lake house.

This is only the first issue's worth of plot, and the mysteries only expand outward even as potential answers appear. What is Walter? What and why did all of humanity die? Why did he save them? What are the mysterious statues, like avant-grade art mixed with Buddhist temple sculptures, decorating the lake house? Why is there a stash of weapons inside the house? To find out, you will have to give it a shot yourself—the joy of discovery is strong in the first six issues of the story.

But comics are not just written into being, they are drawn, and Tynion is well-paired here with Alvaro Martinez Bueno. I have seen his past work on Batman Eternal, where he was just one of many artists, and while I don’t necessarily recall those he has a fluid take here that makes scenes flow. Hard to say without seeing a script how much of this is dictated by it, but this is a comic where each panel size and style is effective and considered as a whole. The writing alone wouldn’t carry in the hands of a bad artist. Characters are distinct, with recognizable profiles, too, which is important in this type of story: we might take a few issues to remember names and exact relations with 12-13 key characters all dropped in issue #1 but we can recognize them when they pop in and out.

Special props must be given to the covers, also by Bueno. They have a presentation like the viewer is there with a phone or low grade DSLR and the flash on, capturing a different one of our protagonists in a normal scene with a dark twist. E.g., the first issue has a girl swimming in the lake but it’s full of skeletons. They all nicely capture the pleasant paradise of the setting with the offness that makes this horror. The voyeuristic nature of the covers also makes me wonder if they are all foreshadowing.

To say more would be to ruin the potential for new readers to discover The Nice House on the Lake, but for lovers of anything from character drama, horror, or unraveling a mystery that already has some wild twists take the trip. The commitment is just 12 issues for a complete story - due to be wrapped up August 2022 - and collected across only two trade paperbacks. It’ll just be some fun in the sun, I promise.

Review copy provided by the publisher.