The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1

I think Lost has burned me so deeply that any mystery that I start just makes me instinctively think "is this another Lost?". When I started this book that's the first gut feeling I got. All the characters, with names and codenames, also made it hard to follow. But as I kept reading, and reached this middle point, I can say I am hooked. The characters are interesting, and I think I can sort of follow who is who (this is something that happens more to me in written mediums instead of TV/film). The mystery is there, but I think what really hooks me is the characters and their relationships to Walter. At this point, I just want to know more about Walter. Not what he is, but who he is.

Millennial Lost, a genre savvy take on the supernatural thriller that is a solid opener but it's never the start of these things that seem to matter. The art is less scrappy than TDoT but is still quite dreamy. I'm a bit confused how a dozen 30somethings have no children between them, but I imagine that be explained away at some point. I realised that Walter has a carnival mirror Christ thing going on: sent to walk among mortal men, picked his disciples, prepared a place for them, but so far he hasn't played the resurrection card. An interesting start that deserves the buzz but Tynion now has several complicated balls in the air and sticking the landing on these things is not an easy endeavour.

Unique, creepy, and absolutely riveting, plus the art's phenomenal. This is a great time for horror as a genre and this book makes the most of it.

How do you think the world will end?

The first issue gives the impression that this might be ye olde horror story with its cliche "this is how it all started" intro and a massive exposition dump to introduce the large amount of characters, but man did this turn out to be GOOD.

The story constantly subverts expectations, and the art is fantastic. It switches from a scribbly art style to a highly detailed painted art style in more intense scenes. It's just really unsettling and well executed.

I can't say much about the story without spoiling anything, and this graphic novel is best experienced going in blind, so if you're interested you should definitely just go buy this volume. Though the writing isn't perfect, it's definitely one of the most entertaining reads this year.