With a brand-new cast and the same old award-winning creative team, DC Comics’ horror hit The Nice House on the Lake returns for a second cycle — which comes with a tantalizing name change. Storytellers James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno reunite for The Nice House by the Sea, launching July 2024 from DC Black Label.
Ahead of July solicitations, DC Comics has announced the long-awaited return of the publisher’s hit horror series The Nice House on the Lake. Re-dubbed The Nice House by the Sea, the first issue by Tynion and Martínez Bueno heralds the arrival of a new, crueler cast of characters along with a surprise location change.
THE NICE HOUSE BY THE SEA #1 (2024) | |
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Release Date: | July 24th, 2024 |
Writers: | James Tynion IV |
Artists: | Álvaro Martínez Bueno |
Cover Artist: | Álvaro Martínez Bueno |
Variant Covers: | Nick Robles, Hayden Sherman, Dani |
No one who was invited to the House by the Sea knew Max—but she knew each and every one of them. Masters of their fields, titans of industry and knowledge, they all represented the best and brightest of humanity. The cast of DC’s The Nice House by the Sea, a second 12-issue comic book season launching on Wednesday July 24 by acclaimed The Nice House on the Lake creators James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire and Andworld Design, includes the Doctor, the Writer, the Historian, the Actor, the Artist, the Priest, the Scientist, the Singer, the Politician, and the Mathematician. This time, they’re all strangers. And they’re at the House by the Sea by choice. | |
The second cycle of Nice House revisits the original series’ apocalyptic concept with a twist that’s sure to keep even long-time readers hooked. Without the veneer of friendship, anything is possible for the inhabitants of this new “House by the Sea.”
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Tynion and Martínez Bueno Return to DC Black Label for The Nice House by the Sea
With Colors by Jordie Bellaire and Lettering by Andworld Design
The original Nice House on the Lake series follows a group of friends who are gathered for a getaway by their long-time pal, Walter — who turns out to be a shapeshifting alien bent on ending the world, as revealed in the shocking end to the first issue as the group watches the world go up in flames over social media. These sociologically-minded and world-ending aliens hoped to preserve the best of humanity in small pods — the titular “Nice Houses” — but Walter twists the experiment by becoming too attached to the humans he had come to love and “save.”
The second cycle of Nice House presents a similar scenario, but preserves the aliens’ original intentions by offering a cast of strangers who are truly the best in their fields. As Tynion notes:
“The people in this house do not like each other. They don’t want to spend time with each other. There have been some weak bonds that have formed over time, but none of them are particularly affectionate toward each other. This is a house of strangers and tension much more than a house of friendship, and we’re going to see the way that guilt, boredom, and loneliness has twisted each of them.”
The first Nice House cycle succeeded by blending psychological horror with the more sensational imagery of apocalyptic and body horror, and the new cycle appears to be preserving and even enhancing that formula. Seeing as the conclusion of The Nice House on the Lake #12 teased another arc, it’s thrilling but not surprising to see the return of Tynion and Martínez Bueno’s Black Label hit, especially as it continues to rake in accolades even after the first cycle’s conclusion.
DC’s Nice House “Franchise” Is the Best Horror Series in Recent Memory
DC’s Black Label Imprint Continues to Impress Readers and Critics
Horror comics have been experiencing a comeback in recent years, thanks in no small part to James Tynion IV’s slew of creator-owned horror comics, from the smash hit Something Is Killing the Children with Werther Dell’Edera to the brutal W0rldtr33 with Fernando Blanco. Even among the numerous other horror comics on the stands, Nice House stands out as the best of the best, thanks in no small part to Martínez Bueno’s unsettlingly beautiful landscapes and characters. Fans don’t have long to wait until this horrific creative team reunites for The Nice House by the Sea #1, which is available July 24th, 2024 from DC Comics.
