The Nice House on the Lake, the hit DC Black Label series from writer James Tynion IV, artist Álvaro Martínez Bueno, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer AndWorld Design, is making its long-awaited return. The Nice House by the Sea will pick up where the previous title left off, introducing a new cast of characters and exploring another property supernaturally-protected from the horrors of a post-apocalyptic world. The new twelve-issue series is set to launch in July.
Here’s how DC describes The Nice House by the Sea:
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 […] 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.
When Max whispered to each of them the truth of what they deserved—to be saved from disaster, to carry on the flame of civilization in a paradise built just for them—they all leaped at the chance. Why not? Why shouldn’t they be the ones to live forever? Isn’t it their destiny to survive the culling of the lesser herd? Wouldn’t being named the future of humanity be…nice?
The Nice House on the Lake debuted in 2021, and was an immediate hit, with sellouts and reprints for multiple issues of the series. The series introduced a group of twelve people brought together by a mutual friend, Walter, to the titular house on the lake, not knowing that the reason for the invite was so that they would survive the apocalypse. Or that Walter was not of this Earth. Chaos and horror ensued. The series won numerous awards, including the Eisner for Best New Series in 2022.
In a statement announcing The Nice House by the Sea, Tynion IV expounded on the characters in the new series, while Martínez Bueno expressed enthusiasm at reuniting with the all-star creative team:
“The people in this house do not like each other,” shared Tynion. “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.”
“Unlike our lake house, everyone in The Nice House By The Sea accepted the deaths of all their friends, family, and loved ones,” continued Tynion. “They accepted the eradication of the human race and their selection as the last humans that will ever exist. It’s a truth some of them think they can live with, but the way they are living with it is by never, ever looking at it.”
“I’m working with one of the best creative teams in comics right now,” added Martínez Bueno. “We’re doubling the stakes we placed three years ago and we’re pushing The Nice House on the Lake in new directions while holding together the core of what makes the project so exciting. The challenge of creating the new cast, the new locations, and reimagining the entire iconography of the series for The Nice House by the Sea has been the most exciting of my career so far.”
The Nice House by the Sea #1 (of 12) will sport covers by Martínez Bueno (main), Nick Robles (open-to-order variant), Hayden Sherman (open-to-order variant), and Dani (1:25 variant). The issue will arrive in stores and digitally on Wednesday, July 24th.
