After ten issues, long-lasting ramifications take place in The Nice House by the Sea. Don’t get me wrong, writer James Tynion IV and artist Álvaro Martínez Bueno’s slow-burn storytelling sets a mood and tone that’s unmistakable. The vibe is dark and brooding. The problem is, with the cold open always detailing each character’s parasocial relationship to the alien Walter from some doomsday future, and then piling on more slow plot progression in the main story, every issue ends up packing little punch, especially in this follow-up series.
That’s not the case with The Nice House by the Sea #10.
The proverbial “other shoe” finally drops in a few different ways, including major deaths, and Walter’s transformation as a dog finally gets called out. It makes this issue feel important as the final act kicks into gear, and where we go from here is up in the air.
The Nice House by the Sea #10 opens with Arturo (at least I think it’s him, hard to remember all these names, and often their names don’t come up in dialogue), who is bitter at Walter, but not for the reason you’d think. He admits he had less of a connection to Walter than most, and in the early flashback, we learn why. At this point, it’s not clear if this detail matters or if Tynion is just working through all the characters to give us their Walter story.
Still waiting on why all these characters are separated in this doomsday future.
Credit: DC Comics
From there, we’re dropped into a rather tempestuous situation. Most of the Sea folks are frozen, and the lake house world is damaged. Reginald is now capable of working the controls of these worlds and heads to fix things as best he can. Oliver, Walter’s mega-crush, stays behind along with Walter in dog form.
The main plot focuses on Max, the other alien, who is seriously pissed off that his sea people invaded the lakeside with the intent to kill the lake people. Trusting Norah and her intelligence, he gives her the chance to make a case to live or die, since there are two writers between the two worlds. At first, it seems Max is just playing a game, but after a pop of the head and blood everywhere, it’s clear Max is deadly serious.
The scenes with Max are drawn with great tension and horror. Max’s shapeshifting face takes on horrific, melted looks, making her appear untethered and monstrous. Bueno draws these acts of violence with literal gusts blowing back characters’ hair when the bodies explode into gore and puffs of blood. Not only are characters swept off the board, but the ramifications of what may happen to any character is up in the air.
Intercut with these scenes is a flashback to Oliver, who waited outside a building at Sarah Lawrence College for Walter. Viewed via security camera footage and timestamps, with audio recording, the passage of time is articulated well, with the footage twisting and breaking when Walter eventually shows up. It’s a creative way to add weirdness to a normally quiet and simple scene. These cutaways build well toward Oliver confronting Walter in the present, leading to a cliffhanger that should finally bring Walter back into the narrative.
The Nice House by the Sea #10 delivers the payoff readers have been waiting for. After months of careful setup, James Tynion IV finally unleashes the chaos lurking beneath the series’ quiet surface. Characters die, alliances fracture, and the threat facing everyone becomes impossible to ignore. Combined with Álvaro Martínez Bueno’s haunting artwork and a cliffhanger that places Walter back at the center of the story, this issue injects fresh momentum into the series at exactly the right moment. If the final act can maintain this level of intensity, The Nice House by the Sea may stick the landing in spectacular fashion.
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