The Nice House by the Sea Vol. 1

The Nice House by the Sea #1-6

by James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno (Illustrator), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist)

Max has hand-picked her invitees. They're all masters of their fields, titans of their industries -- humanity's best and brightest. Who better to carry on the torch of civilization after the world ends?

From the award-winning team that brought you The Nice House on the Lake comes a chilling continuation of the apocalyptic terror! James Tynion IV (Batman, Detective Comics) and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (Detective Comics, Justice League Dark) reunite to continue their award-winning series with new characters, new threats, and a new perfectly nice house by the sea.

Max has hand-picked her invitees. They're all masters of their fields, titans of their industries -- humanity's best and brightest. Who better to carry on the torch of civilization after the world ends? But these house guests don't know Max, nor do they know each other, and as it turns out, the offer to live forever in the ruins of an empty world might come with some unexpected pitfalls. At least they're all trapped in such a nice house, in such a lovely place, with such lovely company. There's no better place to spend a post-apocalyptic eternity, right?

...Right?

Collects The Nice House by the Sea issues #1-6

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Dystopia

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2025

About the author

Prior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.

Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.

Reviews

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The millenial end-of-the-world soap opera continues in "The Nice House By The Sea", James Tynion IV's follow-up to his series "The Nice House on the Lake".

It turns out the survivors of the apocalypse at the lake house aren't the only survivors. The alien overlords who spared them have several other "cells" of humans scattered throughout the world, and it's survival of the fittest to see which cell saves humanity.

It's angsty, emo, and downright annoying at times, but it's intriguing as fuck and I can't stop reading anything by Tynion...

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this was a new series but it's a continuation of House by the Lake. This is a really good series!

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was way too hard to read in single monthly issues since the cast is huge, and the artwork that I enjoy doesn't really help identify all the different characters. So i waited for the trade to read this volume as one unit. I liked the tone and the overall plot and set up, but man, this is getting confusing for me, and I'm not attaching to any specific characters.

I'll read the next volume, but there needs to be some sort of simplification in the character designs, or let's kill off some of these peeps.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A continuation of The Nice House on the Lake that only subtly shifts the overarching concepts: new location, new characters, new vibes, but this is a story we're familiar with from the previous two volumes. An alien has hand-picked the most promising humans in a number of areas and kept them alive in a perfect bubble while the rest of the planet falls to the alien apocalypse.

Fortunately, the new location and characters are fascinating, and by the end of the first issue, we're seeing how this all ties back into our familiar friends in the lake house. What started as a "humans vs. aliens" series begins to shift towards "humans vs. humans" as the last remaining remnants of humanity pit themselves against each other.

Within this overarching shift, all the characters (20+ of them now!) have their moments. And Walter's backstory continues to be revealed, especially with the addition of Oliver, who was somehow entirely missing from the first two volumes despite being a key piece of Walter's life. All in all: continues to be wildly engaging and gorgeous to look at. I look forward to re-reading this volume when the back half of this second chapter comes out.

[Pruett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the SEQUEL to one of my favorite mystery/sci-fi comics ever, “The Nice House by the Lake,” is wonderful stuff.

The cast has expanded significantly in this volume. New house, new body of water, new characters. It’s occasionally more than the book can handle (21 characters are a LOT inside of the confines of 28 page issues), lending this review its four stars, but the artwork, dialogue, and characterization (scant as a few of the House occupants may appear) are as wonderful as ever.

I’m so glad this series exists as the flagship title of the resurrected Vertigo line of DC Comics. Originally, Vertigo was for mature, edgy books like “Preacher” and “Sandman.” The “Nice House” line has kept the former but dropped the juvenile edgelord efforts of the latter, dressing its books in authentic characters with adult-oriented scenarios and dialogue.

Of course, the sci-fi body horror doesn’t hurt, either.

[Audet Maxime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new volume is really starting off strong. The story deepens, and the connections between all the characters are better than ever. This feels like a return to form after the ending of the first volume was a bit lacking.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nu wachten op meerdere issues 🫠

[Taylor G · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Ughhhhhhhh I love where this is going. I love Norah.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this would be as closely connected to "The Nice House on the Lake" as it is, which is detrimental because my memory is garbage.

I still like the concept a lot. I still like the art, particularly the designs for Max and Walter. I think this is an interesting addition to the original story, and I'd like to see how it all ends.

[Jacq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got busy and overexhausted so took me a few days to finish, but another great installment. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

[Lel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, I liked meeting a whole new set of characters but also seeing how they tied into the first set. I think this is a really clever concept for a graphic novel series, I love seeing what is going to happen and watching the drama between the characters unfold at the end of the world. The art inside is amazing.

[justhimbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lesbian apocalypse plus toxic yaoi, final combo

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broadens the mystery, which is no small feet. Still not quite sure what’s going on, but it’s a fun ride

[lil4 · Rating 5 out of 5]

très très bonne suite, j'ai trop hâte de lire la deuxième partie du cycle

[Charley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was incredibly intriguing and enjoyable to read. I love the art style from a purely visual standpoint but I don’t think the sketchy vibe works when you have a such a large cast of characters. I often found it hard telling who was in a scene.

I must say I am also annoyed to find out that technically this is book 3 in a series. It can be read in its own but there is no mention of the nice house on the lake which I now want to read but feel I have too many spoilers for.

[Chirp · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25!

Another excellent addition/continuation of the Nice House on the Lake series! At times, I blanked on a couple of characters and some parts were just okay, but overall, it was interesting getting to jump back into this world! Super hyped for Volume 2!

[Sandra Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hauntingly beautiful and masterfully told.

The Nice House by the Sea Vol. 1 is an eerie, atmospheric masterpiece that blends psychological horror with thought-provoking storytelling. James Tynion IV continues to prove why he's one of the most compelling voices in modern comics delivering a narrative that’s as emotionally rich as it is unsettling. The mystery unfolds slowly but with purpose, keeping you hooked with every page.

Álvaro Martínez Bueno’s illustrations are absolutely stunning. His artwork captures the quiet dread and haunting beauty of the setting perfectly, amplifying the tension in subtle but powerful ways. Together, the writing and visuals create a deeply immersive experience that lingers long after the last page.

This is smart, literary horror for readers who appreciate both gorgeous visuals and layered storytelling. I’m eagerly looking forward to what comes next in the series.

[Molly Lazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the description that this is an all-new house with an all-new "host," I didn't expect this to basically be volume 3 of The Nice House on the Lake. So I'm definitely glad I read that series first. Don't read this one without reading that one--you won't know what is going on. The characters in the new house, except Oliver, seem less consequential than the group from the original series, but there are still a LOT of characters to keep track of. What the overall series(es) is about is very clear from this volume, though, (more so than in the previous two), and I look forward to reading the next one. The art, by the way, remains a highlight.

[Chr*s Browning]

Sometimes it feels like all of Tynion's books with real characters (i.e. not the generic horror stories he spits out between longer ongoing works) are stuck in high school-level melodrama - with this one at least he's interrogating that concept. Still, the promise of "new characters, new locations" here is mostly tossed aside by the second issue - almost a third of the sea house characters get one appearance each and then disappear! Interesting enough to keep reading though, if only to see if he pulls off an ending (or postpones it for the inevitable Nice Cottage Near A Pond trilogy capper).

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever have that one person in your group that just took an assignment waaay too seriously, but somehow passed with the same letter trade but more points? That's what this felt like to me. Walter was the one that understood the assignment, but did his own thing with it. Max understood the assignment too well, got a better successful version of the same thing, but with less emotional attachment. I'm kinda glad we had the focus on Walter first since Max's story would have been interesting but not as attention grabbing. I do like seeing the differences between the two houses and how the outcomes have turned out. What I'm now interested in finding out is what's going to happen now that both know they each exist. Really looking forward to the next volume to find out.

[Abigail Pankau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max has picked the best of their fields to survive the end of the world in the nice house by the sea. But these people are all strangers to each other and don’t always get along. After two years together, during a monumental storm, one of them steps into the backstage and finds himself at the nice house on the lake. He is not a stranger to them, though, for he was also a friend of Walter’s in high school, but had declined Walter’s invitation. What will those by the lake do now that they know an old friend has survived? And how will those by the sea react when they find out they are not the only house?

Great googelly moogelly. An excellent continuation of this disturbing and horrifying graphic novel series. Still excellently bonkers. I’m dying to know where it goes next.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite of the series so far. The last volume really could've ended the story but this arc seems to peel back what has been established and twist expectations in a fun way. Also since most of the heavy lifting is done this feels way better paced and not as overwhelming as the previous books with all the different characters, histories and personal relations with Walter. Not as spooky as everyone says but Comic Books aren't scary anyway.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good stuff. It sort of turns Nice House By The Lake on it's head.

[Florian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't find the first volume of The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1, but I heard so many good things about this series, that I decided to try the second "season". Because I also read that the 2 are independent. That is completely false - the Internet is lying and so is chatGPT.

I struggled to understand anything in the first 3 issues of this 6 issue paperback, and that is not a good sign. Partly because [it seems] the story continues from the previous installment, but mostly because there are way too many characters, drawn in a generic manner that makes them hard to distinguish and difficult to remember. There is a character sheet at the end of the volume that should've been at the beginning; there should also have been a "previously on" intro.

The story alludes to a great mystery, but it just follows boring people doing boring stuff and talking about an undefined something that happened in their past. Maybe that thing is known to readers of The Nice House on the Lake, but not to me. Anyway, nothing really happens.

By the end of the volume you understand that there was an apocalypse and powerful aliens decided to save several people and place them in a sort of limbo place. Probably in the first volumes the reader thought there was only one such pocket universe, but now there are at least two and the survivors become aware of the others and have different reactions to the discovery. This is the interesting part. But most of the story is about mopey old teenagers moping about generic teenage drama. A lot of "diversity", but not much plot.

I don't think I'll continue or seek the first volumes. The premise is interesting, but the storytelling is bad, the characters are bland to annoying and the art is generic.

[Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where the first series ("A Nice House by the Lake") was mysterious and intriguing and kept me turning pages to see what was going to happen or be discovered next, the sequel has almost none of that. Sure, there is a second community/house, but we knew that from the first series. The reader is introduced to the new housemates in the first issue where 2 years have passed since they entered the house. (Okay, so Tynion doesn't want to rehash the settling in process from the first series.) However, the second issue takes the reader back to the first house. From then on, we bounce back and forth.

Instead of having to figure out 10-12 new characters, we really have to keep track of two dozen. The artwork doesn't really help all that much and ends up being muddy looking at times so, even though I might claim to have a handle on some of the character, the art is often times too indistinct to be able to tell if my assumption is correct. Also, Tynion appears to be retconning some of the second house members into the pre-house lives of the first house members.

There is still something that is keeping me going and we get a hint of what might be the cause of the setting for each issue's soliloquy on the first three pages. I am looking forward to reading the second half of this series.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Incredible writing. And then the art and colours take it to another level in what they add to the story.

The best volume yet.

I was dubious where this volume was going at the beginning. It very quickly started to piece together.

Many twists and turns with at least one truly shocking, gasp-inducing page turn - you'll know what I mean - standing out.

The main image showing the house (I assume) and repeated as the intro page six times in this volume is so evocative to me. I'm left wanting to know more about the actual house - like, where is it? - but that could just be me and not particularly important to the story.

Overall this is a great example of how comics can deliver an involving, ever-evolving, literally fantastic story better than any other medium. I hope this never all gets turned into a TV series. Please leave it alone HBO🙏 I'm a bit of a comics snob like that; I want to keep the best for comics fans :) I get the point, commercially, but anyways.

I can't wait for Vol 2 by the sea. And when it comes out will certainly go back to Vol 1-2 by the lake and Vol 1 by the sea again. And I bet I spot a few things I didn't pick up on all my previous read-throughs.

[Dave Smyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guess I'll be a party pooper seeing as this hasn't received anything under 3 stars yet. I somewhat enjoyed The Nice House by the Lake. I thought that one started off better than it ended. I wasn't going to pick up The Nice House by the Sea, but my wife said she was interested, so I did. The art was alright in this series, but the story was a bit too light on the sci-fi and a bit heavy on the romantic drama for me. There are twice as many characters now, but I don't feel they have been fleshed out that well. Volume 1 leaves you an a cliffhanger, and I'm a bit of a completionist, so I will probably read the 2nd half of the story if my LCS gets it for me. But if not, I probably won't go out of my way to find it. I liked the dog! I think this series would actually be better served as a TV series rather than a comic boom personally.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Derivativo de The nice house by the lake, cuenta prácticamente la misma historia, pero ahora con más gilipollas haciendo el gilipollas. Desde luego, si esta peña es lo mejor que puede ofrecer la humanidad, merecemos lo que nos pase. En fin, peor en todos los aspectos que la obra madre, incluido el arte. Qué se le va a hacer. Hace tiempo predije que esto iba a ser el Lost de los cómics, y me parece que no voy desencaminado. Por ahora, muchísimo drama, una nueva alienígena solo que menos empática que el primero, y acción y desarrollo de la historia bajo mínimos. Venga, que se vayan al garete las puñeteras casas de una vez, que esto se va pareciendo a un Gran Hermano postapocalíptico cada vez más

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty let down by Lake Vol2’s open-ended cliffhanger for a variety of reasons, and even more skeptical of this related series when it was announced. But this is actually pretty great, and basically just vol3 of Lake. While it technically begins focused on a new house and cast, the original cast is once again the main focus pretty quickly, and even among them the focus is more narrowed than it was previously, progressing the plot more satisfyingly and offering worthwhile context to the new house’s connection. Bueno’s art continues to be attractive and exciting to look at, but seems looser this time around, in a good way.

[Dennis Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally thought this was going to function as a companion series to Nice House on the Lake, but this is a straight-up continuation of the first series (and you REALLY need to read the first series to figure out what the heck is going on). I think it speaks to the strength of the story and artwork that despite the number of characters being my biggest complaint about the Nice House on the Lake, I still consider this volume a five-star read even when it adds SO MANY MORE characters to the confusion. It takes a little to get rolling, and ends on a big cliffhanger despite scant offerings in terms of plot advancement, but that just means more issues to eventually read so I'm here for it.