The Nice House On The Sea #4 by Tynion IV, Bueno, and Bellaire— Mini Review
Álvaro Martinez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire’s artwork enhances James Tynion IV’s The Nice House stories, highlighting the contrast between the two houses and the characters’ evolving relationships.
James Tynion IV’s The Nice House stories wouldn’t work without the humanity that Álvaro Martinez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire bring out through the artwork. This story of the survivors of the apocalypse spending their end times in luxurious vacation homes where every desire is catered to them is horrifying not because of the apocalypse itself, but because of being trapped with other people—ones you know and love, and others who simply instill fear. In this second series, we find out that there’s another house by the sea, governed more by ambition than the love that characterized the house on the lake.
In The Nice House By The Sea #4, Tynion structures the story to draw out comparisons and contrasts of the two houses as Bueno and Bellaire’s artwork and colors make you feel those differences. Bueno stages each scene, paying attention to the relationships on display. In the house by the sea, those housemates are ambitious and looking for the opportunity to dominate others. You can tell that just in the way that they look at each other, hungry for something more than just food. And then in the house on the lake, these are old friends, relaxed and at ease around one another but still uncomfortable with the situation. Characters in both houses smile but those smiles mean completely opposite things.
And then there’s the lighting in the house, the naturalistic but revealing hues that bathe the scenes. There’s a warmth to the scenes but depending on the emotions of the characters, that warmth is either inviting and comforting or threatening to heat up to unbearable temperatures.
It’s hard to tell how much the location is shaping the characters or how the characters are defining the house they’re in. Tynion’s story suggests it’s a bit of both that’s happening as we get to know the cast of the new house by the sea, their connection to the lake house, and a bit more about the forces that “saved” them from the end of the world. In the sea house, the actor Oliver is the wild card on both sides, a man who was wanted in the first house of friends but somehow ended up in the second house of the ambitiously successful.
If he had never known about the lake house, everything would probably have been fine for the residents of both houses. But he did and now everything is in danger. Bueno and Bellaire infuse Tynion’s story with vibrant energy, captivating emotions, and a touch of suspense, drawing us into the characters’ journeys. The artwork invites us to immerse ourselves in the narrative, making us feel as though we are experiencing it alongside them.
