Advance Review: Nocterra #1

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

4 years ago

Originally crossing my desk as part of the Kickstarter segment on the Flipside Focus podcast, this book generated more than a touch of curiosity for me, mainly due to the creators concerned and the idea of a world gone dark sounded a tad similar to the whole Metal / Death Metal malarky that have been the cornerstone of DC’s events over the last couple of years. This comparison was not helped with the fact that Scott Snyder, Mr Metal himself was involved. I am glad to say that any residual negativity brought on by those series has been quenched.

The book centres around Valentina “Val” Riggs and her brother Emory as they try to carve out a living in the new darkened world. You see, there was an event in which the world went dark; with no sunlight the world began to change. Stay out in the dark too long and you become infected. Val makes her way as a Ferryman; essentially a trucker whose rig is set for halogens and other lighting equipment to protect it and Val on her journey delivering parts, people or whatever to wherever,

Scott Snyder is in world building mode for the entirety of this issues. Given that the pace is split over two time periods, I don’t mind so much. Snyder effectively set the table with explanations on who the two main characters are, with the rest being a sort of amalgam of stereotypes; like the possible suitor or the maternal figure. Snyder has created a likeable character and a situation that whilst not be the most original is well established. The monologue which serves as part education and part setup works well and isn’t as heavy handed as some of Snyder’s Batman work.

I am a big fan of Tony S. Daniel’s work for ages and this book is no exception. Strong lines add a level of existence to the panels. The panels are well observed from the early scenes, through to the car journey all the way to the makeshift towns and trucks. It makes me wonder what a Transformer book would look like under Daniel’s pencils! Seriously though, all the characters are well formed, have realistic body lines and most importantly, have facial elements which relates to what is going on in the story. Colors are provided by Tomeu Morey who has worked on some really big comics. Here, Morey again delivers a scheme that is extremely clever in the way it utilises the fake light sources, giving the book an illuminated feel. Finally, it’s a Snyder books so there is going to be some verbiage; AndWorld Design deliver a font that is east to ready, concise and doesn’t detract from the art.

This book surpassed my expectations as Snyder and Daniel bring out their respective big guns to deliver a book that has an intriguing premise with a likeable lead. I am sure that fans of either will love this book.

Writing- 4 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Written by; Scott Snyder
Art by; Tony S. Daniel
Colors by; Tomeu Morey
Letters by; AndWorld Design
Published by; Image Comics

Nocterra # will be avialbe in your LCS on March 3rd.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network