Nocterra #1

Nocterra #1

Image Comics 2021

Written by Scott Snyder

Illustrated by Tony S. Daniel

Coloured by Tomeu Morey

Lettered by Andworld Design

“FULL THROTTLE DARK,” Part One

Ten years after the world is plunged into an everlasting night that turns all living creatures into monstrous shades, the only way to survive is to stay close to artificial light. Enter Valentina “Val” Riggs, a skilled ferryman who transports people and goods along deadly unlit roads with her heavily illuminated eighteen wheeler.

Sometimes when a writer does a passion project it revitalises their creative juices and this one certainly feels like it fits that bill for Scott. The man is a solid writer and knows his way around a story but you can feel the difference in this book compared to some of the other stuff he’s been working on. There is this amazing electricity and excitement that comes off the pages and infuses the reader with those emotions. The way that the premise comes to life through what we see here and how the story unfolds before our eyes is done in such a way that it screams out for the reader to explore more in their own mind as well as absorb what is on the page and this is the kind of storytelling that we long to see.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely! The opening alone is worth its weight in gold as it tells us everything we need to know, need not want mind you, to draw the reader in and leave them wanting more. The character development is completely and utterly spectacular! How we see the characters introduced and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter alongside how we see the dialogue really helps make them feel like folks we know. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the world, the characters and what life is like now we understand just what kind of journey we’re undertaking.

I am truly impressed with how this is being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge and take hold. I wanna see more of Bellewether, that baseball cap alone screams out that she’s someone we all WANT to know! How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is marvellous to see. This is the powerhouse writer Scott can be and who we want to read!

The interiors here are breathtakingly gorgeous! The linework we see are mindbogglingly brilliant to behold and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we see is stupendous! How we see the backgrounds being utilised within the composition of the panels alongside this level and quality in the creativity and imagination brings us some superb depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered! The colour choices and how we see the various hues and tones within the colour being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is glorious to see. I really like how Tomeu showcases his knowledge of colour and his understanding of how it works throughout the book.

​

There’s a reason this sold out and is heading to a second printing and that’s because this is probably the best story Snyder has written in a very long time. The writing is damn near flawlessly perfect in every possible way and with the interiors and the lettering we are seeing the years most sensational new book.