This DC Comics Black Label Series Is Perfect for A Sci-Fi Horror Series

Modern audiences know DC Comics for films, television, and comic books surrounding larger-than-life superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Yet, the stories told by the acclaimed publisher are not relegated to simple battles of good versus evil. Readers can find epic sci-fi dramas, supernatural and fantasy-driven adventures, and even deep-cut horror tales at DC Comics. For years, stories like The Sandman could be found on their imprint VERTIGO, but since that imprint closed, DC Comics has begun publishing these stories under their Black Label imprint. One of the more promising sci-fi horror originals to come from DC Comics’ Black Label imprint is The Nice House series.

Consisting of two runs, The Nice House on the Lake and The Nice House By the Sea were post-apocalyptic series of sci-fi weirdness that touched upon what it meant to be human. The second story, The Nice House By The Sea, was part of DC Comics relaunching VERTIGO as an imprint as well. The story furthered the exploration of the mission these aliens carried out in the first arc of this series. With so many graphic novels finding live-action adaptations, bringing this story to life on a streaming service like Netflix would be the perfect choice to capture that unique blend of science fiction and horror.

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The Nice House, Explained

Both The Nice House on the Lake and The Nice House by the Sea tell the story of the end of the world. Each issue opens by focusing in on one survivor as the narrator, revealing their unique perspective on the events unfolding around them. The first book found ten friends of a man named Walter meeting up for a trip to reunite together, only to discover Walter had lured them to the vacation home to save and preserve them. It turns out that Walter was a seemingly all-powerful alien who was tasked with finding humans who represented various aspects of humanity, and bringing them to a specific location for preservation while the rest of the world was destroyed.

However, Walter did something unusual for his species. He chose the humans to spare based on his emotional connection to them, having met and befriended each of them at various points in their lives during college or after. Each of the survivors’ emotional connections to both Walter and each other are tested as they witness the end of the world around their preservation at the Lake House. Each one also represents a specific type of person, from the Writer and the Artist, to the Person of Faith and the Politician. When other aliens find these individuals, they are chosen for being the best in their respected fields. However, Walter chooses his friends instead, putting himself and others at risk due to unforeseen circumstances.

Through trial and error, the survivors clash and ultimately decide that Walter has manipulated and controlled them from the beginning. Banding together, they end Walter’s life — or so they believe. In reality, Walter fades into the shadows, watching over them as they think they have gained control of their own sanctuary to survive. Yet it is implied that the other houses, such as the Nice House by the Sea, are run by others of his kind, and that the survivors in those Nice Houses are far more ruthless and efficient in their fight to survive. Leaving them weapons and supplies, Walter knows that a potential battle and hardship await his friends.

Adapting The Nice House

Visually and from a storytelling perspective, The Nice House series is one of a kind. It looks at each issue in a unique way from a different survivor’s perspective, and examines the different ways in which Walter’s sanctuary has altered the surrounding reality, allowing each survivor to leave unique requests for him to fulfill. All these aspects present interesting takes that will work well in a limited series.

Another thing that stands out is that, for much of the series, the survivors found that they could survive grave injuries and perhaps even become immortal. However, circumstances changed when some of the survivors began to rebel against Walter, and their mortality was returned to them. This elevated the drama among the group and presented real-world stakes that brought the reality of their world’s apocalypse back to life.

If the story were to become a full series and not be a limited series, it would also leave open plenty of room to develop stories from other Nice Houses, including the Nice House By The Sea. Audiences would have the opportunity to see more of the alien race Walter comes from, who brought the apocalypse to Earth to begin with. The haunting imagery of the apocalypse in the original story sticks with the reader long after life in The Nice House is established, and the need to explore the mythos surrounding this alien species would give more weight to the human side of things. The blend of horror and sci-fi makes this a prime candidate for streaming services to develop The Nice House into a brand-new television series that audiences will immediately become engaged in.

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