Nocterra #1
The darkness has swallowed the Earth in Nocterra #1, by writer Scott Snyder, artist Tony S. Daniel, colorist Tomeu Morey, and letterer Andworld Design. Snyder and company present an entirely new world, one that is familiar in some ways but holds a lot of promise.
One day, the sky went dark. Thirteen years later, Val Riggs is taking a shipment of people to an outpost, talking to her brother Emory when her truck is attacked. One of the passengers panics and opens the emergency door, and is immediately taken. Val puts her rig on autopilot and goes to save them, but there are too many creatures, attackers separating her from the rig… until the lights of the outpost scare them away. Inside, Val is greeted with news that another outpost where she was going next has fallen and is approached by two passengers who want her to take them north of the line to an outpost that may still be in the sun. Val refuses and goes to Emory, whose condition, brought on by the darkness, worsens. She finds the two passengers, Augustus and Bailey, and agrees to take them. She, her brother, and the two leave, but afterward, a man comes looking for them and tells the outpost's dispatcher that Augustus is the man who killed the sun.
Snyder is an expert at world-building, and this book shows that. It feels a lot like The Mist- there are monsters outside in the darkness, just like the ones in Stephen King's short story. However, this world is very different. Something about the darkness has changed everything- plants, animals, and humans who stay out in it for too long. Light is a precious thing- it keeps the monsters at bay and keeps humans from becoming shades, monsters that can slaughter an entire outpost quickly. Snyder uses narration during the opening action scene to lay out the world for readers, and it works very well.
That said, there's something remarkably cliche about the whole book but in the best possible way. Val's brother has the darkness disease, and the outpost that was destroyed might have had a lamp that could heal him. The loss of the outpost is the impetus behind her accepting a job that she scoffed at earlier. A mysterious villain shows up and lays down some information that will put everyone on the hunt for our heroes. However, the world is so intriguing that the cliches are okay- Snyder is laying out a whole new world and needs a way to get readers to go out into it.
Daniel's art is pretty good throughout, but his creature design, so far, leaves a bit to be desired. Snyder sets up how different flora and fauna of the darkened world is now, but the few glimpses of it readers see are kind of run-of-the-mill. However, his character work is pretty top-notch as usual with him, and Morey's rich colors make the whole thing pop that much more. The clothing designs for this dark world's denizens look great, like something out of a post-apocalyptic video game but with all kinds of light-up stuff on them. The lit-up vista of the outpost looks great, too, in a weird cyberpunk sort of way.
Nocterra #1 presents an interesting world to readers, even if the setup for the journey for it is kind of cliche. Snyder uses narration expertly, as he's wont to do, laying out the rules of this new dark Earth (get it- Nocterra?). Daniels and Morey work well together, even if the creature design leaves a little something to be desired. Nocterra has a great premise, and the characters have a lot of potential, and that's all a new book needs.
