This should come as no surprise, but thus far, every issue of Nocterra has earned a second, and in the case of issue #1, a third printing. With an all-star lineup of writers and artists, Image Comics have been knocking their new titles out of the park.
We lead into the recap of Nocterra #3, “Their Allegiance is to the Dark.”
The quote on the back cover is echoed by the series protagonist, as she and her precious cargo are on the run from a baddie named “Blacktop Bill.”
It sounds corny, the villain literally coated in a liquid bodysuit of darkness, with only a Cheshire cat-like grin visible. However, this villain seems to have a backstory only briefly told, surfacing shortly after the dark became the norm.
We learn last issue the cargo involves a man and his granddaughter trying to find refuge in a city of light where life itself remains intact, the key to restoring the world. A world, also revealed to have been plunged into darkness by this same individual.
As Ferryman Val narrates most of this issue, we also watch her brother slowly succumb to the plague of darkness, an act initiated by a reckless venture into the darkness with no method of keeping the mysterious cell-altering environment away.
This is mirrored with more backstory of what happened to their parents, the world around them, and how in a matter of years, the world as we know it would cease to exist, pursuing something simple as light, an element taken for granted, taken away from the entire world.
Now keep in mind we only hear snippets of other areas, but not much about other countries.
I do hope Scott Snyder and Tony Daniel send our characters, or perhaps characters not yet met on some international trips. I am curious as to how other parts of the world fared against this intangible foe.
As or Blacktop Bill, his antics are full of perverse, vile horror. He is vulgar, crass, and simply has no shame or remorse in the things he says, and worse yet, the things he will do.
The terror has been kicked into high gear as Val and her cargo continue to push forward to an area which may be nothing but folklore.
Nocterra #3 is now available at your local comic book retailer.
