Sundog Convoy desperately searches for Eos while Shade attacks become bolder. Their sole lead is Blacktop Bill, but can they find him before the Nocturnes do? Find out in Nocterra #8 from Image Comics!

NOCTERRA #8

Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Tony S. Daniel
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Andworld Design
Editor: Will Dennis
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 2, 2022

Previously in Nocterra: Val Riggs now has a convoy, Sundog Convoy! In addition to Emory and Piper, Bellwether and several other characters have joined her. Their goal is to save the world, but first, they try to backtrack Gus McCray, now dead. He had learned of a place called Eos, a place where there still was light, and that’s what Val wants to find. Blacktop Bill, meanwhile, uses the helmet he stole to try to communicate with the Shades. It takes a lot of power to operate the helmet. He kills a busload of people just to use the power from their vehicle, but as he does so, he is attacked by three Nocturnes – others who are as featureless and dark as he is. Sundog reaches another outpost and discovers that the Shades have started changing their behaviors.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO BLACKTOP BILL

Nocterra #8 opens outside another outpost, Fort Speed. A person, pursued by shades, runs desperately to the gate and pounds on it, begging to be let in. So far in this world, we have seen how dangerous it is in the dark. In the narration, Piper tells us that in order to survive, people have learned that they must look out for each other. They let the man in. And then it is too late for them – it is Blacktop Bill.

Sundog Convoy has almost run out of leads, but the one they’re following now is Blacktop Bill. They talk with Mother, the man who operates a radio hub. He tells them Bill is part of the Nocturnes, some sort of military group. They are dangerous, and he doesn’t want to get involved in any of this. Val insists. He may know where Eos is. Bellwether asks for a favor and agrees to tell them more.

Adam starts to adjust to life with Sundog and away from the Drive-In. He’s been quarantined long enough that they know he is not infected, and he gets some flash pops. Piper asks if he has lost anyone. He lost his father to a fight with Shadows – his term for Shades of human origin – but his father had cancer and knew he was dying anyway. He used to care for livestock.

Emory has been healed, but since that time, he still feels as though he can hear whispers from the Shades. He doesn’t understand them, but he gets the feeling that they are getting ready for something, maybe even building an army. From his own observations, Mother corroborates their behavior. The Shades are attacking more outposts, and they are now carrying people off. And there has been another kind of attack. Something has drained power from a handful of outposts. Val suspects that is Bill.

The three Nocturnes return to their leader and must admit that they have not been able to stop Bill. He insists they have to kill him before anyone in the Inner Sanctum finds out about what he is doing. We get only a brief glimpse of this man, and he seems to be a perfectly healthy human. Wherever he is, he is surrounded by bright light and lush, growing plants.

Bill reroutes all the power of Fort Speed into his helmet and prepares to talk to Nox, whom he equates with God. He gets a vision of an otherworldly, utterly alien creature. He demands to know what it wants. It speaks something in an incomprehensible snarl of language. Bill tears off the helmet and finds himself surrounded by Shades. He knows their plan and assumes they are here to kill him. Instead, there is a flash of light. He figures it is the Nocturnes there to kill him, but instead it is Val and her crew.

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

The art of Nocterra #8 does not disappoint. Fort Speed is barely in the story, but we get a sense of its flavor, and it is distinct from any of the other outposts we have seen. It was a fort at one time, and from the outside, it looks like one, just one bathed in the spotlights. Inside, we again see people with a mix of any kind of lights that they could find, frequently small, colored lightbulbs which are so incongruously festive in this dystopian world.

Where there is light, there is also shadow. The shadows and highlights are another prominent feature of art. As Val and Bellwether talk to Mother, Val’s face has highlights catching light from far off to the side, a direction that isn’t typical. Bellwether wears a cap with a brim, and her eyes are in deep shadow. Later, when Emory is telling them about his feelings from the Shades, his face is momentarily caught in the light from a window. The crossbars of it shadow his face in what could be an “X,” or a cross. And all of this leads to the ultimate confrontation between light and shadow – Val with her lights face to face with Blacktop Bill.

BOTTOM LINE: THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR LIGHT

Nocterra #8 takes us up a level, to a world where the Shades are not just mindless monsters. There is something behind them with a whole lot of cosmic horror feel.

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Nocterra #8

90%

90%

Does Not Disappoint

Val’s leads are dwindling and soon the only one left may be Blacktop Bill himself!

• Writing

  9
• Art

  9
• Coloring

  9
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