Review by Frank Plowright
Nocterra occurs in the future when the sun no longer illuminates Earth. As deadly as that is, there’s also the threat of a disease that transforms people unable to access light into monsters. As learned in Full Throttle Dark, this is down to an experiment gone very wrong that’s pulled something dark and evil to Earth.
This world is viewed through the experiences of Val Riggs, her name reflecting her truck driving career. She and her friends went through hell before a last minute fat from fire rescue by allies from one of the few remaining cities. These survive by virtue of being able maintain sources of light in quantity, repelling the creatures of the dark with them. Val is key, as with new friend Bailey she possesses a dead scientist’s theoretical equations, which may relight the world. The truckers of Outpost 41 are now trying to locate Eos, where people exist who’d know how to transform theory into reality. Attempting to prevent this is the murderous Blacktop Bill.
Scott Snyder hooked with the tight premise last time, and there’s considerable concentration on Blacktop Bill this time, down to the inclusion of a chapter presenting the person he was before his unique appearance. That’s co-written with Tony S. Daniel, and answers the question of how someone could become so devoid of feeling and conscience. The short answer is their personality being similar prior to the darkness, but it’s a chilling story, all the more so for being drawn in such a matter of fact manner by Denys Cowan.
On the main feature Daniel’s art is less expansive than on the first volume. His faces still have personality and the action remains dynamic, but for Pedal to the Metal he’s drawing a lot more in close-up and far less from distance. The experience isn’t as rich. And if you’ve ever wondered how much a colourist contributes to the overall look of the art, compare this volume with first. New colourist Marcelo Maiolo renders the art less distinctive by choosing to emphasise the overall darkness in preference to the spots of light.
Last time round it was Val who supplied most of the narrative captions, but here it’s Bailey, younger and more innocent, and her temptation eventually becomes the primary theme.
Until the shocks of the final chapter, this doesn’t have the pull of the first volume. It’s as if Snyder had a start and finish in mind, but allowed for some wandering before the destination is reached, and that’s what this volume is. The series concludes with No Brakes, so let’s hope it picks up again.
