The Sundog Convoy hits Argus and learns more about Eos and the threat they face on the way there in Nocterra #12, by writer Scott Snyder, artist Tony S. Daniel, colorist Marcelo Maiolo, and letterer AndWorld Design. This first chapter of the third story arc lays everything out nicely and ends with a bang.

The Sundogs speed towards Argus, a former observatory whose telescopes had been replaced with lights. Surrounded by Shades, Em and company can’t get an answer to their distress calls from Argus. As a Mega grabs Em’s rig, the observatory’s lights pop on and destroy the Shades. They’re met by Val, who made it there before them, and Diggs, who escaped from the Shades with her. At Argus, Diggs tells them about Eos, its origins, and how hard it is to break into. Val shows them why Argus didn’t answer them, as a new type of Shade attacked the base, one that could make humans into Shades in seconds. The Sundogs all agree to make the trip to Eos. However, they’re attacked on their way out and introduced to the man behind the new monster.

Snyder knows exactly what he’s doing with the story arcs of Nocterra. There’s the high-octane action on the highway, a nice pulse-pounding chase scene that ends with a big save. Next, there’s an info dump and finally a cliffhanger ending. This is how the book has worked in the last two story arcs, and this third one is no different. In fact, Snyder has recycled this plot formula for a lot of issues of this book. It’s the definition of formulaic.

However, Snyder makes the formula work for the book. The opening action scenes are well-paced, the info dump in the middle is interesting, and the cliffhanger ending is easily guessed but works for the story. On top of that, the flashback sequence that starts the book, with Em sharing the story of his parents and how they tried to come back for him, is the best of these flashbacks so far. The previous flashbacks are mostly about the Big PM or play into that; this one is about character development. It will almost certainly play into the ongoing plot, but it’s a bit of soap opera-y goodness that this book doesn’t do much.

Daniel and Maiolo do a bang-up job on the art. The opening scene hinges on their art. Daniel has become an expert at these kinds of monster chase sequences. The Shades design is still pretty blah, but the scene with the Mega going after Em’s rig is a great piece. Later, Daniel’s character acting does a lot of heavy lifting throughout the book, especially in the lore dump section. Maiolo has become an old hand with Daniel’s art and understands how to light a scene and bring out the detail in Daniel’s artwork.

Nocterra #12 follows the plot formula to a tee but uses it wonderfully. Snyder, Daniel, Maiolo, and AndWorld Design give readers an action-packed and intriguing opening issue for this new story arc.

Grade: B