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| Title: | Nail Biter |
| Contributors: | Joshua Williamson Mike Henderson |
| Publisher: | Image Comics |
| Issue #: | 2 |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Pages: | 32 Pages |
| Age Rating: | 18 (Language, Violence, Gore, Adult Themes) |
| Story Grade: | A |
| Art Grade: | A |
Issue #2 opens at the end of the trial Nail Biter and provides some backstory of our antagonist. The story quickly turns back to where Issue #1 left off and from there it builds a slow-cooking, page-turning thriller that will make you wish you waited for the trade paperback to come out so you didn't have to wait a month for the next issue. But do yourself a favor, don't wait for the TPB. The tension of waiting month to month for each issue is part of the reading experience.
The story in Issue #2 discloses just enough of the deep dark secrets buried in this town, yet is smart to leave just enough unanswered questions to make the reader start biting his or her own nails in anticipation for Issue #3; which remains a painful month away. But it's all part of the experience.
One of the keys to the success of this book is that you get to know Nail Biter, Edward Warren, a little more as well as a peek at some of the previous serial killers from, and in some cases still in, Buckaroo, known collectively as the Buckaroo Butchers. You also learn that Warren is a mere amatuer compared to some of his butchering forefathers. What really makes this work it is Warren himself. His dark humor which comes shining through via his completely inappropriate word choices, his chilling smile, his pale skin and stark white hair and his visible yet contained ego that makes him a scary character worthy of these pages.
As a result of this craftsmanship you begin to see the entire town of Buckaroo, Oregon is like a house of cards; it is unstable at best and if you remove one card, you risk the whole thing falling down on itself, like a paper version Jenga. But you can't help but pull the next card.
And this is all part of the slow-cooking process that Williamson and Henderson are mastering.
Williamson has only begun to explore the depths of the depravity that could be hiding in Buckaroo, and with each book he adds a little more flavor, as he removes yet another card from his unstable house. Remove a few more cards and the naked truth hiding within this small community will be standing before us in all its glory.
I grade this book a solid A. And while yes, it is true that the story is still being slow-cooked to perfection, and for some readers it may be a little slow, that slow-cooking is really bringing out the flavors; through deep character development, wonderful visuals, world development and plot development. This slow-cooking process is simply adding some much needed real tensions in the form of mystery and anticipation that most comics lack these days.
When this story is done cooking, Henderson and Williamson are set up to deliver a delicious climax that could be one for the record books. If you haven't done so already, and you love horror or crime genres, do yourself a favor grab these first two issues and give them a read.
Until next time... You might want to rethink ordering the beef stew.
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