Nailbiter - even better the second time around!

I decided to re-read the first three TPB's of  Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson's Nailbiter so that it would be fresh in my mind for volume 4. I'm really glad I did. I actually decided to upgrade my original Goodreads ratings. It's clever, scary, funny, layered, and holds up to multiple readings. The artwork is fab. It's clean, almost spare lines in many places, and beautifully, almost cinematically framed. The colour palette is subdued for the most part, letting the blue, blue eyes of some characters, and the violetnt red of blood spatter to leap off the page. I especially love the TPB covers. Simple, but powerful. Creepy enough that I wouldn't be comfortable with it up on my wall.

Volume 1: There will be blood. Oh, yes there will!

Serial killers are clearly a fascination for a lot of people. The sheer number of procedurals on tv, as well as shows like Dexter, The Fall, The Following, prove that there is a rabid audience for all the guts and gore that people can come up with. And WIlliamson is not going to stint on the guts or the gore.

Nailbiter is set in smalltown USA. Normal in everyway, except for the fact that it happens to be the birthplace of sixteen different serial killers. SIXTEEN!

There are a lot of people obsessed with the how's and why's of the 'Buckaroo Butchers', as they are collectively known, and they're pretty fascinating. The Book Burner torched libraries because he was bullied as he couldn't read. The Terrible Two were fraternal twins who targeted other sets of twins. The Blonde would wait until guys catcalled her on the street, then kidnap them and sew their mouths shut. The big gun, however, the headliner, is #16, The Nailbiter

Having been found not-guilty at his trial, Edward Charles "the Nailbiter" Warren has decided to move back home to Buckaroo, where his ex-girlfriend just happens to be Sheriff. Cue a slew of new murders, a creepy masked, machete-wielding mystery, and a crushing history where everybody in town is connected to at least one of the butchers. Cue Sheriff Shannon Crane having to deal with a town ready to string up her ex-bf, missing FBI investigator Eliott Carroll, and uh "special interrogator" Nicholas Finch on the hunt for Carroll. Cue the discovery of a secret underground labyrinth/ jail holding the mutilated Carroll, and it is just the beginning. You'll be as obsessed as everyone else.

Volume 2: Bloody Hands. 

Warning......spoilers are coming. To Be Continued.