‘Nailbiter’ #4 carves up a superb and intriguing issue this month. Each new reveal raises countless questions in a satisfying and alluring fashion. Combining that with tense action and a good dose of body horror, you’ve got the recipe for a damn good time.
WRITTEN BY: Joshua Williamson
ART BY: Mike Henderson
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: August 6, 2014
Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners
We open on a self help group for residents of Buckaroo who are related to serial killers, which in this town is most everyone. This acts as an awesome introduction to another of Buckaroo’s pantheon of serial killers: The WTF Killer. His older sister tells us of his humble beginnings as a young artist and his eventual departure from canvas to flesh. It’s set up so eloquently and subtly that it leaves the mind free to run wild with all the intricacies of mutilating the human body into an art piece. My mind immediately jumped to the cover of Colder #1, Hannibal, Hellraiser and all kind of atrocities. I’m enthralled with the prospect of seeing Mike Henderson render one of The WTF Killer’s grotesque victims in a future issue.
Before the scene changes to our protagonists, Raleigh makes a short speech about taking the power back from the serial killers who’ve ruined all of their lives. I feel like he’s using the idea of making money off of them as a front for something else, there’s no way this guys not hiding something.
Crane and Finch are literally digging for clues in a graveyard when we catch up with them, without much luck initially. Crane informs us of more details about Raleigh’s Grandfathers killings, specifically that he burned down two libraries and only five people died. But Raleigh likes to build it up more than it is. Linking this with the fire in issue 2, and a very cryptic message revealed later in the issue about that same fire, leads me to believe Raleigh is wrapped up in all of this – much more than he’s letting on. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but it seems like too much of a coincidence for these fires to be mentioned so many times in one issue.
Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson hit it out of the park again with ‘Nailbiter’ #4. The two work in perfect rhythm, delivering a damn fun read. Remember to buckle your ass down for the final page, or it might just be blown off. The seeds of this epic are beginning to sprout and take shape into the most elegant and horrific flowers you’ve ever seen.
Editors note:
POTENTIAL SPOILERS
For those of you following this series, do you think Finch is more than what he says he is? I reckon he’s a cold blooded killer who used to be a cop, we don’t know enough about him, and I’m terrified to see what Williamson has planned, but I think we’ve been following the worst killer of all this entire time.
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Torbin Chimners AKA Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter@Vulgar_Rhombus
