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Nailbiter #17 Review

Comic Books

Nailbiter #17 Review

The devil—and Nailbiter’s primary setting—take a trip down to the great state of Georgia. Is it good?

Nailbiter #17 (Image Comics)

Nailbiter #17 Review

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The Plot

  • Someone is killing people and posing/disfiguring their bodies like devils.
  • Someone is pegged for the crime, both by the long arm of the law and multiple police boots/batons. (10 bucks says the guy they caught didn’t do it).
  • Remember Agent Barker? The hard ass who went after Finch in Buckaroo? Well, it seems her time in Serial Killer Town, U.S.A. might be having some type of adverse effect on her psyche.
  • Unfortunately, she’s got that new serial killer case in Georgia …which leads her to enlist the help of a very unlikely ally.
  • Meanwhile, former-Sheriff Crane starts an off the books investigation in Buckaroo of her own.

Is It Good?

Do you even need to ask at this point? Did I not make it clear in my interview this week with writer Josh Williamson and artist Mike Henderson how much I love this book?

Okay, let’s nitpick a little I guess.

Nailbiter #17 Review
They didn’t even read him his Miranda rights!

The ‘shocking’ scene with Agent Barker made it pretty easy to detect what was really going on. We may not know much about her, but we know enough that her insanely brutal actions were completely out of character. Of course, Mike Henderson does such an incredible job drawing the entire sequence that even the most jaded of readers can’t help but be taken aback by it.

You see? Even when I try to criticize the series, I end up finding something I like. I will admit, however, to being bit concerned about the story’s change in setting. I was really digging Buckaroo and the atmosphere Williamson had created within the town. Thankfully, Nailbiter #17 brings an equally gripping aesthetic to its new location while also keeping a firm narrative foot in its hometown.

Williamson also does a great job bringing back one of the series’ characters who originally looked to be out of the picture for a while. Then he finishes off the book by revisiting a new(ish) plot thread that makes us even more worried about the character’s safety/well-being than we already were.

So once again, Nailbiter proves why its one of the best (perhaps the best) comics being published right now. They took a status quo change where many books stumble (a big setting change) and instead ratcheted up the tension—while also keeping plenty of the good elements that got them there.

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