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Nailbiter #18 Review

Comic Books

Nailbiter #18 Review

The devil has arrived in Georgia and he (or she) is causing quite a ruckus. Meanwhile, things in Buckaroo get weird, which is really saying something.

Is it good?

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Nailbiter #18 (Image Comics)

nailbiter-18-cover

The Plot

  • Wasn’t one of the original Buckaroo Butchers called The Good Samaritan Killer? Why was he… oh. Geez, what a douche.
  • Poor kid. Gets the crap beaten out of him, gets his life ruined and he really seems innocent (I think).
  • Hey, it’s Nicholas Finch doing his original job. Oh…oh dear…now I remember why it got him into trouble before.
  • Agent Barker’s got a strong case of the cray, but she’s holding it together.
  • So wait…there’s a Buckaroo Butcher butcher? Yikes.
  • Speaking of Buckaroo, Crane does two things that are sure to end up with positive results: Digging into the town’s past and visiting a creepy looking church.
  • *Gets to the final page* Hey! I know that guy. What the heck is he doing?

Is It Good?

I don’t want to give away the last page, but I will say that I like the way it parallels Finch’s arc in this issue. Both characters have done some pretty terrible stuff in their past that it’s easy to forget about due to their heroic actions.

On the whole, however, this issue is maybe the weakest one of the series. It’s still pretty good, but also reads more like a connective chapter than a single serving story. Considering how well writer Joshua Williamson has laid out Nailbiter’s overarching mythology, it’s surprising this hasn’t happened more.

A big part of this ‘middle story’ syndrome is likely due to the parts of the story dealing with Crane. While the Finch/Barker stuff is really well fleshed out, her part of the proceeding feels vastly underdeveloped. Add in a cliffhanger about what she finds/what happens to her, and it almost feels too random to be connected to main plot.

nailbiter-18-bang

And then there’s that ending, which was cool, but also felt a little out of nowhere.

But like I said before, it’s still a good issue. Nailbiter’s subpar is still better than a lot of other books you can spend your money on, especially when you have artist Mike Henderson continuing to do such a great job. Along with his usual knack for action, gore, and portraying emotion, the shift in settings from Atlanta to Buckaroo is very noticeable (in a good way).

So yeah, this is probably the closest I’ve come to giving my current favorite title a bad review and I still enjoyed the issue. Hopefully, my other fellow Nailbiter fans won’t be overcome with a strange desire ala Agent Baker to bite my face off and/or deface my body with fake horns.

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