Nailbiter #2

Published by: Image Comics
Released on: Jun. 4, 2014
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Mike Henderson
Cover artist: Mike Henderson
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Army Intelligence officer Nicolas Finch is called out to the small town of Buckaroo, Oregon to assist an old friend on a quest to discover the secret of the sleepy little town. Well, it isn't that sleepy, as it is the birthplace of 16 of the worst serial killers in recorded history. Finch's friend Det. Carroll knows why the town is pumping out homicidal sociopaths, but insists on telling Finch in person. But when Finch arrives in Buckaroo the very next morning, Carroll was missing and without a trace.

With local sheriff Shannon Crane helping him around town, Finch goes to the residence of the acquitted serial killer Edward Charles Warren, (hmm…E.C… Warren…tip of the hat to the classic horror comics?). Warren was the launching point of Carroll's obsession after being the one to capture Warren, and has been visiting the killer in his home looking for information. Warren is a prick as one can imagine, and is little help to Finch and Crane and is plenty smug about the whole affair.

Stuff starts happening around town and the locals blame Warren and want the sheriff to do something about it, not wanting to be in the same breathing space as the psycho, whether he committed new crimes or not. And while that's causing grief, Finch finds Carroll's notebook of random thoughts that will surely be an important piece to his disappearance if they can decipher it.

Williamson's story is starting to weave its web, giving the protagonists more than one shit storm at a time to work though. Now, they not only need to locate Carroll but they have two new murders on their hands, by what could be a copycat killer. But whoever is committing these new acts of violence is using the modus operandi of more than one of the infamous 16 killers from Buckaroo. Some more history of the various killers is revealed, and there are surely more to come. Henderson's illustrations continue to please, and with really effective facial expressions and a great burning building sequence.

Aside from the foolishness of the each killer's m.o. (“The Cross Bones Killer” makes skull and crossbones out of human bones that he harvests; “The Terrible Two” are twins who kill only other twins), the story is so far pretty engrossing. At this point it's a missing person and a whodunit, and issue #2 should leave you anticipating next month's installment.