Schedule Monthly Genre Horror Number of issues 29 | Format Ongoing series Publication date May 2014 Publisher Image Comics | |
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Writer(s) Joshua Williamson
Mike Henderson Similar The Technopriests, Batman: The Return of Bruce, The Dark Knight Strikes A, The Dark Knight III: The Mast, Black Science | ||
Nailbiter is an ongoing independent horror comic book series that was created by Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson, with art by Henderson. The series is published by Image Comics and its first issue was released on May 7, 2014. As of May 2016 the series has been collected into four volumes.
Contents
Synopsis
The series centers around the fictional town of Buckaroo, Oregon, which has produced sixteen of the United States' worst serial killers. Its most recent creation is Edward Charles Warren, otherwise known as "Nailbiter" due to his predilection for chewing off his victim's nails and part of their flesh. By the series's start Warren has been caught by FBI agent Charles Carroll, however Carroll has since gone missing, leaving it up to his friend and NSA agent Nicholas Finch to search for him. Nicholas decides to start his search in Buckaroo, where he begins to question why the small town has produced so many murderers.
Collected editions
The series is primarily collected in trade paperbacks. The first ten issues have been republished in a deluxe hardcover edition entitled Nailbiter: The Murder Edition Volume 1, which includes extra material such as sketches and script pages.
Reception
Critical reception for the series has been mostly positive. Newsarama called it a "masterful bit of horror." Comic Book Resources panned Nailbiter's first issue, as they felt that the work did not live up to its premise's potential despite good coloring and artwork. In contrast, IGN praised Nailbiter #1, stating that it was "an impressive and eerie debut that's sure to turn your sweetest dreams into the stuff of nightmares." Flickering Myth has written predominantly negative reviews for later issues in the series, criticizing it for its pacing and story lines. While Bloody Disgusting have had critical reviews they are mostly favorable.
Nailbiter was award "Best Horror Comic" by USA Today in both 2014 and 2015. And was the #1 comic on Horror Talks "Best of 2015."
