Nailbiter Volume 1: There Will be Blood

Williamson and Henderson, the team behind Image's Masks and Mobsters, reunite in this gruesome series with colorist Guzowski (Will O' the Wisp). Army intelligence specialist (read: torture expert and lie detector) Nicholas Finch and sheriff Shannon Crane investigate an FBI agent's disappearance in Buckaroo, Oregon, a town that happens to be known for spawning sixteen vicious serial killers. The agent's investigation into the town's mysterious, murderous past unfolds, opening a further mystery that involves unruly high schoolers, unscrupulous businessmen, and the killer that put first Buckaroo in the spotlight: Edward "The Nailbiter" Warren. Henderson's gory line art and red-washed watercolor designs take center stage, transforming what could have been a simple gross-out comic into something more terrifying. Guzowski's blood splatter effects add nuance even to the sound effects, forming a story that's soaked in death from start to finish. Williamson is in his element as a horror writer; freed from the trappings of his more conventional superhero books, he is free to twist horror tropes to his own ends, creating a gripping mystery that, despite some minor plot holes and hefty chunks of exposition, is a treat to watch unravel. (Oct.)