Nailbiter, Vol. 7: Nailbiter Returns

Nailbiter #7

by Joshua Williamson (Writer), Mike Henderson (Illustrator), Adam Guzowski (Colorist)

JOSHUA WILLIAMSON & MIKE HENDERSON'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED HIT HORROR SERIES RETURNS!

Is the Nailbiter alive? Where is Sheriff Crane? Are they part of the serial killer copycats' horrific game of death?! The only person who can answer all these questions is the Nailbiter's daughter!

Collects: Nailbiter Returns #1-5.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2020

Reviews

[Jayson]

(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: Less horror show than action flick, but does the trick, artistically improved, it's slick, a simple plot that goes by quick.

*Progress update

[Anne]

He retconned the ending!
Then again, that's kind of what every scary movie franchise does.
So, ok. I see you, Williamson.



And as much as I loved the ending of volume 6, this was fun.
The Buckaroo killers are all back from the grave and playing a deadly game.
But how?
Well, that's what you gotta read this volume to find out. <--because this review is spoiler-free



I thought it was wacky. But I liked it anyway and I want to see where this thing goes.

[James DeSantis]

Nailbiter goes full blown batshit crazy in this volume.

So I made note the last time I read volume 6 (The end of the original series) That I enjoyed the series but thought the last volume was kind of a dud. This one, is thankfully, better.

So Alice and Crane are still our main characters here but we can't forget about Warren. We learned what happened to our faithful anti-hero here. But the end of the last volume had Warren jumping out to kill the love of his life! No it was a fake out, that shit happened. But how could it if Warren is actually somewhere else? Lots of twist and turns here. Pure chaos, some sick ass kills, and neck-breaking fast paced action.

This is just fun. This is what Nailbiter needed. I'm not saying it's great but it's way better than I expected it. The art is goofy cartoony fun making the kills even better. The action flows real well too. The story itself is so dumb and absurd but you take the campy corny feeling because it's a story about legendary serial killers.

Overall, sign me up for more.

[Crystal Starr]

Bullet Review:

Someone needed to pay for college or a new addition to a house or to get a downpayment for a yacht - that's really the only reason I can see for resuscitating the dead Nailbiter series.

In the beginning, I felt the Nailbiter series had promise and then the authors got too fond of a steady paycheck and drug it out as long as they could before pulling the plug in as haphazard, sloppy way as possible. But the series was popular, it's been like a couple of years, so that's all it really takes to bring something back to pay off that Hermes bag your wife wants!

I get that I read the last volume of this awhile ago, but this really makes no sense with that - the series ended pretty definitively. I suppose this is slightly a step up because I definitely get a "Eff it" feeling from this volume - let's just have some gory fun and collect the money!

I'm not that optimistic for the rest of this series, but if it owns the premise of lots of violence and gore and doesn't try to drag out the ending, perhaps I could be convinced this is a decent waste of time.

[Valéria.]

Nailbiter je niečo, čo by strašne veľa ľudí najradšej oplulo vždy keď to vidia, hlavne po konci 6. paperbacku. Ja som jedna z tých, ktorých koniec nesklamal a tempo toho príbehu sa mi naozaj páčilo, páčili sa mi postavy a nápad je fakt skvelý. Čo ale čakať od pokračovania niečoho, čo sa javilo ako debilne ukončená séria?
Ak chcete počuť "odpovede", tak tých sa tu nedočkáte. Teda nie všetkých. Minimálne sa ale vysvetlí tá krásna kúpelňová scéna.
Dočkáte sa povyťahovaných očí, veľa krvi, skvelých coverov od issues a artov na konci booku, známych postáv a krásneho besnenia sériových vrahov z mestečka, ktoré ako už z predchádzajúcich bookov vieme, nie je ako ostatné mestá. Za mňa fakt super a teším sa veľmi na pokračovanie.

[Jamie Connolly]

Ahhh so glad to be reading nailbiter again. One of my favorites going back. Always a fun read. And I just read sweet tooth the return. The boys dear Becky. Tales from harrow county. Locke and key is teaming up with sandman. All the greats are coming back for another go. Couldn't be happier about it. 4 stars.

[Subham]

This was the continuation of the original ending and its done pretty well, it picks up with the attack on Shannon and her disappearance and we follow Alice as she is trying to get on with her life and finds her mom missing and more stuff happens that leads her to teaming up with Finch and finding out where Warren really is, which is a crazy genius idea and also we are dealing with the re-emergence of several Buckaroo Butchers and most of them get killed by others or whatever but there is a new master who likes to collect the eyeballs and we learn of what happened to Shannon actually and how it connects to the present and the fake Warren that attacked her and so its upto them to discover the real truths of the matter, next stop: Buckaroo! Good volume to continue that story in a linear manner and setting up the new villain in a fun way and its more bloody than usual!

[Whitney (The Cover Collector)]

3.5 stars

[Dan]

The series is back and with a very interesting story.

[Alex Sarll]

Nailbiter was a series about the small town of Buckaroo, Oregon, which had somehow produced 16 of America's worst serial killers. It was better than it had any right to be, until its conclusion, which felt rushed, unsatisfying, and inappropriately Hollywood. You know when a noughties film would start out all strange and intriguing, then end as yet another shootout? That, times five. Presumably having felt as underwhelmed as the readership by said conclusion, Williamson and Henderson brought the series back as Nailbiter Returns, but there's always something awkward when you don't leave long enough between the split and the comeback, isn't there? It feels more desperate than demanded. And so it proves here. Characters who looked sort of like they might have died in the finale, except it was always conveniently inconclusive and that was part of the problem, turn out to be alive. Unexpected alliances form, as they tend to in sequels that aren't really sure how else to vary the formula. And in the main plotline, various copycats have popped up, imitating the looks and MO of the deceased Buckaroo Butchers, orchestrated by some sinister mastermind into that old standby, the illegal and murderous game. I suppose I should be grateful that at least it appears to be a private game here, whereas normally nowadays it is Being Broadcast On The Dark Web To A Bloodthirsty Audience as part of a painfully predictable media satire. But once the players start complaining that their rivals aren't even playing fair, dropping their originals' particular methods and targets in favour of just killing whoever, whenever, however, it feels a lot like the comic is trying to have its cake and eat it by lampshading its own laziness.

[Mike]

Y’know how you wonder how someone’s going to follow up a classic, without fucking yo it’s perfection - or degrading themselves with a pale shadow of the original?

Like how F13 or Nightmare on Elm Street’s 2nd movies weren’t nearly as shocking as the 1st.

Or how Age of Ultron was a better movie than Avengers, but everyone expected it to be worse.

Kinda here, mulling over this “sequel” to the Nailbiter run - feeling impressed that there was still enough meat on those bones to flesh out this weird tale of “whatever happened to…”

Fun, still full of unexpected-but-not-un-hinted-at story twists. Gonna dive right in to book 8.

Spooktober buddy read leftovers with the Shallows

[Ignacio]

Una vez que la historia ha saltado el tiburón las incoherencias pueden pasar a un segundo plano siempre que el pie apriete el acelerador a tope y no deje intervalos para darle sus vueltas. Y en esto el tándem de Muerdeuñas lleva la lección aprendida: A muerte de principio a fin, con acción y múltiples asesinos en serie caídos en combate, reemplazados por otros en un crescendo frenético. Si he llegado hasta aquí está claro que seguiré hasta el final (si es que hay un final XD).

[jessica]

happy birthday to ME

[Zack! Empire]

I'm glad that this series has come back. I was not a huge fan of how volume six ended. This new set up and new mystery has me really interested. It's a great idea for a story. I'm surprised more people haven't thought of it! If you read the original run of this, you should definitely pick up this new one!

[Robert]

**Review is for the entire series (8 collected volumes as of this date) read in a batch

I stumbled across the series, went in blind, and mostly enjoyed it. The last two volumes feel tacked on, but are not so offensively money-grabby as to diminish the overall rating to much.

[Adam Fisher]

When I started Nailbiter years ago, I was really impressed with the concept and continued through the story quickly. As it neared towards the end, there were some choices made that I didn't agree with at the time, and the story, in my opinion, really went downhill. So... when I heard "Nailbiter Returns", I thought maybe they had some new story ideas and I decided to give it a try.
OMG
Volume 7 returns with the originality, frenetic pace, and engaging story that it was in the beginning. AND I LOVE IT.
Agent Finch is called back to the area because there are copycat murders done in the style of all the Buckaroo Butchers and his expertise is needed. Joining him is Alice, daughter of the Nailbiter and Sheriff Crane. And what's this? Edward Charles Warren, the Nailbiter himself, is still alive?
If you left this title, come back to it. If you never read it, start.
This one was great. Strong recommend!

[AJ Kallas]

As someone who did not enjoy volume 6 of nailbiter but loved the rest of the series, this continuation was very welcomed. It’s almost like Joshua Williamson was like, “hey sorry things kinda ended abruptly— here’s more story and I’ll retcon the ending to the original series”. I enjoyed this volume a lot. Good to see these characters again. Wish it was going for more than 10 issues. But it’s nice to be able to say “Nailbiter is great”. And not “Nailbiter is great, but doesn’t end well.”

[Brylliams]

A new mystery unfolds. Crane is undercover. Finch is on the case. And Alice is caught in the middle...again. This was a good first half to this miniseries. I'm excited to read the conclusion soon. What more do I need to say?

[Meghan]

I love this insane ridiculous series. This is a new arc, and you're going to have to be caught up on Vol 1-6.

[¸.•*¨*•Gina *A Bookwyrm in Belgium*•*¨*•.¸]

Fun stuff.

[Lily]

Nailbiter es uno de mis cómics favoritos. Mucho he tardado yo en volver a ellos.

[kim]

5 ⭐️ for Alice being so cool.

5 ⭐️ for Warren being so funny and iconic.

5 ⭐️ for Shannon basically being Sarah Connor in the second Terminator movie

[Ana]

4

[Jon Hewelt]

A little better than the original's finale, but not by much. Still taking itself a little too seriously.

[Mandy]

Really enjoyed this one!! I can’t wait for the next one.

[John Mihelic]

Ok, so after the end of the main arc, what do you do with these characters? Well, our creators bring them back to face more violence. There's a game afoot where people are taking on the personas of the dead Buckaroo Butchers for some sort of game. This series just keeps getting dumber but I have the books so I am going to keep reading them. Thankfully, there's only one left.

[Todd Glaeser]

An interesting return and a satisfying continuation. I'm in for the rest.

[Craig]

More of the same. If you liked this comic before, it pretty much picks up where it left off and not much has changed.

[Lukas Holmes]

Bit of a stretch to bring it back.

[Aron]

I forgot how much fun I had reading Nailbiter. This first trade of the new series was great, looking forward to seeing where this goes.