Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Mike Henderson
Publisher: Image
Have I mentioned how much I am loving this series?
This was another thrilling page turner of an issue from what has become one of the best series on the shelves in such a short space of time.
Brian Michael Bendis enters the world of Nailbiter and travels to Buckaroo in search of some decent research for his latest comic book idea. As usual when comic creators enter the world inside comics it’s always a bit of fun and in this instance I love what Williamson did with Bendis. It really added to the story and universe which he has been trying to create and did not feel out of tune at all having Bendis be incorporated in the storyline which has been driving the recent issues after the discovery of Carrol.
One of the elements of this issue I was really impressed with was the dialogue between Bendis and Warren (Nailbiter), this was easily one of the best conversations in this series and it presented us with a look into how Warren thinks about life and who he is just that tad bit more. These few pages are just simply brilliant, both in terms of content and the brilliant artwork of Mike Henderson, and really does make you think about the lives of a comic book creator as well as anybody else that creates any aspect of fiction.
Another part of the issue which had me smiling was the lead up to Bendis vs. Warren, when Bendis was questioning the Buckaroo residents it produced a hysterical mosaic of responses that not only was written perfectly but looked incredible and it was really nice to see more parts (people) of the town. What it does too is enforce the scope this series can explore in the future and this makes for another thought invoking element of this issue because of that vastness of potential characters.
If we are talking about things that worked really well for this issue than the epilogue is a must mention. Obviously, I am not going to spoil anything but anyone that thought Bendis being in this issue was a gimmick, you were so wrong! What stemmed from Bendis exploring the butchers graveyard, finished up being what is probably going to be the catalyst for the next part of the story especially with the reveal that what Bendis thought he saw was actually real and not only that but this wasn’t the first time that this happened, and that is all I am going to say without ruining anything!
This was another great issue that did not suffer in the slightest from the risk of sacrificing the core story with a guest appearance of a well-known individual. Williamson (and not forgetting Henderson’s ever impressive art) continued the progression of this excellent story and I really can’t recommend this series enough. Even if you have never been a fan of this genre, this series breaks with tradition and crosses the scope of so many different genres that there is definitely something to love about this series for everyone.
