Nailbiter #30

Previously in Nailbiter #29

You know what they say about all good things… well, Nailbiter has been great and all great things should be so lucky as to deliver and end on its own terms. The premise was intriguing, but not one you’d expect to last for 30 issues. Perhaps under another team it wouldn’t have, but Williamson and Henderson knew the story they wanted to tell and they confidently weaved it throughout several scary, gory, and often funny arcs.

In this final issue, Buckaroo’s last secrets are laid bare while the town is in flames. There exists a gene that can predict whether someone is capable of murder, however, it needs to be triggered; that’s what the gauntlet is for. Morty orders Barker to compel his hostages to run through it, yet she refuses. Yes, she carries the gene, and she’s been driven to kill before, but she still has control over her own actions; this means telling Morty to go fuck himself and cutting off his arm.

The only way out of the crumbling tunnels is via the gauntlet, but first, everyone takes the test to see if they have the gene. Well, not Finch; he knows he’s a bad motherfucker. Barker, of course, is positive as fuck. Alice and Crane are negative. Warren is excited because now his family will see that all the things he did weren’t his fault. Perhaps he’ll get a second chance with Crane and their daughter.

Not so fast.

Warren’s test is negative. He only has himself to blame for the crimes he committed. Still, he has one heroic act in him when he stays behind to make sure Morty is buried along with the tunnels so that Crane, Finch, and Alice can escape. The tunnel collapse also claims Barker, who can’t live with what she’s done.

Fast forward a year, and Finch comes out of his boring retirement to return to work. Alice and Crane are in Portland, living in a nice home paid for with the sales of Crane’s book about their experience in Buckaraoo.

But this wouldn’t be Nailbiter, one of the best stories to ever put the chills from a slasher film on the page, without one last Holy Shit moment. And it’s a good one that brings with it a promise of more Nailbiter in the future.

I’ll be biting my nails in hopeful anticipation.