“We were worried people might think it was too much… but they’d remember it!” Josh Williamson and Mike Henderson discuss Nailbiter’s iconic first cover and creating a town full of serial killers
Josh Williamson and Mike Henderson’s gruesome new creator-owned series Nailbiter from Image Comics had one of the most iconic and disturbing covers we have seen in years! This week they are set to launch the dark and twisted second issue onto an unsuspecting public and after the [literally] nail bitingly good first issue we knew that we had to to dig deeper into the world of Buckaroo, Oregon (the home of 16 serial killers) to find out more about this darkly twisted world they have created – not to mention finding out just where they came up with the idea for that horrifically good cover. WARNING: This article contains pages from the book which might not be suitable for all ages!
The main premise for Nailbiter is a town that links 16 serial killers, where did that idea come from? Is it based on reality or it is perhaps a riff on the old legend that loads of serial killers all read Catcher in the Rye and you’re looking for a common theme where there is otherwise randomness?
JW: The idea came from the town where I grew up. My childhood was spent in a smaller suburban city, and as I got older I kept hearing stories or reading articles about serial killers that had been arrested there. Even today since the book has come out, people who still live there have reached out and told me about killers there. It’s sort of crazy. Even the Zodiac was said to have lived there at one point. That and a few other elements, all just added up to this book.
There is no way we’ll ever crack what makes people become serial killers in the real world, but we can do it in our book. There will be a common theme, but that will all be part of the mystery of the comic.
Why do you think small town America is such a rich setting for stories like this? Did you have that kind of small town up bringing or is it based on a childhood full of movies and books?
MH: Small town America offers a social dynamic that a setting in the city wouldn’t. Also, it’s in the middle of nowhere! What could be creepier? It helps me set the mood with my art, that’s for sure.
JW: As I said before, I grew up in a medium sized suburb, that at the time I thought was super small, but when I first moved to Oregon I lived in a small town far outside of Portland. THAT was a very small town. I’d ride my bike around town, I could cover all of it in less than an hour, and I’d ride out the farm country and see these open fields that had small abandoned house out in the distance. I’d see these houses and think “Something bad happened there.” Some of the best parts of horror are the very real and natural fears like isolation, claustrophobia and xenophobia. Those are elements you’d find in a small town that readers can relate to immediately, and so it allows you some short hand into getting to the nitty gritty of horror.
Your lead character has a particularly gruesome M.O., where did the inspiration for that come from? Was it based on reality, or just your own sick imagination? Either way it seems to have given Mike a great start point for that first issue’s cover which is really powerful, it must have been fun to create?
MH: It was a LOT of fun to create. As much as it made people squirm when they saw it, imagine how much *I* squirmed as I drew it! Originally we weren’t going to even use this cover, but we’re very very glad we did. As for it’s conception, that story is all Josh.
JW: I chew my nails. Have pretty much my whole life. It’s a disgusting habit that I’ve learned to live with. It really freaks and annoys some people. I grew up with people giving me a hard time with it, and it stuck with me.
Mike and I went back and forth on the cover a bunch. Pretty much it was “Warren chewing his nails. Lots of blood.” And Mike ran with it. We were worried at times that people might think it was too much but they’d remember it. They’d know it. And they’d talk about it.
Are you big fans of the horror genre as a whole and what do you enjoy most about working in this genre? What are the challenges – is gore the key or can you get by with just good scares?
JW: The horror genre and I are good friends. I love it. Movies, books, comics, video games. I like to be scared. There is also something magical to me of the more gothic horror. My interest in horror is wide, but I would never consider myself an expert. I feel like I’m enough on the outside of the deeper fandom, that I am able to see the bigger aspects that I like and not get lost in the history.
My favorite aspect of writing horror…? There are two. Using the comics medium, the amazing visual tricks to try to scare and build tension. And then I love writing up crazy horror or gothic imagery and seeing Mike draw it. Mike and I have developed a working relationship where we both know what we enjoy, and Mike nails the stuff I’m thinking. In fact, he always makes it better.
Even through the #1 cover is filled with blood we try to avoid the gore. Our focus is to be clever. Make the reader see what they want to see. Remember the first Halloween movie by John Carpenter had no blood in it.
MH: I am a fan of the horror genre (and drawing a splatter fest isn’t the worst fun you could have), but I think we both prefer working with a psychological bent. So Nailbiter leans in that direction, with just enough “ick” to keep everything fresh and unexpected for the reader.
Your story seems very self aware (you make a joke about it not being like Silence of the Lambs at one point) were you quite aware of other titles in the serial killer genre when creating the book? How important is it to be aware of other titles and characters or are you not setting out to be post-modern? Which killers or stories inspired the events in Nailbiter?
JW: Y’know, I wasn’t aware at all of other books with serial killers in them. I tried to avoid the influences. And honestly, I didn’t see ones that were my cup of tea. Which is part of what motivated me to create Nailbiter. It’s the horror book I wanted. Same with Ghosted, y’know? I even stopped watching Hannibal for a bit.
Most of the Nailbiter influences came from films and television: Psycho, Halloween, Twin Peaks, American Horror Story, Silence of the Lambs, etc. That list goes on and on. And a LOT of documentaries. And man, we did so much research on actual killers it’s hard to pick one that was inspired us.
The serial killer seem to be going through something of a post-modern revival with Dexter and Hannibal, do you ever worry that by humanising a serial killer there is a danger of trivialising their actions and in doing so you glorify them in a way and lose their impact as villains? After all Freddie Kruger started off as a terrifying child killer and has ended up a cartoonish character without the same impact.
JW: Isn’t that weird? Not sure how Hannibal is going to end. Really hated the end of Dexter. I bring that up because our goal in the long run is to NOT humanize the Nailbiter. It might seem that way at first, but yeah. You’ll see.
Even with the media’s representation of serial killers, people are afraid of them. I think… this might sound weird. It’s all a haunted house. People know they are scary and yet they go into them anyway. They get off on the rush. What is worrisome is when people start to see serial killers as haunted houses… They don’t take them seriously.
But really, people have been downplaying the horrifying nature of these crimes for years regardless of what we do. It does baffle the mind how much people love that shit.
After your brilliant work on Masks and Mobsters, how was it working in a modern setting (and also in colour)? Was it always important to give it a very modern basis rather than doing another period piece? And did you change your artwork Mike to better suit this story?
JW: There was a lot of talk in the beginning to keep the two titles separate on a visual level. To really make sure they had their own identity. Thankfully we found a great colorist in Adam Guzowski to get us there.
MH: I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I think an artwork should change in some ways to suit the story. It certainly shifts subtly in mine. As Masks & Mobsters could be a bit sillier at times, it could be somewhat more animated in a way than Nailbiter can. But, depending on the characters, some of my characteristic exxaggeration slips through here and there. The modern setting is easier in some ways (finding reference, specifically), but it was also necessary. The kind of story we were going to tell needed to be in the here and now for it to effectively chill people to their fingernails.
Finally, what can you tell us about the story arc for Nailbiter? Is it a limited series or part of an ongoing series? And how are you looking forward to the storyline developing?
JW: It’s ongoing. It’s a big mystery with many moving pieces. This first arc focuses on Finch and Crane. Building the town and the characters. Having some fun with the reader.
It’s a bit of a slow burn, but we try to ask a question and answer it in every issue. We don’t want to drag out everything. But people will probably be surprised how we answer a pretty big question early on in the book.
We are working so far in advance. The first 5 issues have been done for a bit. So now we’re excited for people to see stuff from the later issues. There is one page from issue 6 that I can’t wait to share.
You can purchase Nailbiter issues #1 and #2 from ComiXology and from the Image Comics Digital Store for £1.99/$2.99
Review: Headspace #1-3 (MonkeyBrain Comics)
June 13, 2014 @ 5:01 pm
[…] to be a dark and gritty, blood-soaked horror story in the veign of Dexter, Hannibal or the recent Nailbiter. But instead of channelling these gore-focused blood-fests, writer Ryan K Lindsay is instead […]
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