"Nailbiter Vol. 2: Bloody Hands" is a slight improvement over its predecessor, but there's still work to be done

Unlike Nailbiter Volume 1: There Will Be Blood, its sequel actually is a bit more engrossing, and not the least bit for introducing several new characters, each whom gives the series a fresh voice.  Very early in Nailbiter Volume 2: Bloody Hands, we are introduced to Mallory, a pregnant red-headed woman who dreams of giving birth in Buckaroo, for the sheer hope of having her offspring one day grow up into a world famous murderer, so she can reap the fame and fortune that mothers of such monsters generally receive.  She is a simple opportunist, a woman so disillusioned with her objective that she actually puts a syringe through a cheek of a doctor who was trying to help her, because she was under the false impression he meant to steal her unborn child.  Such is the motivation of a famed hungry person in the America we live in today, where one's "15-minutes" can bring them enough fortune for a lifetime, and then some.

Then there is Brian Michael Bendis, that famous comic book writer of Marvel Universe fame, who appears here as himself, freshly arrived in Buckaroo to write a comic or a book about the serial killers who were born and raised there.  Little does Bendis know, however, just how much trouble his snooping around unauthorized in the town's little dark places will get him.  His storyline is followed by a strange hermit who resides in the outskirts of town, and after being visited by agent Nicholas Finch, is revealed to have his delusional father living in the basement as some sort of a bee master, who unleashes his swarm on his son, and eventually, on Finch.  And last but not least, there is Mr. Crowe, the town's school bus driver, who one day goes mad (or is he actually perhaps the only sane one?) and decides to murder all the children he's picked up from school, in fear of having them all turn into serial killers someday, since they were all Buckaroo's sons and daughters.

Look, I'm still not entirely sold on this serial, because I honestly still believe that a lot of the lines are pretty sophomoric ("Hate this town!", "Lady, you have to be the most passive aggressive person I've ever met.", .".. This is all getting too weird.", etc) and the characters aren't quite as original or interesting as some of the other ones from current American comic landscape.  Even the ongoing presence of Buckaroo's baddest and most (in)famous product, Edward "Nailbiter" Warren, and the occasional appearance of the mysterious Butcher - a towering figure so ominous and enigmatically horrifying he appears to be a reincarnation of Satan himself - can't quite salvage this second episode and boost it to an A rating.  But... it is making an effort, and slowly but surely, it may come around.  I just hope it's sooner rather than later.
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