‘Something is killing the Children’ Volumes 1 & 2 – Tynion IV, Dell’Edera, Muerto (Boom Studios!)
The unofficial resolution, for 2026, is to focus a little more on the books that I’ve already bought rather than buying too many more. Erm… I’m not doing too badly at the moment, it’s early days :o) With that in mind then, I thought I’d pay a little more attention to some comic books, that I’d picked up fairly recently, and having thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Nice House On The Lake’, I thought I’d spend last night with the first two volumes of ‘Something is killing the Children’. So, that’s exactly what I did and you know what…? I think I’ve discovered another series that I need to collect. Not exactly a chore but my wallet is suddenly looking a little nervous. Oh well :o)
Volume One. Page Count: 128 Pages
IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.
When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
Volume Two. Page Count: 144 Pages
EVIL NEVER DIES...UNLESS ERICA SLAUGHTER KILLS IT.
Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but the horror is far from over. As her mysterious handler arrives in town to clean up her mess and quarantine the townsfolk, Erica sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother… and now she needs to kill its children.
There is an obvious comparison to be made here but I’ve never seen the show so I’m not the person to make it. I’ll leave that comparison to those who are more qualified ;o)
What I will say is that I sat down with Volume One and the second I was done with it, I was straight onto Volume Two. And now I’m done with that, I’m kicking myself, a little bit, for not picking Volume Three when I had the cash to spare.
‘Something is killing the Children’ may not be doing a lot that is new, in these first two volumes, but what it does do is set up a story that hooked me right from the start (anything that opens with a police interview will do that, especially if there’s a monster involved) and proceeds to tell a creepy story that bursts into action at all the right moments. Not only that, we also get a ‘heroine’ who may be anything but, someone who won’t take any crap but also isn’t afraid to say, ‘you know what, that’s a fair comment.’ I liked that in Erica, she kept things fresh with her willingness to let others, with a little local knowledge, have their say.
And that’s Volume One. Volume Two is more of the same but I really liked how the conclusion to Volume One just naturally led into an escalation that looks like it will take at least another couple of books to resolve.Tynion also starts to gradually introduce hints of a wider conspiracy involving the very secret society that Erica is a member of. And that is a very interesting question… If there are monsters threatening the lives of our children, why would anyone want to keep their existence a secret, especially a society that hunts them? My interest is definitely piqued and yep, I’ll be reading more of these books. No question about it.
The accompanying artwork took me a little while to get into but I’m here for it now. As always, I’m not great at talking about art but what I can say is that I really like the way that Werther Dell’Edera’s monsters somehow come across as more ‘real’ than the human cast. And when you realise that only a few people can actually see these monsters, that makes the whole thing creepier. Just what I was after :o)
‘Something is killing the Children’ may not be doing anything new (at least, not yet) but these first two volumes promise good things for the rest of the series. I’ll let you know if I’m right or not ;o)
Volume One. Page Count: 128 Pages
IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.
When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
Volume Two. Page Count: 144 Pages
EVIL NEVER DIES...UNLESS ERICA SLAUGHTER KILLS IT.
Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but the horror is far from over. As her mysterious handler arrives in town to clean up her mess and quarantine the townsfolk, Erica sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother… and now she needs to kill its children.
What I will say is that I sat down with Volume One and the second I was done with it, I was straight onto Volume Two. And now I’m done with that, I’m kicking myself, a little bit, for not picking Volume Three when I had the cash to spare.
‘Something is killing the Children’ may not be doing a lot that is new, in these first two volumes, but what it does do is set up a story that hooked me right from the start (anything that opens with a police interview will do that, especially if there’s a monster involved) and proceeds to tell a creepy story that bursts into action at all the right moments. Not only that, we also get a ‘heroine’ who may be anything but, someone who won’t take any crap but also isn’t afraid to say, ‘you know what, that’s a fair comment.’ I liked that in Erica, she kept things fresh with her willingness to let others, with a little local knowledge, have their say.
And that’s Volume One. Volume Two is more of the same but I really liked how the conclusion to Volume One just naturally led into an escalation that looks like it will take at least another couple of books to resolve.Tynion also starts to gradually introduce hints of a wider conspiracy involving the very secret society that Erica is a member of. And that is a very interesting question… If there are monsters threatening the lives of our children, why would anyone want to keep their existence a secret, especially a society that hunts them? My interest is definitely piqued and yep, I’ll be reading more of these books. No question about it.
The accompanying artwork took me a little while to get into but I’m here for it now. As always, I’m not great at talking about art but what I can say is that I really like the way that Werther Dell’Edera’s monsters somehow come across as more ‘real’ than the human cast. And when you realise that only a few people can actually see these monsters, that makes the whole thing creepier. Just what I was after :o)
‘Something is killing the Children’ may not be doing anything new (at least, not yet) but these first two volumes promise good things for the rest of the series. I’ll let you know if I’m right or not ;o)
Your wallet called me and wanted me to stage an Intervention for you. I told it my own wallet would rebel if I tried to fly across the pond. I think your wallet is sulking now ;-)
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