There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we look at “Something is Killing the Children” by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, and Miquel Muerto, published by BOOM! Studios.
Who Is This By?
As a writer, James Tynion IV’s bibliography is rather extensive, especially at DC Comics. He has copious experience with comics concentrated on the Batfamily (and associated characters such as Calvin Rose’s “Talon”) stretching back to 2012 in one way or another, having culminated in a 2016 to 2018 “Detective Comics” run and then taking the reins on “Batman” itself as of 2020. However, his more prominent and relevant work is with horror, which practically speaks for itself. At DC Comics, he wrote “Constantine: The Hellblazer” from 2015 to 2016, the heavily horror-focused “Justice League Dark” run from 2018 until 2020 (including the 2018 October crossover special with “Wonder Woman” known as ‘The Witching Hour’), and the “villain versus villain” miniseries “Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen” in 2020, among others such as being one of the main architects of the “DC Metal” and “DC Death Metal” arcs and what came in between. Outside of those, he has had a more recent ongoing conspiracy thriller series at Image Comics, titled “The Department of Truth,” which itself is soaked well in horror.
While less prolific, Werther Dell’Edera’s portfolio is still rather impressive. At DC Comics, Dell’Edera worked on “Loveless” intermittently between 2006 and 2008, and for several issues of “Greek Street” in 2010. Working for Marvel, Dell’Edera provided pencils to the “Punisher War Journal” annual for 2009, and for the “Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business” graphic novel in 2014. At IDW Publishing, he illustrated the miniseries “The Crow: Memento Mori” in 2018.
Miquel Muerto has a small number of miniseries projects, but all of them are well colored, with the most prominent listed here. From 2018 to 2019, Muerto colored BOOM! Studios’s “Low Road West,” followed by the “Bury the Lede” graphic novel also in 2019. In 2020, he worked on the futuristic Japanese vampire tale “Bleed Them Dry” for Vault Comics.
What’s It All About?
The world of “Something is Killing the Children” is by no means nice, as one might grasp from the title alone. It follows the tale of Erica Slaughter of the Order of St. George, a collection of monster-hunting “houses” who work to keep humanity safe from creatures that slaughter many people but can only be seen by young children or those who have their mindset. Erica travels from town to town with her favorite stuffed animal from when she was young, even speaking with it. As she travels, she suffers from the pain of handling these creatures day in and day out, finding their designation as one type of monster or another, and discerns how to help the largest number of people in the smallest amount of time.
To paraphrase an unrelated television series, monster hunting is a… complicated profession, and does not create the best of people. Erica is by no means a nice person, at least not to adults, and on some level is keeping herself from growing up so that she can keep fighting the beasts that only children can normally see. She is kind to children, confiding in them, and hates her superiors, as well as feeling self-loathing over her ability or inability to help as many people as possible. She probably has a host of personality disorders at this point, not to mention barely sleeping due to constantly being on the move from one job to the next. Even on her best days, she still is called out for looking very creepy, with particular attention drawn to her “creepy eyes.”
However, not everything is about the hunt, though it all seems to relate to the killing in some way. As nearly the entirety of the first three arcs take place in the town of Archer’s Peak, there is a sizable amount of concentration on the people within the town itself. In some ways, there is equal, or perhaps even greater focus is given to those various townspeople, helping to show their lives in such a horrible situation as the monstrously brutal deaths of several children. From people around Erica’s age to several child survivors to people as important as the town sheriff, there is a wide range of personalities that clash with and change in response to the possibly eldritch horrors out of nightmares.
Continued belowWhat Makes It So Great?
Okay, let’s just admit one thing up front. For those who recognize the writer of this piece’s work, the fact that he would enjoy a series about deconstructed monster hunting with a young woman having potential personality disorders and demonstrating how hunting monsters is in no way glamorous likely is not particularly surprising. However, there is more beyond that.
Unlike some other series, the monsters in “Something is Killing the Children” are not the usual fare, and have their own rules that the creative team develops over the course of the run thus far. Although there is only one type of monster being examined, there is a hint toward the idea of there being far more variations, a world outside of the story that is ripe for examination. Some series may imply categorization, but a discussion between Erica and her superior shows that there are actual, defined terms for everything, as well as particular ways to handle them.
Further, rather than being just one person or one and their partner against the world, Erica has her own superiors within her organization, which come across as an extremely dark take on something similar to the Watchers in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Her interactions with them, particularly her own handler, show her own concern for people, her flaws in handling any particular situation, and the distinct inhumanity of the vast majority of the Order of St. George, who could even make readers question what a monster actually is beyond the literal definitions given within the story. The vast majority of the Order’s hunters exemplify a quotation from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, as written in his 1886 book commonly known by its shortened title Beyond Good and Evil: “He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
Rather than just looking into the hunt and nothing else, the fact of there being concentration on the townspeople helps to give them characterization beyond their established archetypes as exist in far too many stories to count. These people are not stupid, merely responding to events as they see them using the information they have, and while they are at times obstructive, the rationales they give are entirely within reason. As they develop a greater understanding of the horrible situation in which they find themselves, they show an unusual level of autonomy and intelligence that makes them not just side characters in Erica Slaughter’s story, but heroes (or at least important players) in their own right. Even young children, who understandably do not fight the creatures themselves, do their best to help, and feel very much alive, rather than being props to be used.
Even aside from the amazing storytelling from a script perspective, the artwork is also very good at pulling it all together. Werther Dell’Edera’s artwork is rough and gritty, showing the world of monster slaying devoid of any romanticism. His depiction of violence is gut-wrenching (occasionally literally, if not dismembering), his look at individual faces, especially Erica herself, extremely potent and emotional.
On the other hand, Miquel Muerto’s colors give a great contrast between the darkness of the monsters, the unearthly lights of some of the other beings Erica has seen, and the muted, normal colors of everyday life, all put up against the red splashes of blood and gore. Above all, the colors work with the illustration to make absolutely certain that no, this is not a profession anyone should ever want, but it is definitely necessary nonetheless.
How Can You Read It?
“Something is Killing the Children” is available wherever comic books are sold. “Something is Killing the Children” #15 is available today, and the next arc will begin with #16 on May 26, 2021, after a short break. The first two trade paperbacks (covering the first ten issues) are available wherever comic books are sold, with a third one (containing issues 11 through 15) set to release on June 15, 2021.
