Something is Killing the Children TP

#7TP

Release: Feb 14, 2024

Creators

Writer	James Tynion IV
Artist	Werther Dell’Edera
Cover Artist	Werther Dell’Edera

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Finally breaking the apparent streak and putting up a Short Box post about something I like.

This post is less about this specific volume and more about the series in general, which is the kind of thing I like doing with these quick looks at multi-issue collections. And I like doing quick looks at multi-issue collections because I want to talk about them without having to get into the kind of detail I do in Unbaggings.

So, the basics. Monsters are real, or at least they can become real, given shape and substance by the belief of children and drawn to the fear that belief inspires, growing stronger as they feed on the children that formed them. Even though only children can see them, the monsters can strike at anyone, and they will, unless they’re stopped.

That’s where the Order of St. George comes in, killing the monsters, cleaning up loose ends, and keeping the truth about monsters from becoming common knowledge. However, the members of this ancient order who fight with monsters – and have been transformed in a way that allows them to be able to see monsters – have in many ways become monsters themselves. And that’s where Erica Slaughter, one of the Order’s best monster hunters, gets out, walking away and taking on monsters on her own.

This collection finds Erica fighting to protect the survivor of a monster attack while also trying to protect herself from the killer the Order has sent to kill her. It’s essentially two fights with herself, as she shares much in common with the Order’s killer, and the monster stalking the girl in her charge is itself a monstrous doppelganger of Erica.

In a very short time, SIKTC has established a great deal of lore, assisted by the spin-off series House of Slaughter, and the one-shot specials such as the recent Book of Butcher, and it shares some common themes with another book written by the prolific Tynion, The Department of Truth, most notably in the ideas about reality being shaped by belief.

The art from Dell’Edera really suits the tone of the series, and especially shines with the distorted anatomy of the monsters that lurk in the darkness.

While I’m happy with tradewaiting, I do sometimes with I had gotten in on the ground floor with this one. Still, I’m glad that I at least did get on board with it. I highly recommend it, and if you like horror and ever wondered what a grimmer version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer might be like, I think this is a book you’d enjoy.

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