Comic books have always been a metaphor and narrative mirror of society and the current zeitgeist. To pretend otherwise is silly. If you pretend to hate politics in comic books it’s only because the comic doesn’t mirror your own. There is a comic book called Captain Confederacy about a superhero in a world where the C.S.A. won the American Civil War – and it wasn’t written for the “woke.” The point is that comic books as a medium have always been political and challenging societal norms. It is something you must keep in mind when reading Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1.
Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 (September 2019)
- Published by BOOM Studios
- Writer: James Tynion IV
- Artist: Wetther Dell’Edera
- Colorist: Andworld Design
- Lettering: Tom Orzechowski
- $10 USD at Amazon
Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 is an independent comic book written by openly gay and fan-favorite writer James Tynion IV and artist Werther Dell’Edera. It’s about child-killing monsters and monster-hunting secret societies. But it is ostensibly about the human condition, the moral decay of American society, and how irresponsible and indifferent parents fail their children when they need them the most.
Be warned – this is a horror comic book that features grotesque depictions of children being killed by monsters. It’s disturbing. But that is just the tip of the iceberg narrative. This book is really about how human beings fail each other and live with regret in the aftermath.
I highly recommend that you read Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1. It is a 128-page paperback that collects the first five issues of the series. The series was originally envisioned as a 5-part miniseries but was upgraded to an ongoing series due to its immense popularity.
The comic has even spawned spinoff series. The comic book was published in 2019 and the first issue is now worth hundreds of dollars on the collectibles market.
Here is everything you need to know about Something is Killing the Children Vol.1.
First Appearance of Something is Killing the Children
Something is Killing the Children #1 (September 2019) BOOM! Studios
Brief Bio and History: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1
The story in Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 is set in a fictional middle-America town called Archer’s Peak, Wisconsin. Nine children have disappeared without a trace and the police have no idea who is doing it – they think a rabid bear is committing the crimes.
In the opening pages, we meet James, an in-the-closet middle school student who is playing truth or dare with some of his friends at a sleepover. He makes a dare for the group to go into the woods to find a fictional monster he made up – but all the kids get slaughtered except for James.
Soon afterward, James has become a town pariah and scapegoat for his open-secret sexuality and for being a suspect. James is then approached by Erica Slaughter, a mysterious and kick-ass monster hunter who was commissioned by a secret society of monster hunters to hunt down and kill the child-killing monsters.
There is a well-meaning police chief who is in over his head – he doesn’t trust Slaughter but suspects she may be the only one who could help. James and Erica are also hounded by Tommy, a local diner manager whose young sister disappeared weeks earlier.
Tommy thinks Erica and James are involved in the killings and starts his own investigation.
Meanwhile, scores of Lovecraftian monsters lurk in the nearby woods and caves. They regularly hunt children as a food source.
Erica Slaughter
The monsters can only be seen by children – they are utterly invisible to adults. Erica Slaughter and her monster-hunting society use a special process that allows the young woman to be able to see monsters.
Finally, all of the local townspeople, grieving parents, surviving relatives, and gossiping and scapegoating townspeople, are all trying to make sense of the horror. They scapegoat children who survive the horror, like James, blame each other, and wallow in misery.
Erica Slaughter is a comic book heroine struck in the mold of sci-fi movie heroes like Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor, In Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1, she seems to be the only hope for Archer’s Peak, Wisconsin – but even she has her own dark secrets.
The Review: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1
As I previously mentioned, Something is Killing the Children Vol.1 is a horror comic. You will find vivid and horrific depictions of children being killed in this comic book. If the thought makes you queasy, then this is not the comic book for you.
But to focus on that aspect is to miss the forest for the trees. Yes, it is sensationalist. This book is macabre. It is a gory sci-fi horror book.
But it is also partly a commentary on the human condition vis-a-vis small-town America. There are over a billion true crime documentaries on TV and they always feature a crime in small-town America where someone says that the town is perfect, they never lock their doors, and the town lost its innocence, crime never happens there, and everyone is shocked that the non-descript normal looking neighbor committed a heinous crime.
Tynion IV and Dell’Edera craft a masterpiece horror story here that asks if small-town Americana is so perfect, why is it so flawed like anywhere else?
After the children go missing, the grieving townspeople of Archer’s Peak are depicted as normal with flawed lives, wallowing in regret or delusional, or gossiping and scapegoating to cope.
This comic features themes like:
- Fear of the other
- Scapegoating
- Anti-LGBTQIA hatred and fearmongering
- Alienation
- Small town politics
- Apathy and alienation
Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 – Who Are the Real Monsters?
I think the monsters in the story are metaphors or narrative analogs to the damage caused to children by bigoted, indifferent, and irresponsible parents in America in the real world.
A character named Tommy has a sister who disappeared early in the story. His mother falls into near catatonic grief. The estranged father is a drunk who lies naked in his home, forgetting the world. If this is the dynamic now, what was it like before the children went missing?
Other adults grieve and drink to numb the pain, talking about their missing children as if they were idyllic characters in a Hallmark family film.
Meanwhile, James, a young middle-schooler who is in the closet, is being harassed by fellow students. They mock James for being queer and scapegoat him as the killer of multiple missing children. And these are the children of the parents of this small town – where did they develop their mindsets and ideologies?
In the same way that the adults can’t see these children-eating monsters, could they really see their children before the carnage began? Or were they too busy sending them to school and pretending they didn’t exist so they could grieve over personal failings instead of appreciating family?
Even the police won’t believe it had anything to do with monsters. They think a rabid bear did it – until they begin scapegoating some of the townspeople themselves.
Adults can’t see the child-killing monsters and I think it’s a commentary by the creators on how parents sometimes can’t see their children until it’s too late. Having children means sacrificing time, finances and being as selfless as possible – it’s a thankless job. And that is not the fault of the children, who didn’t ask to be born.
The Positive
Erica Slaughter is one of the coolest comic book characters to be created in recent years. Killing the monsters and making the townspeople she encounters understand they are not perfect and don’t have all of these answers makes Erica a very relatable character.
The artwork is amazing. The writing and the art work together perfectly in aesthetically building the sense of dread and suspense of the story.
This comic book is awesome! Go get it now!
The Not So Good
I loved everything about this comic book. This is the only review where I could ever say that.
Verdict: Buy It or NOPE
Buy it right now.
You can get Something is Killing the Children Vol.1., a trade paperback that collects the first five issues of the series, at Amazon for $10 now.
But if I were you, I would invest in individual issues as a collectible investment. Issue #1 one is now worth hundreds of dollars.
Current Market Price: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1
I highly recommend that you buy Something is Killing the Children Vol.1. If you can find a copy of Something is Killing the Children #1 in any condition, you could make hundreds of dollars selling it right now. And this is for a comic book that came out in 2019.
James Tynion IV is a cult-favorite writer with a loyal fanbase willing to pay a lot for the comics he writes.
If you have a 9.8 CGC graded copy of this comic book you can make $703 selling it. The comic has a rabid cult fanbase and will retain its value.
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