Comic Info
Comic Name: House of Slaughter
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Writer: James Tynion IV/Tate Brombal
Artist: Chris Shehan
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2022
House of Slaughter #3
Reprints House of Slaughter #1-5 (October 2021-February 2022). Aaron Slaughter has been sent on an assignment he has dreaded for years. His first love is an enemy to the House of Slaughter and needs to be stopped. Aaron is after the Butcher…Jace who is the last surviving member of the Boucher. As Aaron hunts his former friend, he finds himself remembering his past and what led him on a path of despair.
Written by James Tynion IV and Tate Brombal, House of Slaughter Volume 1: The Butcher’s Mark is a Boom! Studio horror comic book collection. A spin-off of Something Is Killing the Children, the title features art by Chris Shehan.
Something Is Killing the Children is a favorite and more Something Is Killing the Children could be good or bad. With this first outing, House of Slaughter follows one of Erica’s closest allies and gives depth to a character who has largely been a supporting player until now.
Aaron Slaughter was a bit of enigma in Something Is Killing the Children. He’s there before Erica arrives, suffers massive bullying, but still has a fierce loyalty to those around him that he believes in…and Aaron believes in the House of Slaughter. In this volume, Aaron remembers his first love and betrayal and it starts to cloud his judgment on the Order of St. George and its goals. It brings conflict back into Aaron’s life and shows Aaron has always dealt with conflict.
House of Slaughter #4 Variant
The story does so by introducing Jace Boucher who becomes Jace Slaughter and then renounces that name again to return to his family name. Jace isn’t like most of the other characters met in Something Is Killing the Children in that there is a lot of passion, compassion, and fury in him. He’s a good flipside to Aaron (and Erica as well). The conflict between Jace and Aaron creates a nice moral debate…loyalty to House or loyalty to one’s self.
The world of Something Is Killing the Children has a lot of room to explore, and I’m glad to see it being fleshed out (especially if it means that the core title keeps on track without having exits to stories like this). The book is not as solid as Something Is Killing the Children, but this first storyline shows potential. This is meant to be more of an anthology book to help explore different masks and different aspects of the House of Slaughter and Order of St. George. While Aaron could be the focus (or Jace), the series lends itself to exploring other family members of the House of Slaughter…and it will be welcomed. More monsters, more murders, more fighting…bring it on!
