Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 4

Comic Info

Something Is Killing the Children #16

Reprints Something Is Killing the Children #16-20 (May 2021-September 2021).  Erica Slaughter wasn’t always Erica Slaughter.  When her parents and sister were killed by a monster, Erica found herself thrust into the Order of St. George.  With Jessica as her mentor, Erica learns hunting monsters is something that has existed for centuries…but entering the Order is harder than killing the beasts.  The House of Slaughter has a potential opening for Erica, but she must survive first.

Written by James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 4 is a Boom! Studios horror comic book collection.  Following Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 3, the collection features the “Me and My Monster” storyline with art by Werther Dell’edera.

Something Is Killing the Children was a bright spot of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I found it during peak of the isolation and something about the story clicked.  With this volume, you finally get more answers on the Order of St. George and how it all works…which has its advantages and disadvantages.

The common debate is if a mysterious character should lose its mystery.  I know I’ve cared less about Wolverine since Origin (though it was exciting to read Origin).  While Erica Slaughter isn’t as established as Wolverine, it works in the same thread.  In the first three volumes, she’s just this cool enigma working for a strange covert group.  Here, you get the basic workings of Erica’s organization and learn how she got there.

Something Is Killing the Children #18 Variant

That story is compelling and worthwhile.  It probably was necessary to start dipping into more development for Erica and her ilk (especially after their involvement in the previous volumes).  The only problem with it is that I do really like the monster hunting and monster fighting…and this doesn’t have as much of it simply due to the structure.  I like this entry, but I’m anxious to get back to Erica hunting monsters across the country.

The art and style of the comic continues to succeed.  Werther Dell’edera has a nice style to the art, and is good at composition.  I sometimes wish that the monsters were less Lovecraftian and more defined (like a normal werewolf or vampire or other classic monster), but they are working here so far.  I do have some issues with how and when the cross panels are to be read as spreads versus straight-up-and-down pages and find myself having to go back to reread across…but that is more my own fault than the comic.

Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 4 continues to be a fun read.  I look forward to the next entry to see the ramifications of Erica’s actions and now with some background, defying the Order of St. George has a little more weight.  The horror is there and the horror is growing…and I’m liking every issue of it.  Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 4 is followed by Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 5.

Related Links:

Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 1

Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 2

Something Is Killing the Children—Volume 3