Something is Killing the Children #1-4 by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera

A monster in the woods.  Children lost. Children slaughtered. One boy survives and is blamed because the public needs answers. And then the monster hunter comes to the town of Archer’s Peak.

Several young men get together for a slumber party and they start to play a game of Truth or Dare… They aren’t the first children to be taken by the monster, but it is the first time there is a witness. James survives, but not before he witnesses the gore.

Just off the bus from another small assaulted town, Erica Slaughter questions James. She knows things and has a backpack full of machetes. Together they will try to gain access to the devil’s den and kill the beast.

The first thing I can tell you about this series is that immediately after reading issue #1, I downloaded #2-4. Three things were on my mind as I quickly swept through these comics.

• These characters are well developed. In just 20-so pages, Tynion creates characters that have true depth. James is a young man who is suffering from survivor’s guilt and grief. He also carries the pain of abuse brought on by other young men’s prejudice against his sexuality. I read all this suffering in each line of dialogue.
• Near perfect pacing. Characters are introduced with great timing and the issues begin and end on such great anticipatory notes.
• I loved these illustrations. The expressions. The backgrounds. The monster. It was a difficult task to try to slow myself down to enjoy the drawings but at the same time wanting to find out what happens. It’s that sort of comic.

I will be continuing with this series. It’s fun, addicting, and exactly the type of read I am looking for!

Download a free preview here.