New To You Comics #129: Meeting Erica Slaughter In ‘Something Is Killing The Children’

While we all have our different tastes and preferences, we can all agree that we want to dial up the horror quotient every October. So for this year’s Spooky Season, we’re celebrating some of the modern comic book horror classics.

Our first title is considered a modern masterpiece – Something is Killing the Children. Writer James Tynion IV was already well known in comics circles when SIKTC debuted in September 2019, but this book cemented his legacy. He eventually gave up a lucrative run at DC, where he was writing Batman, to focus on SIKTC as well as his Substack newsletter.

We’ll focus on the first volume of this incredible series, which introduces readers to monster-hunter Erica Slaughter and the town of Archer’s Peak, Wisconsin. As you can guess from the title, SIKTC breaks horror’s unwritten rule about leaving kids alone. Several kids are killed in the opening pages, and the body count never stops growing. 

Tom Smithyman: Tony, we are both fans of this series, so we’re stretching the idea that it’s new to us. That said, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to go back to the beginning. For me, this has been a great reminder of why I love the series. But it’s also a sad reminder that the current story arc (we’re into the seventh volume now) has been bloated. Tynion has lots of great ideas, but it feels like he’s let his franchise suffer. Though I’m glad to report that the most recent issue I reviewed, #33, seemed to be getting back on track. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself! Tony – what was it like going back and rereading this first volume?

Tony Thornley: You’re absolutely right. I remember getting excited about SIKTC when it was announced because I really enjoyed Tynion’s Batman work. At the time that would have been just Detective Comics, Batman/TMNT and some fill-ins I think. Man, I wasn’t ready for what was coming.

So yes, this isn’t new to either of us, but I think revisiting after years away counts, right?

I forgot how good this first volume is. Erica Slaughter and her world come onto the page fully formed. Yes, there’s world building, but it’s in such a natural way that it’s more like we’re in the same seat as James and Tommy – we’re learning about something that’s existed for years, we are just only now being made aware of it.

And beyond that, this first volume is a tight five issues that tell a complete chapter of a serialized story. I really like that part of it. It has its own beginning, middle, end for a satisfying read, but the cliffhanger is such a great “oh shit” moment leading into the rest of the Archer’s Peak arc and the larger Order of St. George universe.

Smithyman: Let’s talk about Erica for a minute. She’s a unique character yet also familiar. She’s that quintessential outsider, the rebel who is really good at what she does but isn’t much of a team player. While it may seem like we know Erica from that description, it’s the look that artist Werther Dell’Edera gives her that makes her special.  

I mean, those eyes, Tony!

Thornley: This series has two trademarks – someone will need a shower because they stink (usually after killing a monster) and someone will comment on Erica’s BIG eyes. And I love that about the character design. Dell’Edera’s characters are all extremely expressive, but most of them are very realistic, even those that we meet later in the series from the Order of St. George who are a bit out of the ordinary. Erica though has those HUGE green eyes.

It makes her pop in every scene she’s in, no matter how many characters there are. And you just look at her and know she’s seen some shit.

Smithyman: Of course, it’s a horror series, so we need to talk about the monster. 

First of all, there can never be enough monsters, right? That is something that this first volume got right. We see lots of fights with the monstrosity – its legs are a cross between spiders and horses and the thorax is positively alien – and most of them don’t go all that well for the kids or the good guys.

But since it’s an introduction, we see plenty of Erica battling the creature. Again, that’s something that the storytellers have missed in this latest story arc. As with many horror stories, some of the worst villains are humans. But we’re not picking up the book every month to see two people fighting. Bring on the duplicitypes!

Thornley: I forgot how scary the monster is in the first volume. And as you say the team has no problem showing it. You’re absolutely right, but also, they build to it. You don’t see it on page 3. I think it’s the second to last page of the first issue, but still, there’s an entire issue’s worth of build up, then it’s only seen sparingly until the fight to end the volume.

And this is a monster unlike anything you’ve seen. I like how you describe it, because Dell’Edera does use a lot of references we’d recognize, but also it’s a dark blob, sometimes practically formless. I feel like it’s designed to evoke the indescribable nightmares we have more than ‘oh yeah, kaiju bear.’ It’s not right, and to me, that’s what makes it scary.

Dell’Edera and colorist Miquel Muerto just are great together. I genuinely forgot more than once that there was a separate line artist and color artist. And they’re just fantastic storytellers. The layouts are strong, the designs are great, and Muerto just does amazing things with light and color to really make it come to life. Like, Erica’s eyes? When she cracks a glowstick to go after the monster, he legitimately blends the color of the light with her striking eye color in such a realistic way. It’s so cool.

Smithyman: This first volume also introduces us to the House of Slaughter, which is the monster-hunting organization that Erica is a part of – though somewhat reluctantly. That has allowed Tynion to expand the franchise into a companion series and to flesh out this unique world even further – while making a nice chunk of change in the process.

Tony and I actually discussed the first volume of House of Slaughter earlier this year. 

Tony, what else haven’t we discussed?

Thornley: I think we’re seeing a bit of a horror comics renaissance thanks to this series (and Jeff Lemire too, which you and I will talk about in a few weeks). There’s so many cool books out there right now, including several from Tynion’s Tiny Onion Studios, and they’re all so cool. It’s like the quirky sci-fi boom that came out of Saga’s debut, and I’m here for it.

Smithyman: You’re just getting started with Halloween season, though. What do you have on tap for your next New To You Comics adventure?

Thornley: We have a full month planned! If all goes according to plan, the next two weeks, while you’re busy with New York Comic Con and some work engagements, Scott Redmond and I are back together, and we’ll be talking Batman & Dracula: Red Rain and 30 Days of Night. Then Anton Kromoff will be guest starring for something from the Hellboy universe, and you and I are going to wrap up the month on Halloween day with the recently concluded first arc of Jeff Lemire’s Phantom Road. Going to be a whirlwind, if all goes well!