Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV

While the comic walks a tonal line between deadly serious and flippant, the pain of the incidental characters feels very real. Although it doesn’t take long for scenes of graphic mutilation to take place in Archer’s Peak, Tynion IV does not treat his victims lightly. Sorry that I always reach for TV comparisons rather than comics because I’ve not actually read a lot of mainstream comics, but think Stranger Things levels of monster, American Horror Story levels of gore, and Buffy levels of tongue-in-cheek horror humour (did I mention the talking octopus sock puppet? It’s a thing). While the story is pretty child-centred, as suggested by the title, this is not a comic for the faint of heart. Not long after, survivor James meets Erica who seems to know a surprisingly large amount about the monster who he hasn’t even told the police he saw. Spoiler: there are actual real monsters and some of those adolescent boys don’t last past the first 2 pages. We start at an adolescent boys’ sleepover where James and his friends play truth or dare and talk about nightmare monsters. GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV ( Justice League, Batman: Detective Comics) teams with artist Werther Dell’Edera ( Briggs Land), colourist Miquel Muerto, and letterer Andworld Design to create a tangible and evocative middle American town in Archer’s Peak, its denizens and the mysterious strong female character Erica Slaughter (yes really) who’s coming to save them from the monsters they can’t even see. I just want to say that I read this comic in the bath and on a treadmill today and I am very pleased with both life choices and I thoroughly recommend mixing comics with healthy self-care activities in these times. This atmospheric and entertaining small town monster mystery from BOOM! Studios reaches its first compilation with aplomb. Something is Killing the Children, but more importantly, someone is killing the somethings.

Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV