This comic gets 5 stars from me. The art style is so scary and beautiful. This is definitely not a comic for everyone. It is filled with horror and gore. Like the title suggests there's lots of child death in it. So, stir clear of this one if that's too much for you.

The storyline is amazing. I loved how chill the monster Hunter's attitude is. The young boy breaks my heart and I adore him. The huge plot twist at the end as me dying to read the next one. This comic flows so well, I read it in an hour and didn't even notice I was close to ending until I finished it.
If you love horror, supernatural comics, and gory action fight scenes; you should definitely read this.

"I know right now you're scared. Right now you're probably doubting you saw anything at all. But you know the world makes a lot less sense than it used to. And every day that feeling gets a little worse."

So that's timely.

Very much in the Stephen King, Stranger Things mode, this has monsters preying on the kids of a small American town, and suspicion falling on the outsider who arrives to stop them. Nothing particularly original, in other words, but Tynion's script and Dell'Edera's art are both operating at a level such that it doesn't matter if you've seen it before because it wasn't these particular humans being menaced by these specific horrors (at which, unusually, we get a good look from fairly early on without that in any way reducing the tension). And as for the hunter's sidekick, well, that detail is definitely novel.

Now we just have to hope Disney and Warners are prepared to disgorge a little of that multimedia cash to ensure this doesn't go down as the last of the direct market indie buzz books, because I know most of the entertainment sector is taking a hit from the plague, but the comics market was a teetering mess even without that extra straw...

(Netgalley ARC)

Something is Killing the Children Volume I is an introduction in what I hope will become a full series of comics revolving around a monster hunter. The story opens in sleepy Archer Park with James, a boy who witnessed something happen to his friends.. James is disturbed by what he has seen and is obviously having a hard time coping with what he has seen, or what he believes he has seen. Enter the mysterious stranger. Erica Slaughter is on a mission to find out what is happening in Archer Park. There are children who are dead and even more who are missing. Will Erica and James be able to find out what is killing the children and stop it???

I have to admit, I am hooked! I was intrigued by Erica Slaughter and thought she was pretty bad a**. She has enough mystery surrounding her that I find myself wanting to know more about her, her stuffed octopus, and who she is talking to on her cell phone. The story sucked me in, but the illustrations were spot on. The monster was sufficiently creepy. While I was reading this story, I felt some Stranger Things and Supernatural vibes. If you enjoy tales with monsters and the people who hunt them, then you will enjoy Something is Killing the Children.

I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I am waiting for more but I am not convinced at all. The story is very interesting and a very cool idea but I need more. I think it was short and some part boring but I think I want to read vol. 2

This is a story about a monster who is killing kids in a very gore way. The images are a little scary especially when you see the dead bodies but I am little coward Dx

The characters... I only want to know more about Erica. The others should be dead and I am not worry about that hahaha

I need more, just more. Something is Killing the Children is a horror comic really well done, but I feel like we could have more info about the characters especially about Erica and the organization who works with her (or is Erica working for them?)
However, I love the style in general. All the bright colors, the shapes of the shadows and all the details in the background.
I want to read the second arc right now but only If explains something more about Erica and the monsters in general. Although I was feeling that lack of backstory from time to time, Something is Killing the Children is a great comic.
If you like to read horror, you should read this comic.

Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1 collects issues one to five of the new comic by James Tynion IV, with artist Wherther Dell’Edera, coloriste Miquel Muerto, and letterers Andwold Design. Published by Boom! Studios (2020)

The title is not misleading at all as, as early as the first issue, several children are indeed getting killed by something. It’s a welcome change from, for example, the book John Dies at the End by David Wong, in which John died in the middle of the book (then got better)

Those knowing award-winning writer James Tynion IV also know he’s good at horror. This showed as early as his works on the Eight Seal, Memetic/Cogneric/Eugenic, The Woods, or Justice League Dark.

On a dare, a group of Archer’s Peak teenagers decide to explore a ravine in which something might, or might not been hidden. Only one of them comes back, deeply traumatized, with a story baffling the local cops.

Then, enters a hard edged blonde girl, « Erica Slaughter », probably related to the Winchester brothers. At least, she has a similar support system, in the form of a weird secret (or not ?) society . And, she doesn’t seem too keen on monsters killing children.

Unfortunately, her attitude and communication skills rivaling those of Jack Reacher lead her to antagonize people who aren’t bad, per se, but can’t help seeing her as the enemy.

A fantastic and coherent atmosphere is set up by the collaborating creatives from the very first issue. In spite of all the action, time is spent developing the town and its inhabitants, and establishing well defined characters of importance, such as the original survivor, Daniel, the Sherif, and the brother of one of the victims. The art is a perfect fit to the story. The use of ever changing color palettes is notable, going from dark to bright and the other way around, playing with our nerves and sense of dread in the process.

It’s an horror story that doesn’t pull any punches. But, no cheap scares are used in the process. That’s not in the habit of James Tynion IV, and he wasn’t going to start now (fortunately)

This first volume provides us with a complete story, but open many doors for more. We don’t know the motivation of the monster, nor the reason for one of his main abilities. The nature, members, origin and resources of the cabal supporting Erica in her mission also remains totally mysterious, for now anyway. And, finally, Erica herself remains a puzzle.

I can’t wait to read further issues of this title.

If you like your horror with substance, this is a book for you. If you don’t, well, try it anyway (after all, I also enjoy the mindless but hilarious Hack/Slash)

The back pages offers clean covers, variants included, and a preview of The Woods, Yearbook editions.

Thanks to Boom! Studios, and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author James Tynion IV for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.

I need to keep watch for Vol. 2. I want to continue this series to its end. The babies are loose. So much mayhem, terror, and damage to be done. I am rooting for Erica Slaughter. You go girl.

I love the first volume! The story sucked me in from the first page, and the artwork is amazing. Review for Monster Librarian forthcoming.

It's It: The Comic! Now that lazy comparison-blurt is out of the way, this is a book about a town, where children have been disappearing for a while now, and it turns out something is, in fact, killing those children. Luckily, there is a kickass teenage girl that is hunting the somethings, and now she is being helped by a young boy who narrowly escaped the somethings while all his friends got brutally murdered.

It's a real case of First Volume Syndrome - characters are introduced (and they are believable, interesting people), the monsters are introduced, there are more supernatural events, and all of it is unexplained. We'll have to keep reading to find out where all of this is going. My interest is certainly piqued, and that is enough for now.

I really liked the art - nice and scratchy. If I have one criticism, it's that the design of the monsters isn't that inspired.

3.5 stars (for now)

A first volume brimming with potential and vibrant art. Unfortunately the direction it took didn't work for me and I won't be continuing it, but there's a lot to like here.

Cool, But A Bit Frustrating

This is very cool, in terms of both the art and the story, but it's one of those anti-monologuing tales. By that I mean that the heroine is grumpy, won't answer even reasonable questions from her allies, won't explain or monologue, and keeps telling people to shut up. As a consequence a lot of the early plot turns on people misinterpreting who she is and what she's up to, and thinking she's a bad guy instead of a good guy. It's sort of annoying to have the heroine creating all sorts of problems and roadblocks for herself just because she likes being abrupt, contrary, angsty, mysterious and difficult.

But hey, that's really just a minor style problem. The big picture is that our Ms. Slaughter is a top drawer monster hunter and this story involves an apex predator monster. When your heroine has to stop off and buy a new chainsaw, that's a good thing.

The artwork is especially accomplished because it manages to work well on both ends of the narrative field. On the one hand the setup scenes are crisp, clear, and easy to follow. Characters are readily distinguishable and normal settings look, well, normal. But once we go all monster the art is graphic, violent and big action. Getting from normal to nutz is done in a dark, creepy, moody style, so you get just the right roller-coaster feel.

And even though Slaughter is wound pretty tight and less than chatty she gets off lots of good lines and is compelling whenever she's on the page. When she's in action mode the drawing becomes less realistic and more stylized, but that works well. Slaughter most definitely ends up being a heroine you can follow, and I'd vote for her to be in charge of all the weapons when the demon monsters attack. This is the first of at least five issues in the series, so there's plenty more to come. Fine by me.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is really good. It has some Stranger Things and IT vibes, and that's something I really enjoyed.
The story starts in medias res and I appreciated it. I don't think there's a lack of a backstory, but I feel like everything will be explained in the following volumes. Not knowing everything, makes the character and plot even more mysterious. So, I'm eager to discover more about it.
I found Something is Killing the Children Vol.1 very captivating and with an art style that I really liked. Can't wait to read the following ones!

5 STARS

When children begin to go missing in the town of Archer’s Peak, all hope seems lost until a mysterious woman arrives to reveal that terrifying creatures are behind the chaos - and that she alone will destroy them, no matter the cost...

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SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN is a graphic novel that follows Erica Slaughter (monster hunter) as she travels to a small, sleepy American town to investigate - and destroy - the monster hunting the town's children. Broken into five chapters, we are introduced to Slaughter and her intentions but many things remain unexplained. Who is she? How does she know what is haunting the town? WHAT (or who?) is that octopus stuffy?!

This graphic novel gave me total "stranger things" vibes - I loved it! Although the art was sketchily handled, I think it lent to the atmospheric feel of the story. SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN sucked me in from the start and I am dying to find out when the next chapter of this is released! I need to know what happens after that major cliffhanger- and hopefully have some of my questions answered about Erica Slaughter and the monster hunting faction she works for.

Recommend for fans of horror, graphic novels and stories like Stranger Things & Joe Hill's Locke and Key.