It’s hard to think of a comics writer right now who is hotter than James Tynion IV. He writes Batman, the comic about Batman (which, in direct objection to the critique of this site, rules). He just won an Eisner for 2020 Best Writer. And a Something Is Killing The Children show is in development with Netflix. Even in the universe of this book, he’s expanding. There’s been a true expansion of the JTIV brand over the last year or so, even moving into publishing with Tiny Onion’s Razorblades anthology. But the hardest thing about scaling like this is controlling quality while trying to balance so many different plates. In Something Is Killing The Children #18, Tynion and artist Werther Dell’edera (with colors by Miquel Muerto and letters by Andworld Design) show that they still have a firm grasp on those fundamentals.
Whereas the first extended arc on the title was fairly contained, a monster stalks a small town, Erica Slaughter is there to stop it; this arc is about expansion. It’s the sequel trick, taking the known mythology and blowing it up bigger and bigger. The Order Of St. George, the shroud around all that Erica does, is the focus. Now, what Tynion and Dell’edera face is the truth that a secret society of monster hunters isn’t all that novel. Genre readers have seen this, they know the tropes; the different factions, the rituals, the secrecy, the t-shirt (or in this case bandana) ready logos. Want to make this stand out? Then execution is key.
Here, Jessie takes a young Erica to meet Big Gary Slaughter. He is, for lack of a better comparison, a Hagrid. He’s big, affable, kind, and keeps monsters. His salt and pepper beard, with the salt winning more and more each day, and unbuttoned Dan Flashes top sell him instantly. He’s past his prime, but just past. Still useful, but past caring about his position in the organization. Dell’edera’s design and character acting betray him before Tynion’s script can turn the knife.
And the script, for its part, is a strong one, deepening our understanding of our wide-eyed protagonist. Erica is traumatized, and rightly so, but with her life torn apart, the House of Slaughter is all she has. It adds new weight to her decision to go against The Order at the end of the last arc, as well as an interesting wrinkle for the future of the series.
In fact, what this issue truly does is strip down The Order to its core. It’s the fraternity induction done in the house basement, next to the washer and dryer. At the end of the day, away from all the pomp and circumstance, this is about a monster hunter who lives a plain life on a farm. This could be anywhere, anyone, that is, until the ritual begins. You have to understand, that’s when Tynion and Dell’edera’s work to establish the boring pays off in dividends. The horror is heightened when Big Gary, a man named Big Gary, becomes a priest presenting this First Communion of blood and shadow to a scared little girl. The pitch-black alter in this unholy of holies erases the memory of the country breakfast they cheerily took in just moments ago. And again, as they double back, as the piety of the induction is annihilated by the exhausted concern of a cleric who has seen too many children destroyed by monsters, we remember. He is just a man, Erica is just a girl. They are human.
The human element is why Tynion has risen from journeyman to all-star in just a short time. He has channeled that fundamental connection to the human core and kept it in the forefront while expanding his empire. It’s what makes Something Is Killing The Children #18 stand out when it could just fade in.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
