During a Saturday afternoon panel at C2E2, Boom! Studios’ Anthony Mauro was joined by writer James Tynion IV (Something Is Killing The Children, The Nice House On The Lake), artist Michael Dialynas (ZAWA The Belly Of The Beast, WYND, TMNT), and artist Werther Dell’Era (Something Is Killing The Children) to celebrate a decade of Tynion at the publisher.
Tynion initially approached Boom! Studios 10 years ago with a pitch for The Woods on the advice of Scott Snyder (Batman, Wytches, Nocterra). That initial pitch for a four-issue miniseries about a high-schooler who is transported into the middle of an alien forest ballooned into a 36-issue series — a running theme of Tynion’s run with the publisher.
“I’m not known for my brevity,” Tynion joked. “I like long series.”
“Once I find the audience, that just means it’s like, ‘Hey, we can make this however long it needs to be.’ Sometimes, that means it should be longer.”
There was much more than reminiscing, however, as the panel dropped several juicy hints for what fans of Tynion’s work can expect on the horizon. Here’s what we learned.
Something Is Killing The Children getting back to basics — and to Netflix?
Tynion and Dell’Era’s hit horror series Something Is Killing The Children is celebrating its 5-year anniversary this year. The series’ next issue will make it Tynion’s longest-running creator-owned series — which is, all things considered, a feat in the current market and a testament to the power that word of mouth can still wield in the industry.
Still, the writer joked that he partially credits Robert Kirkman for the series’ success, as he suddenly ended The Walking Dead just before SIKTC was set to release, leaving a gaping hole in the horror comics space on comic shop shelves.
The current arc of the series is set to get “back to the original pitch of the series.” Over the course of five one-shots, main character Erica Slaughter will be placed in a variety of settings and situations that provide five “jumping-on points” and serve as a reminder after the “brutal end of the last arc” that the core of the series is Erica fighting monsters.
“In some of the issues, she’s going to be more pulled back, and it’s more focused on the people in whatever small town she’s in. Sometimes it’s more focused on her,” Tynion said. “There’s still some big story secrets that will unravel over the course of the arc.”
There’s also, however, a “sad dog issue,” Tynion warned. “Sometimes you’ve gotta write a sad dog issue.”
Tynion also hinted that things are “moving in exciting ways on the Netflix front” — but he can’t say any more about that yet.
Among other Something Is Killing The Children news:
- Hello Darkness, a six-issue anthology series that will tell an Erica Slaughter in Rashomon style, where the entire town is gathered in one bar and you hear all of their different takes on an event.
- Something Is Killing The Children #0 is set to release later this year, directly precedes SIKTC #1, and tells the story of what Erica was doing in the woods.
- The Book of Slaughter and Book of Butcher series of oversized winter specials will be wrapped up with Book of Cutter, expanding the mythology of the series.
- Finally, Something is Killing the Children Silver, previously announced at San Diego Comic Con last year, is still on the way, has a yet-to-be-named artist attached, and will tell the “most mysterious” story of the House of Slaughter. But beyond that, “I can’t really talk much about it,” Tynion said.
10th Anniversary oversize hardcovers on the way
Perhaps the panel’s biggest announcement, a Boom! Direct Reserve Kickstarter campaign will offer super deluxe edition hardcovers of Tynion’s Memetic, Something Is Killing The Children, and The Woods.
The campaign launches May 14, the date The Woods was first published, but fans can sign up now to receive a reminder when it goes live. Artist Nick Robles, who Tynion noted used to draw fan art of The Woods, is contributing a print for this collection.
“I love big, beautiful hardcover editions of my comics,” Tynion said. “If you have the deluxe Something Is Killing The Children volume, it’s going to look great on the shelf next to all of those.”
The set will also feature supplemental material including art galleries and making of and interview content.
