Something is Killing the Children #8 out this week brought to readers by Boom! Studios continues James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’edera, and Miquel Muerto’s horror thriller.
Something is Killing the Children #8: Reactions
Prior to Something is Killing the Children #8, lead monster hunter Erica Slaughter took drastic measures to find the titular ‘something.’ Despite disliking her superiors, she doesn’t have any way to lure the monsters out without bait. So Tynion goes into how those actions have consequences. The town’s deputy sheriff Tom even points a gun at Erica and her watcher Aaron for the last trade’s climax. Despite the somewhat necessary actions to fight the monster, the baiting technique is still child endangerment.
Aaron is more than willing to exploit the moral gray areas of handling the situation at hand. Since the town doesn’t really have any idea of what they’re dealing with, this might seem necessary. However, his first action is to knock out a nice old woman who could’ve calmed a tense situation down with a call. Erica meanwhile dislikes her superiors like Aaron and is willing to compromise where she can rather than get her way. It’s practically a way of saying that while some morals can be obstacles, some ethical boundaries are necessary. Otherwise, what kills the children might not be the monsters.
Art
Werther Dell’edera continues to provide the tense situations of Something is Killing the Children #8. Half of this issue has double-page spreads filled with panels with placements so chaotic the reader feels the tension with each second. Nothing since the Dark Knight Returns 16-panel pages has something like been attempted. Or in such a way that tells the reader that things are only going to get worse.
Except for maybe Miquel Muerto’s coloring. The mostly saturated world of Something is Killing the Children #8 leaves readers feeling uneasy. Sure there’s a bit of light to contrast the settings, but it practically reflects a bad mood. When the sheriff questions Erica’s helper from issues back James, all he gets is what readers already know, not much. It’s frustrating to both sides as it looks like nobody knows how to deal with the situation. The only exceptions are clashes that further illustrate the tensions like when Erica hits Aaron to illustrate her frustrations with her superiors. Or the sight of blood near the end of the issue represents the threat of the monsters.
The lettering by Andworld Design further illustrates the tense moments of Something is Killing the Children #8. With each word balloon, the time in an already tense situation feels longer. In just the double spreads, the transition from one panel to the next feels longer or shorter, especially when they’re of different sizes. The sparse wordmarks of bright colors are practically the building tensions exploding.
Study Up On Something is Killing the Children #8
Something is Killing the Children #8 requires a little background knowledge to fully appreciate. While it’s not friendly to new readers, the act of consequences are a strong theme here. Tensions build up over time, especially as reactions with the main characters. It can even be a critique on the nature of the anti-hero in modern times. Just because something can only be done through moral gray areas, it doesn’t justify lowering the moral bar.
What do you think? Would you rather start at the beginning for an emotional context? Or would rather just dive into the unknown, barring consequences? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
