I expected this to be... more. I wanted creepy. I didn’t quite get that. I was left with more questions than answers and the synopsis is pretty much the book.

I'm sorry but I really didn't enjoyed this graphic novel. I don't know if it's because of the app I read it on but I felt like a lot of text was missing. The drawing were great but that's about it. I didn't understand the story and couldn't care less about the characters. I'm in no way attacking the authors or anyone who contributed to this graphic novel but this just didn't do it for me.

An interesting (if not a little cliche and overdone) premise, with intriguing characters; I just wish there was more lore. There's very little backstory on Erica Slaughter and the monsters in these first five issues, which is a letdown; I enjoy the monster hunting, the bonding between Erica and James, but the lack of worldbuilding takes away some of the enjoyment. There's a vague hint near the end but I feel like overall the story would have benefited from lore being sprinkled in from the beginning, solidifying the plot and giving Erica a bit more depth. Regardless, it's a fun read, and the art style is cute; I like the abstract-esque feeling, and how soft the colors are.

This was really good!
LOVE the art style, love how already the characters are given personality and quirks, and love the concept.
Some of the illustrations were super creepy and harrowing.
Would definitely be interested in reading the rest of the series in the future.
My only complaint is the ebook formatting but this has nothing to do with the book itself as far as I am aware.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3309563985

Hi all!
Today I am back to review another new release – Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV  – which was published in September 2019. I was permitted to read an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) thanks to NetGalley. This graphic novel follows the children of Archer's Peak who begin to go missing. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories - impossible tales of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. As always, I am going to provide my honest thoughts and let you know whether I think it’s worth checking out or not. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

This is a snapshot from my NetGalley account
WHAT THIS BOOK DOES RIGHT 
The premise of this story is what drew me in initially. It has a lot of Stranger Things vibes and I have become such a fan of graphic novels in the last year. The art style was cool, gory and raw. I was also really intrigued by the character of Erica Slaughter. She was such a badass! I feel this series has a lot of potential.
WHAT THIS BOOK DOES WRONG
I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with this graphic novel...it just wasn't for me. I didn't connect with the characters or the plot. I liked the art style but at times I was very confused as to what was happening. The way it is formatted for NetGalley readers had a lot to do with my low rating. so this is not the author's fault. I kind of wanted it to be over and by the end, I knew I wasn't going to continue reading the rest of the series. I have definitely read more engaging graphic novels.
OVERALL STAR RATING
I gave this book 2/5 stars. I would still recommend it despite my rating.
If you are interested, you can order a copy here.
I hope you enjoyed this honest review. Let me know your thoughts down below. I appreciate all feedback. Thanks for reading!
Peace & Love xoxo

Thank you, NetGalley and BOOM Studios, for a complimentary copy of this graphic novel! The opinion in this review is my personal opinion.

The reason I requested a copy of this graphic novel is that I loooooved James' series "The Woods." I just had to read this new series! I doesn't quite live up to the "The Woods" series yet, but I think I can see where this is going. It's going to be epic! I believe that some of the characters didn't quite react the way I would expect someone to react (in particular those characters who were not children anymore), but that didn't bother me too much. The graphics were definitely great and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Amazing!! This was so creepy and the visuals were stunning!! Something is killing the children in a small midwestern town. No one knows why it’s happening or how to stop it, until Erica Slaughter comes to town. She starts asking questions and befriends one of the kids that saw an attack.
The story was super intense and had just enough mystery to pull you in and keep you wanting more. I need to know what happens. I’m so invested in this, it isn’t funny. What a fantastic read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this graphic novel!

When James' friends are killed in the woods one night, he is the only witness. Although most people are convinced that he was the one who did it, a mysterious figure shows up and asks James to tell his story, saying she will believe him no matter what. She knows that there is a monster lurking in the town that has to be killed, and James wants to help. With at least nine murders and fourteen kidnappings, something is up, and they are determined to get to the bottom of it.

For most of the story, I was genuinely confused. However, I was intrigued as well, so I continued reading. The illustrations were by far my favorite part of the story, and they helped a lot when I was confused about what was happening. There wasn't much of a background to the how long the murders and kidnappings had been going, which threw me off for a little bit, but once I got used to the overall mystery of this graphic novel, I did like it! Though it was not my favorite graphic novel, I will be keeping my eye out for Volume 2 of Something is Killing the Children.

Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1
by James Tynion IV
BOOM! Studios
Comics & Graphic Novels | Horror
Pub Date 26 May 2020
Review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3305317801

When James and his friends play truth or dare they have no idea that it will leave all but James dead. As children are found dead it is time for the local law enforcement to start worrying about the accumulating number of disappearances in the town.

It seems that some kinds of monster may be eating kids like tic tac's. Erica Slaughter appears and it seems like she might be the one with answers.


It's easy to understand this comics plot, Comparisons could be drawn between the monster and pedophilia though right now it may be more relevant to make a comparison to and Covid 19.. There is a big bad monster that for the most part is unseen and feeds on children.

Though I enjoyed the plot and the writing I felt that though the art was good it was a little juvenile for my teased. I appreciated some of the potential cover art at the back more then the art inside. I also found reading it as a digital comic difficult as some of the scene were over double page spreads which came one underneath the other as apposed to side by side.

For me the plot was it's saving grace and I hope Erica goes on to be a strong role. She seems to be a mix of Lisbeth Slander from Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and El from stranger things and I like that combination.

First off, if you want to know what this story is about, I refer you to the title. No spoilers, single sentence summary right there.

Getting deeper? Okay. So, one kid survives this “thing”. Since nobody believes him about his tales of a monster, all the adults have no idea what to do. Enter Erica Slaughter. Yes, that’s her name. It’s also her job. She kills monsters. She also talks to a stuffed animal, but who doesn’t?

This volume does a great job setting up the plot of the series. It feels almost like Stranger Things. Only instead of psychic powers, Erica wields chainsaws and machetes. The plot of this volume spends more time focused on the people who aren’t Erica, and how they all react to these killings. Repression, depression, lashing out. It gives the town a sense of hopelessness, which would happen if your children were all going missing, then showing up in ribbons. The dialogue doesn’t waste time in this book. Everything has a purpose, showing us more about each character without exposition. We get to see Tommy’s home life through simple scenes where he talks to his parents. From these two scenes, we can pick up just about everything about him, and it explains why he lashes out at Erica without anyone explaining. That’s good.

The art is deliberately rough. Scratchy and only detailed in close-up shots. It gives everything a bit of grit that suits the story well and keeps your focus where it’s supposed to be. The direction of the art is great. The shots for each panel match the intensity of what is being portrayed. More dynamic angles give emphasis to more intense dialogue or action.

Throughout, we are given hints that she is a part of a larger organization. Her friction with the other members of the House of Slaughter shows us that there is far more available for plot in this series than just mindless monster-hunting. I’ll be interested to see where this whole thing ends up. Be ready, this is not a feel-good piece. It’s labeled as horror, and there will be gore. Still, it was enjoyable, and I’d like to see more.

This was great. Creepy and unnerving. The art was abstract but real enough to pack a punch. A few parts were a little over done but great overall. That is to say, it felt like a rip off, or cliche, of other tropes. It's still a lot of fun, but it's basically an adult Stranger Things.

This isn’t the type of book I would ever normally consider, however it was an okay read. Good story line just I didn’t realise it was in comic format - my mistake!

Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐️

This was an unexpected surprise. I started reading this thinking it'd be a detective story, but instead I found monsters and weird conspiracies - which I liked. The plot was perfectly developed, and the ending left me wanting more. Of course, the art is stunning, and the colors bring out the best of each scene.

My only problem is the pace. Some panels were a bit boring compared to others, and I had to focus really hard to keep reading. However, I still think is a good story and I'd love to continue reading.

This is one of those times when I give a book 5 stars without even thinking twice.
It's one of my first comics and I loved it. The story had depth, it kept me curious and focused, the graphics are wonderful and the characters were just the right amount and kind.

It's a dark, dark book so I would definitely NOT recommend it to you if you're not used to gore, death, violence, murder as, like the title says, something is killing the children.

Wow! I was a bit unsure when I started reading because the art style was not my favorite, but I fell in love. The art style actually suited the gritty/dark nature of the story.
In Something is Killing the Children, a monster, only children can see, has been on a murdering spree and Erica Slaughter is here to stop it.
This story sucked me in and I devoured it in one sitting. I need more after that ending, and I don't want to wait.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I need the next Volume of this graphic novel stat! What an amazing and wild ride of a graphic novel. I will say, the stylized violence and artwork reminds me of Tank Girl or Hack/Slash. Something is killing the Children of a small town. Enter Erica Slaughter, she's the one the monsters should be afraid of. What follows is a story of monsters and those foolish enough and strong enough to fight them. Great story, I cannot wait for the next.

A definite recommendation for fans of Stranger Things and anybody who loves a terrible monster on the loose in a small town.

Fantastic pacing. Interesting characters. A great horror story that I can’t wait to continue. Now I understand what all the buzz was about. My one complaint is that it was a little difficult to read in ebook format due to the many 2-page spreads. Otherwise, excellent read!

Something is Killing the Children vol 1 by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera
I was not a Comics reader growing up. My love of superheroes came from Superfriends and Spider-man and His Amazing Friends. It wasn’t until I got to college that I was handed Watchmen and Batman Year One and the Dark Knight Returns. So I learned from the beginning of my comics reading some of the wonderful things the medium could do, even though I don’t hav an instinctual sense of of how to read a page developed from childhood. Sometimes I can’t tell if I’m supposed to go right or go down a page. I am not a very visual person - I will often go through a comic focusing solely on the speech bubbles and almost ignoring the art, which means that I can miss things and have to go back. I usually notice the art if it is bad, or confusing, or hilarious, but that’s about it.

I first remember encountering James Tynion IV in the backup stories he did in Batman in the new 52 era. I enjoyed what he did, and then I got the joy of listening to him on panels at New York Comic Con and on a Flame Con soda special episode of Jay and Miles Xplain the X-men. I quickly realized that this was a writer I wanted to seek out and read more of. I really enjoyed his time on Detective Comics - I loved that he used the opportunity to turn it into a real team book for members of the Bat family that don't always get the spotlight, especially Spoiler, who is a personal favorite of mine. His character development of Clayface was also excellent.

Thanks to my local library system, I dived into his creator owned work. I adore Backstagers - it has the right amount of whimsy in its depiction of horror, and the characters are so lovingly crafted that they almost step off the page. I enjoyed his The Woods far more than I would’ve imagined - I am not usually a horror comic type of person, but the interpersonal drama kept me coming back even when the monstrous situations terrified me.

Something is Killing the Children has that same feel as The Woods. The simple plot summary I could give does it a disservice. “Children are going missing and turning up dead, and mysterious girl shows up in town to fight the monster” sounds like it could be cookie cutter or paint by numbers, but it feels like so much more than that.In a few strokes, Tynion creates characters who feel alive and real and plunks them down in a horrible situation.

The story feels to me in the same family as a merging of some of the best elements of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Stranger Things - not to say that it feels derivative, but just that my personal frame of reference for comparison is probably rather limited. The monster is appropriately terrifying and the overarching mysteries are set up well. It reminds me a lot also of Clean Room by Gail Simone, another comic I had to read with the lights on.

I know from reading all of the Woods that Tynion knows how to plan for the long game. This volume contains issues 1-5, which is enough to set up a much larger world than the small town with missing kids that it starts out as. I look forward to learning more of the creepy telepathic stuffed animal monster hunting organization. Can’t wait for volume 2! Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

I feel like I should come right out and say, I'm not a huge reader of graphic novels and that very well could have impacted my reading experience. I thought the concept of this was really good but the execution in the first issue fell a little short.

It felt very info-dumpy and you could argue "well it's a first issue duh", but there's a major difference between showing and telling in a novel and the fact that this is a graphic novel makes it way more apparent. I know first issues, even the first few issues of a series are usually for setting up the world and the story and characters etc, but I just thought this could have been done with a bit more finesse.

I didn't feel especially connected to the story or characters, though I found both intriguing, and the art style was interesting. The color story did in terms of propelling the spooky atmosphere.

I think this could definitely work really well for a slightly younger reader, like a teenager, it just happened not to work for me sadly.