Summary
Something Is Killing The Children #1 is a well-written start to the new horror adventure series from Boom Studios, with a concept that seems an ideal fit for a TV adaptation.
New from Boom Studios is Something Is Killing The Children #1, a new horror adventure series by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera.
We start with a group of kids playing truth or dare, but the game takes an eerie turn when the subject of scariest thing ever comes up. We jump cut to an interview with James, who seems to be the only survivor of the game, and then another cut, this time two weeks later, where we meet a bloodied machete-wielding character that seems to have a handle on the whole situation, and she’s taking the matter into her own hands. She catches up with James, tells him she believes his story, and that she’s going to take care of the thing that murdered his friends.
Something Is Killing The Children #1 is a well-produced set-up for the series, and the initial slow burn is paid off in a gruesome and violent reveal of what happened in the opening flashback. The characters are given their roles, the reader is given enough to know what the premise of the book is, and by the end of the first issue we are hooked and reeled in for the second.
Art-wise, there are some nice arrangements shifting from small panels in the dialogue-heavy scenes, to larger, darker images when the action unfolds. Dell’Edera has a scratchy style that seems rough at first, but it suits the dark tone of this book and is helped by colorist Miquel Muerto who keeps the horror in blues and reds and lights the more mundane sets with whites.
I’m not sure if this is a mini-series or ongoing, but the scope for explaining who the monsters and the heroes are will have a bit of mileage in it.
The concept is just the kind of thing that you might expect to be picked up by Netflix, Hulu or Amazon, and I have no doubt that the writer knows this is just the kind of story that would translate well to a TV show. Maybe that’s a little unfair, as a story is a story, but the cynical side of me presumes that at some level the creative team is hoping for some hotshot in the business to pick an issue of their book up and quickly offer an option. I guess it’s a position that creators may find themselves in, after the incredible success of titles such as The Walking Dead or The Boys.
In the meantime, if you enjoy Stranger Things, I suppose you might enjoy this comic. It’s well written and drawn with a strong central premise so it’s a recommend. And if I were you, I would grab a copy before it’s optioned, as you might make a quick buck if you flip it on eBay. Just saying.
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