By Aye Akara Aung
Photo by Aye Akara Aung
Want to read a series of beautifully drawn panels with a story making you crave more? Then this is a comic for you.
Something Is Killing the Children is an ongoing graphic novel made by James Tynion. The story is set in Acher Peak where something paranormal seems to be the reason for the disappearance of the children. The residents think it’s a maniac kidnapping the children or, worse, has killed them. But little did they know what’s actually going on. The main characters from volume 1-3 are Erica Slaughter and James, and these two are the ones who solved the town’s mysterious problem with the help of some side characters.
This comic series is great at creating suspense, a chilling atmosphere, and engaging and yet terrifying mystery. The gore might make people uncomfortable, but I feel like itś necessary for the tone of this type of story.
What I love about it is that almost every page you turn to, you never know what is gonna happen next. Every character you meet is unique. Each character has the right to be suspicious of other characters and be angry at them, too.
The high school boy that we first met in volume 1 that was harassing James may seem like just some regular high school kid with an attitude, but when you look at his perspective, wouldn’t you be mad and suspicious, too, when your schoolmates you knew for a while die and only one somehow lived? The cop that became an important side character also has his rights to be suspicious of James and Erica.
Erica is by far the most interesting character in this series. Her history with the Slaughter family and why she left the house of Slaughter is an intriguing mystery. What I love about how she is written is that she isn’t an unfairly overpowered character who can defeat monsters with no effort. She is strong, but she has her limits, and, at times, she gets hurt in battle but not to the point she is useless at fighting. She is, at the end of the day, a human being, and she is fighting things she still doesn’t understand.
The male lead of the story, James, is also an interesting character. When I began the series, I thought he was just some boring character, but after volume 1, I could see him trying his best to get over the trauma from the night he saw his friends die, and the chemistry with him and Erica is also done well.
Overall, I think Something is Killing the Children is an amazing horror action series with an engaging story. I can see fans from Stranger Things and Stephen King fans enjoying this because it does share some similarities to those works. I would give it a 9.4/10 as a rating, and I can’t wait to get another volume.
