Advance Review: `Something Is Killing The Children’ #28 Returns To Form
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
After several issues full of questionable exposition that took away from some much-needed action, this stellar series gets back on track with a strong issue. While short on non-human monsters, this installment finally brings the heroine and villain face to face in an exciting prelude to battle.
Overall
9/10That’s more like it.
After several issues wasting readers’ time on developing non-essential (and largely non-interesting) characters, Something is Killing the Children returns to form in its latest installment. It’s the beginning of the match-up we’ve been waiting for as heroine Erica Slaughter takes on the woman sent to kill her, Charlotte Cutter. Meanwhile, a monster remains on the loose in the small town of Tribulation, New Mexico.
Slaughter turns herself into police, who foolishly lock her up while waiting for Cutter – whom they think is a federal agent to return. When she does, no one emerges unscathed. Yet they pair don’t fight physically, but rather start what should be an epic battle on a psychological front. It’s a taste of things to come.
Thanks in part to James Tynion IV’s writing, the showdown between the pair reminds us why we fell in love with this series in the first place. Cutter is as sadistic and ruthless as any comic villain has the right to be. And while Slaughter has her own dark side – she hunts child-killing monsters after all – she has shown a soft spot or two.
This is the confrontation – the beginning of it anyway – that we’ve been waiting for. And Tynion delivers. But given the success of this issue has the curious side effect of making the last few issues seem even worse upon second inspection. At best, the Tynion spent time fleshing out some side characters he created and perhaps fell in love with. At worst, he was adding filler to a story that could easily have been resolved by now.
While artist Werther Dell’Edera doesn’t have any monsters to depict in this issues – apart from Cutter, that is – he makes the most of what he is given. One look at Cutter and you know she is the ruthless villain. And his images of the wide-eyed Slaughter have captured the imaginations of comic book readers around the world.
With the series hopefully back on track and free from bloat, it’s nearly time to resolve this long storyline and get Slaughter onto her next adventure – assuming she survives.
Something is Killing the Children #28 will be available for purchase on Wednesday.
