Something is Killing the Children vol. 3

Erica Slaughter gets on a bus at the end of this volume and rides out of Archer’s Peak to parts unknown.  Did she manage to kill the obscurotype offspring that were still running around at the end of the previous volume?  Was she able to do it before the Order of St. George got around to wrapping things up in their own special way?  Did the citizens of Archer’s Peak get any closure regarding the town’s many dead children before this was all over?  I’m not going to answer any of these questions because, you know, spoilers.  The thing is that anyone who has already read the previous two volumes will be able to correctly guess the answers to them.  All I will say to them is that writer James Tynion IV doesn’t offer any surprises with this storyline’s resolution, even though Werther Dell’edera’s art is still impressively creepy.

I’ve kept reading “Something is Killing the Children” because its explosively increasing sales presence tells me that it must be doing SOMETHING right.  After three volumes, I can’t see what that is.  It’s a competently executed supernatural monster-hunting series that offers no twists on the kind of stories like it that have come before.  At this point I’m willing to chalk this up to being a generational thing and assume that its appeal lies with those who aren’t thoroughly familiar with the conventions of these kinds of stories.  So to this series’ fans, I say, “More power to you.  Don’t let my jaded and curmudgeonly perspective get in the way of your enjoyment of this series.”

In the meantime, I’ll just chalk this up as another miss in my book for Tynion.  Between this and the majority of his superhero work, I’m really starting to wonder if I should keep checking out the series he keeps getting buzz and sales with…