In this week’s edition of The Goggler Pull List, we look at James Tynion IV’s Something Is Killing the Children and John Layman’s Chew.
Here we go!
Something Is Killing the Children (James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera)
What if monsters were real? And they (mostly) only attacked children? What if there was secret order that hunts and kills these monsters, but their very existence is secret, just like these monsters? Something Is Killing the Children answers all those questions, all while leaving the reader asking a few more.
The central premise of the comic series is in its name. SOMETHING is killing the children in the small town of Archer’s Peak, and the local authorities first suspect is fresh-off-the-bus newcomer Erica Slaughter (what a great fucking name). What writer James Tynion IV does that sets this comic apart is by creating a monster that is new. The monster itself is one thing, but the sudden appearance of the monster is what makes the story interesting. You see, the monsters are the figment of children’s imaginations. They are the stories you and your friends tell each other late at night on a sleepover. The stories that get shared around in school of a shadowy beast in the forest/jungle/abandoned car park, behind the houses, about old missing children from the town. The monsters in Tynion’s story is the collective psychosis of a group. And when enough children believe in that shadowy beast, it transcends stories and become real.
And it is Erica Slaughter’s job (and those from the Order of St. George) to kill these monsters.
What started off as a five issue limited series is now in its 16th issue after being promoted to an ongoing series. As much as a short run story about an imaginary monster coming to life is great, the series’ conversion to an ongoing series has allowed Tynion, and artist Werther Dell’Edera, to flesh out the story to include more members of the town of Archer’s Peak, more members of the Order of St. George, and a deeper exploration of Erica Slaughter’s backstory. As much as a tight five issue run would have been extremely satisfying, in the hands of Tynion, the comic’s characters and stories have been allowed to stretch and breathe.
Werther Dell’Edera’s art is arresting, violent, and bloody. Which is expected in a story about monsters. But the graphic nature of a beast tearing children apart still catches your breath. The art doesn’t revel in its gore, but its images of unflinching violence against children is very much a part of the story as the people of Archer’s Peak deal with the violence perpetrated by both monster and man.
Issue 15 ends with a heartbreaking end as the townsfolk of Archer’s Peak attempt to deal with the fallout of the monster. How do you explain away dead children? How do you deal with imaginary monsters and murderous monster hunters? You blame it on a man.
Something Is Killing the Children also has got some of the best face masks and it is surprising that in the age of COVID no one has taken advantage to make some Order of St. George facial masks.
Chew (John Layman and Rob Guillory)
And now, for something a little different. Chew is one of the most inventive stories I’ve ever come across in the medium.
Tony Chu is a Food and Drugs Administration special agent who solves crimes by way of the psychic visions he gets from the food he eats. John Layman calls him a “cibopath” – which is just one of the many food related superpowers that litter this uniquely framed series. As you can probably imagine, such powers open the door to some pretty insane story arcs featuring gunfights, dismemberment, murder, illegal chicken speakeasies, Russian vampires, and cannibalism.
One of my favourite story arcs in this series centers around a food writer, Amelia Mintz, a “saboscrivener” who writes about food in such vivid detail that it causes all who read her work to experience the same taste sensations she did. In a moment of sharp social satire she decides to forsake food writing as we know it and instead review every disgusting restaurant she comes across. This causes a wave of uncontrollable vomiting for everyone who reads her work. It is a cunning act of journalistic terrorism that is as hilarious as it is disgusting.
Comedy in comics – like horror – is notoriously difficult to pull off, but Layman’s writing and Guillory’s art work in perfect harmony to create one of the funniest series ever put on the page. Layman and Guillory take such joy in making us laugh and grossing us out. As writer and artist, the both of them compliment each other perfectly, effortlessly shifting between madcap fantasy and quiet reflection.
I promise that Chew will be one the most original things you’ll ever read. And that it is a world that you’re going to want to explore and keep returning to. God knows I did.
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