Erica hunts a different monster. Instead of killing kids, it is killing dogs. Why the difference, and can a younger Erica handle it on her own? Find out in Something is Killing the Children #36 from BOOM! Studios.

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #36

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Werther Dell’Edera
Colorist: Miquel Muerto
Letterer: Andworld Design
Editor: Ramiro Portnoy and Eric Harburn
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 24, 2024

Previously in Something is Killing the Children: Erica is hunting a major monster in the American Southwest. We know she is on her own, as the House of Slaughter would be happy if she were dead. We know she is determined to save kids when she can. But what experiences shaped her into the fierce and independent hunter we have come to know?

TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THE MONSTER

Something is Killing the Children #36 starts a new arc that explores Erica’s past in the form of events from five different towns. This makes it a terrific jumping-on point and a way to get to know the world without being overwhelmed. This issue opens five years in the past, before the events at Archer’s Peak. We see a child getting some things from the fridge and a cabinet while on the TV, we hear a story about a couple of children being mauled and dogs being killed – and no one knows what did it.

The kid goes into a barn and calls for Erica. He brought her medicines and water, as she asked. He asks if she has killed the monster. She hasn’t yet. They hear a noise and Erica pushes Randy behind her. But it is only a dog, a dog named Birdie who belonged to one of the kids who died. A dog who had puppies, but now only has one. Erica gives the dog some food. Birdie apparently trusts her. She leaves for a moment and returns with that lone puppy and shows it to Erica.

Later, in the woods, Erica tries to figure the monster out. It did initially kill a couple of kids, but not anymore. Yet it keeps getting stronger. Octo warns her that something is coming. It is Birdie. Erica pets the dog and wonders why this monster seems to be targeting dogs. After she returns to the house, she places a call to Aaron and asks him to look into the history of Oscuratypes. Has anything like this ever happened before? He scoffs and tells her she needs to wrap up this case more quickly. She is holding too much of a grudge against Cecilia after Jessica’s death. Still, he agrees to cover for her, so she has a little more time.

Randy overhears her call. She asks him about the kid who owned Birdie. Randy feels uncomfortable saying it, after the kid is dead, but he was mean. Jessica considers the puppy that she is holding, the puppy Birdie trusts her with. Could the kid have hurt a puppy?

Erica fashions a makeshift sling to carry the puppy and she and Birdie go into the woods. Birdie barks. She can tell that something is not quite right in these woods. Erica crouches down and talks to the dog like she would a person. She promises to keep the puppy safe, but she needs it to lure the monster to her. Birdie licks her on the face and continues into the woods with her.

The monster appears. Birdie barks ferociously. Erica lifts the sling off and ties it and the puppy around Birdie’s neck and urges the dog to run.

THE POWER OF FEAR

Something I particularly like about the art of Something is Killing the Children #36 is that we see a softer side of Erica. She is in the process of having the experiences that will shape her. She is young and still has affection. We see this in her interaction with Birdie and her puppy. Despite the fact that there is a monster on the loose, Erica takes time to let the dog approach her and try to make friends with her. When Birdie brings her puppy, Erica understands that this is special, that this dog somehow has decided to trust her. For a moment she gets to snuggle with a dog and feel that deep sense of trust that humans can rarely muster.

I also enjoyed seeing Erica’s interaction with Aaron. Their relationship has always been complicated and often conflictual, especially since the House of Slaughter discourages personal connections. I like seeing them in this time period without Jessica to guide them. In Erica, we see a trace of the hardened, argumentative child she once was. In Aaron, we see his desire to play by the rules. Yet they are the only remaining Black Masks and still must work together to keep up their duties under the Order.

BOTTOM LINE: A THOUGHTFUL BRUSH WITH THE PAST

Something is Killing the Children #36 is set in a universe that has a lot of depth and is a pleasure to take a little time from the main story to get some taste of what else it has to offer.

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