Monster hunters like Erica forge themselves into killing machines, but beneath the skills and the weapons, they are still human. What does she do to cope? Find out in Something is Killing the Children #39 from BOOM! Studios.

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #39

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: July 24, 2024

Previously in Something is Killing the Children: It is time to learn more about Erica, who she is and how she became the monster hunter she is today. Her life is not just a big adventure. Monsters mean death, and death affects people in different ways. Even monster hunters have a huge adjustment to make.

STARTING WITH A QUESTION

Something is Killing the Children #39 opens quietly as Erica enters an office. We quickly realize that she is seeing a therapist. She opens directly, wondering just what it is that he does. She has never been to therapy, and thinks it sounds kind of dumb. He quietly challenges her questions with some of his own, and Erica admits to him that her mother died.

At that point, she starts to think this was not a good idea. He brings her back, saying that since she has already paid for the session, she might as well talk. Through his words, we can tell that he has no arcane skill that lets him see who and what she is. He relies on what he knows about human nature and responds to her comments in an open-ended fashion.

She challenges him for not asking her questions. He asks what she would ask if she were in his shoes. She says she would ask about her wounds, which he does, and to which she replies that she cannot tell him. Sometimes what looks like the obvious question may not lead anywhere. They touch on the death of her parents by some kind of animal, and this leads to Jessica.

Erica deflects for a moment and asks if he sees kids. He is not a child psychologist, but there are none very close by. She wants to know what you can say to a kid who has lost the people around them.

Finally, Erica admits that she does want some help. She keeps crying and cannot seem to stop. She remembers when she lost her parents. She did not cry then. When she grew up, she learned that to cry was to show weakness and to become a target, like Aaron. For most of her life she has been able to hold it in. He asks whether any of the adults she knew ever cried, and she remembers Jessica did, but only when she was drinking. Was Jessica weak, the therapist asks.

Erica replies that she must have been because she was not here anymore. A tinge of anger shows through. She quickly changes the subject. Once, she was able to suppress her tears, and she can’t now. She wants to be able to do that again.

Instead, he circles back around to her original question of what he says to kids who lose someone. Kids, he says, are still trying to figure out how the world works and why things happen. He tells her that sadness is a tool the brain uses to help us remember things, good things or bad things, but things that we need to remember.

A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY

One of the ongoing themes in Something is Killing the Children #39 is dealing with trauma. The monsters come from that place, but also serve as a tangible metaphor for the often-incomprehensible struggle of trying to make sense out of a traumatic experience, which frankly may not make much sense. We have seen Erica dealing with monsters and their aftermath as though they are her job and only her job, but that does not make the sense of loss go away. Underneath the façade, Erica is still human. Dealing with loss is a universal human experience, and I like how we see her here. She wants to understand how to talk to the children she meets and give them the kind of help she did not receive.

The way the therapist is drawn is fascinating. He keeps a carefully neutral face as best he can, but even so, there are times when a fleeting emotion crosses his face. Early on, we see his eyes as he studies Erica, observing what she doesn’t say while he listens to what she does. This shifts as he puts his glasses on, glasses that obscure his reaction so we must rely on his controlled body language. But this has the effect, much like the therapy, of focusing our attention even more on Erica.

BOTTOM LINE: FINDING THE COURAGE

Something is Killing the Children #39 digs deep into Erica’s psyche and reminds us that monsters leave a lot of aftermath behind them.

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