“Tynion is not afraid to shock us by losing important (or seemingly innocent) characters, but again this feels more like a need to shock than an essential plot point. “

I may revise my rating later, but this first entry into the series of horror comics feels at one and the same time cliched in its scenes and characters and working too hard to provoke readers through its gore of child bodies.

I’m a fan of Tynion’s other work, especially Nice House on the Lake, so I want top read the rest of the series to see where it goes; this first volume leaves far too much yet unexplained (though the foreshadowing of a dark cabal of monster-killers isn’t altogether promising).

Am I missing something, or is some horror now more akin to dark fantasy? I felt no horror, but was compelled a bit by the action.

(And as ever, kudos to Tynion for normalizing the non-binary.)

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I’m settling in to this series (as yet not completed, apparently!) and I will finish the story arc before doing a full review, but here is what I thought of Volume 2:

Much like Vol. 1, this is a dark gorefest with an insidious cabal of PR-masters behind it. We learn more about each, the tensionAs a literary term, I often use this in place of "conflict" ... More and action (if not the terror) is ramped up, but nothing is really resolved. Tynion is not afraid to shock us by losing important (or seemingly innocent) characters, but again this feels more like a need to shock than an essential plot point. The brief appearance of a character with seemingly conflicting motivations (somewhat promising) is too-quickly dispatched.

We do get some more hints at the Erica backstory, but this too is not unusual or especially insightful. In the end, this story currently appears to be an action romp with lots of night scenes and blood: there is little wrong with this (I’m still reading, after all), but I have seen so many graphic novels or series (including Tynion’s) pull off more.

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This 3rd volume completes the first main story arc for the series, resolving the cliffhanging end of Vol 2 (Issues #10).

Much of this resolution, somewhat predictable, was unnecessary conflict to begin with. In other words, the sheer irrationality of the human antagonists made them an implausible and unsatisfying adversary for Erica’s story; this is especially true when the story was escalating on its own with the monsters themselves. There was plenty of weighty story for Erica and allies to deal with in that small town. In the end, the resolution for the monster-side was a quick one, and the one with her human antagonists was resolved outside of the main action.

That said, the human story resolution of this series of issues was original and provocative, making it the highlight of the 3 volumes so far. I totally bought it, as desperate and classically ‘awe-full’ as it was.

This is a potentially powerful series–as I would expect from Tynion–but as it continues, I am hoping for more of this kind of imaginative storytelling than trope-heavy retreads.