House of Slaughter #1

House of Slaughter #1

BOOM! Studios 2021

Stoy by James Tynion IV & Tate Brombal

Written by Tate Brombal

Illustrated by Chris Shehan

Coloured by Miquel Muerto

Lettered by Andworld Design

Discover the inner workings of the House of Slaughter in this new horror series exploring the secret history of the Order that forged Erica Slaughter into the monster hunter she is today.

You know Aaron Slaughter as Erica's handler and rival. But before he donned the black mask, Aaron was a teenager training within the House of Slaughter. Surviving within the school is tough enough, but it gets even more complicated when Aaron falls for a mysterious boy destined to be his competition.

There are few things as fun and exciting as seeing characters how they were when they were training and in school. This holds true for Aaron because what we see of him here versus the man we see there is as vast a difference as one can possibly get. So having that opportunity to see someone grow into the role they are destined to play is something that comes with a lot of ups and downs which goes a long way to making them relatable to readers. The more we can relate to his experiences and the more we empathise with him the stronger the writing proves itself to be.

I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a marvellous job in establishing their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing the characters, the story and this world they live in the more we want to see.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story begin to emerge, grow and evolve is well conceived and executed. The layers open up these avenues to be explored and the field test as well as living arrangements all conspire to add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceptionally well achieved.

I am a fan of the interiors here. There are some really strong uses of backgrounds here as they enhance and expand the moments beautifully. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The linework here his clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work throughout certainly makes a strong impact. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show an extremely talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows an excellent eye for how colour works.

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One of the aspects to this that I really like is that while it’s a great compliment to Something Is Killing The Children you can still read this and appreciate it for what it is and not for what it relates to making it a completely stand alone series. So if you’ve been interested and yet intimidated to start the main book, you should get the trades, and want to know what the world is all about. Here's a perfect chance to get your feet wet. This is some intense writing with strong characterization and delightful interiors.