By Gabriel Neeb
The Slaughterverse, borne from the pages of the bestselling series Something is Killing the Children (SIKTC) written by James Tynion IV, drawn by Werther Dell’Edera, and published since 2019 by BOOM! Studios, made a handful of announcements at San Diego Comic-Con that will doubtless please the fans of the property.
The series itself is approaching its 50th issue, which will be released in October. It is almost unheard of for a series, especially one from an original property, to reach 50 issues. At Saturday’s Slaughterverse panel, Tynion said he is amazed, as previously, his longest run on any title was 52 issues on Batman.
Lead editor Eric Harburn quipped that the real milestone would be 53 issues, but the joke is on him—SIKTC has been contracted for 100 issues.
In addition to Tynion and Harburn, the Slaughterverse panel also featured Dell’Edera, Tate Brombal (writer, Fall of the House of Slaughter), Kiersten White (author of Slaughterverse prose novel, Hope is a Knife), and Ramiro Portnoy (executive editor), with moderation by Sami DeMonster.
The biggest announcement had to be the true mark of popular culture penetration: a Funko Pop. In the middle of the panel, Tynion and Dell’Edera were presented with a black bag that glowed from the inside. Opening it revealed a Funko Pop figure of Slaughterverse lead, Erica Slaughter. The figure is not available now, but is scheduled to be released at New York Comic Con in October.
Tynion and Dell’Edera also updated the audience on the previously-announced Swamp Thing Is Killing the Children crossover with DC, which will release before the end of the year.
Tynion said he first came up with the idea while working on Batman. Dell’Edera said he is excited as he’ll be allowed to show off his interpretation of Swamp Thing and his drawings of Swamp Thing will reflect that. They both stressed their desire to respect the property.
Tynion explained that Swamp Thing Is Killing the Children will involve two brothers: an older one who loves DC Comics, and one who is afraid of everything. He and Dell’Edera joked that after SDCC, they’ll be locked in a cage to finish the issue.
The main thrust of the panel was the celebration of SIKTC #50. When the series began, Tynion originally conceived of the story as a five-issue limited series, so a multi-volume saga (the tenth trade paperback is soon to be published) is incredible. With the series now contracted to 100 issues, he’s only in the middle of the full arc.
Tynion said he credits much of the success to the artistic styling of Dell’Edera, as his ability to give series lead Erica incredibly powerful expressions—even though half her face is covered by a mask—continues to improve issue by issue.
Regarding the milestone issue #50, Tynion said it will bring SIKTC back to the modern era following a handful of flashback arcs. The next storyline is a continuation from the “Tribulation” arc (SIKTC, Vol. 5), and will set up a confrontation with the character Bex—soon to be Bex Slaughter.
Naturally, celebrating issue 50 requires extra effort. There are multiple covers being printed and one version will be polybagged with an extra secret contained within.
Moving on from the Slaughterverse comics, the panel talked about SIKTC prose novel, Hope Is a Knife. Author Kiersten White (who was also featured at the Lucasfilm Publishing panel on Friday) has written a prose novel set just before the Archer’s Peak arc.
White said she found the opportunity to work in the Slaughterverse verse both honoring… and daunting. She read the whole series in two weeks and felt Erica had “everything she wanted in a character.” Like most SIKTC stories, Hope Is a Knife is set in a small town: Radiator, Idaho, which White describes as a place ripe for horror. (As a one-time resident of the Pacific Northwest, you have no idea).
Tynion, who is a credited co-writer, said he has always viewed the arcs as novels and felt that the base pieces of Slaughterverse stories are Erica helping the children that fall into this world through their emotional journeys.
Tynion also talked about the SIKTC screen adaptations being developed by Blumhouse Productions. He couldn’t say much, but admitted that he has been encouraged by meetings so far. Earlier efforts by Netflix went nowhere as, among other things, they didn’t want a title that mentioned killing children.
At this point, the moderator took a few moments to share the new stuff plush Octo, the malevolent toys the ‘hunter’ of the House of Slaughter carry with them. These Octos are very soft, very evil and feature Tynion’s own handwriting to “identity” their owner. They will be available this fall.
A brief question and answer period followed. An Erica cosplayer asked if there were any properties Tynion might consider past the Swamp Thing crossover. James mentioned using The Evil Dead, mainly because of the amount of chainsaws in it, and possibly Freddy from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Dell’Edera wondered if he could use certain characters about to fall into public domain in the next few years.
Another question was about weapons and why Erica, who is trained in lots of weapons, only uses certain weapons. Tynion explained that it’s a practical matter, as she doesn’t drive a car (other hunters do and they have much better weapons). Erica’s use of the bus for transportation is both a trait and a plot point by design.
The final question was about how Tynion knew which characters just… worked. He replied that it came from a gut feeling. The first version of Erica didn’t have her famous mask, but as he worked on the idea more, he embraced the visual primacy of comics in order to compel the message. The image should always be understandable.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from SDCC ’26.
