Erica and Cecilia have never seen eye to eye, yet now they find some common ground. Read Full Review

There is a reason why Tynion won an Eisner for the work he is doing on this series. In this issue, he does an amazing job of creating tension and holding it throughout the issue while also bringing you feelings of sympathy for these characters. Read Full Review

Fans of this series might be surprised at the lack of action but will appreciate the character work in this issue. With only a few issues left in the Tribulation story arc, the third act has certainly been the strongest so far. Read Full Review

DellEdera delivers beautifully detailed and emotional art that perfectly captures the tone and emotion of the story itself. Read Full Review

While this issue is purely dialogue-driven, the emotionally-charged conversations add plenty of depth to Cecilia and Erica's characters. I'd go as far as saying this issue is a subtle turning point for the series. Read Full Review

Until now, even when an individual issue's story has disappointed, readers could rely on great illustrations. In this issue, they get neither. What could have been a pivotal moment in the story arc is now a throwaway issue – literally. Read Full Review

I finally read the previous 5 SIKTC issues this week and can finally start reviewing the series as part of my regular reviews! Part of the reason I’ve lapsed on keeping up is the Tribulation arc hasn’t been my favorite of the three stories to date and I was waiting for the next TPB to come out. I figured I’d give the arc another shot after seeing James Tynion IV at Flame Con this past weekend.

Things picked up around issue #26 when Erica and Cutter crossed paths, but this arc is still suffering from drawn-out pacing that is weighing down what used to be an exciting weekly read. That’s not to say that Tynion isn’t writing some really good dialogue for characters or that there isn’t anything interesting happen, it’s just taking wayyyyy too long to play out. Every time it feels like we’re gaining momentum on plot, we get an issue or two where the story is put on hold for character-building and that’s exactly what happens in SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #32.

The flashback scene between Erica and Gary reveals a lot of interesting things around Cecilia & Jessica’s dynamics, but did we really need that now? I wish we got this much earlier in the arc, or even the previous arc, that laid the groundwork for future character decisions. Getting all of this backstory at this point feels like a lazy copout to explain actions that’s have already happen. It’s a plot device that Lost used a lot in it’s later seasons as a means of selling in decisions characters made that didn’t seem to go along with what they’ve did previously.

The dialogue-heavy issue didn’t give the creative team a lot to work with. There’s only so many ways you can make a conversation between two people interesting. And even then, it was a pretty lackluster visual experience. Most SIKTC issues take place at night or in darker settings where shadows are natural, but Werther Dell'Edera utilizes heavier shading than we’re used to seeing and it looked pretty awkward against the brighter than normal color palette used by Miquel Muerto for the daytime setting in this issue.

I really hope we get back to focusing on the showdown between Erica and Cutter in the next issue. We have at least two more issues focused on this arc according to solicitations through October. Tynion has mentioned in the past that he sees these arcs lasting 10-15 issues each, so we should be reaching the end in the not too distant future. It still feels like there’s a lot to cover before we reach a resolution, which makes me worry that things will be rushed but Tynion has shown he doesn’t need much to jump right back into monster slaying.

Rating: 6/10 more