Tiny Onion Christmas Card 03: SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN

I have the great pleasure of writing this post standing in what purports to be a two hour outdoor line for me to get a Covid test. So please excuse any typos!

I can’t believe we’ve already passed the two year anniversary of Erica Slaughter’s debut. I’ve said this before, but SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN is the comic that completely changed my life. It started me on the road that would take me to Batman, to the Department of Truth, to Substack and beyond.

It’s been a big year for SIKTC. The trade paperbacks keep selling like hotcakes. The deluxe hardcover sold more than three times the we expected. And then we launched our first spin-off title, The House of Slaughter, at astronomical numbers… and that’s just what I can talk about publicly… the news came out that Intrepid, Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy were developing SIKTC for Netflix. Things are still moving along and I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to say a lot more about that in the new year.

I want to give a big thank you to Werther Dell’Edera. The first big decision he made in the creation of this book was giving Erica the mask. He made her the iconic character she is today. I also want to thank Miquel Muerto for giving the series its texture and tone (and it’s neon red blood). Big thanks to Andworld Design for giving Erica voice in the letters. And of course, nothing would be possible without editors like Eric Harburn, Jonathan Manning, and Ramiro Portnoy.

This year, SIKTC showed us Erica’s beginnings in the House of Slaughter, and then the HOS series picked up those pieces (with help from the incredible Tate Brombal and Chris Shehan). So Werther and I wanted to wish you Merry Christmas from the Black Masks of the House of Slaughter.

Here’s the next Tiny Onion Christmas Card!

Cadence is offering each of these Christmas Cards as limited edition 11x17 prints! Each print is only $25 plus shipping. Limited One Per Person. Signed and Numbered by me and the artist. Each design will be on sale for one week, until the next design drops the following Wednesday at 2PM ET. Fulfillment will be handled by the amazing people at Cadence, and they can combine shipping if you’re planning on ordering multiple prints (use the code TINYONION at check-out). This is available to all subscribers to The Empire of the Tiny Onion, free and paid!

Also! I’ve got some other SIKTC stuff to promote while I’m here! BOOM! just debuted the incredible cover to SIKTC 21, the return of adult Erica Slaughter, coming to comic book stores this March! Look at this incredible cover by Werther Dell’Edera and Miquel Muerto! There are some other incredible covers, too. The first fifteen issues of SIKTC were the first Erica Slaughter “Novel,” and issue #21 is going to be the first issue of the next fifteen issue novel. We’re going to be introducing a new small town, a new cast of characters, a new monster… And what I’m most excited about is the new adversary we’ve created for Erica.

I also wanted to give a shout-out to a special offering. BOOM! is rereleasing SIKTC #1-15 in three, five-issue packs that they are calling SLAUGHTER PACKS (which just sounds neat, doesn’t it??) We’ve got all new painted covers by the absolutely incredible David Mack. The first of these Slaughter Packs is releasing at the end of January, and it FOCs next Monday, 12/20. So if you want to get your hands on them, you should tell your LCS that you want a Slaughter Pack!

This last year was a big year for the slaughterverse, but it was only the beginning! Stay tuned for more!

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
12.15.21