Since Something is Killing the Children debuted five years ago, the title has become a popular staple at BOOM! Studios. Now 40 issues in, the comic is visiting Erica Slaughter’s past in Something is Killing the Children #0. It will be in comic shops in September 2024.

Creators James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera are detailing the brutal hunt that took place before Erica arrived in Archer’s Peak. The story concludes with Erica emerging from the forest to meet a little girl by a red wagon.

“It’s a real thrill to be going back to the very beginning, and telling a story that I never thought I’d be able to tell,” Tynion said. “Something is Killing the Children #0 is going to be one to remember, a comic worthy of a fifth anniversary!”

“We have devoted most of the year to telling Erica’s earliest stories,” Dell’Edera said. “With issue zero, we complete the tour.”

Something is Killing the Children #0 is the first issue zero for any BOOM! original series. It features a main cover by Dell’Edera, with variants by Jenny Frison (Grim), Dan Mora (Once & Future), Jeff Dekal (Dune: House Atreides), Jae Lee (The Dark Tower), Sean Gordon Murphy (Tokyo Ghost), and others.

“Five years ago, Erica Slaughter emerged from the woods, bloody and battle-worn, to change the comics landscape forever,” longtime series editor Eric Harburn said. “This is a story of that battle – and I guarantee you are not ready for what James, Werther, Miquel, and AndWorld have in store.”

Something is Killing the Children #0 will go on sale in comic shops on September 25.