SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #23 cover pre-lims by Jill Thompson

Well known for her work on Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, Jill Thompson has long been a fan favorite for her work on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman as well. She has won multiple Eisner Awards, including in 2001 for best painter for Scary Godmother, 2004 for “Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)” for her work on The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, and in 2005 for “Best Short Story” for Unfamiliar (from The Dark Horse Book of the Dead) with Evan Dorkin. In 2011 the National Cartoonist Society named her Best Comic Book Artist for Beasts of Burden.

This set of four cover pre-lims for the Cadence Select Exclusive Variant cover for Something Is Killing the Children #23 is an amazing glimpse into her process, since none of the four bears much resemblance to the published cover. Interestingly, all of these provide more prominent placement of the lead character, Erica Slaughter.