I Walk With Monsters #1 - Review

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artist: Sally Cantirino

Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly 

Letterer: Andworld Design

Published by: Vault Comics

New comics from Paul Cornell will always be greatly appreciated as he was one of my favorite writers in the early 2010’s - his Action Comics run with Lex Luthor was amazing. So, once I saw he had this new series with Sally Cantirino, I knew I had to review it. 

The premise of the book is in the title: we are introduced to Jacey, tied to a chair, who appears to soon be the victim of a killer - possible serial killer? -  who, let’s be honest, is not acting like most people would as their potential killer is monologing. Seconds later, a monster appears and kills the killer as Jacey watches - and thanking the monster for not getting blood on her. We learn that the monster is a man named David, companion to Jacey. 

After a pretty splashy first few pages, Cornell slows down the issue to provide some context to what we’ve just witnessed as the reader, but doesn’t give much away - clearly to keep the reader intrigued as to who is Jacey and how does David fit into it all? Why is he a monster? How did they meet? All these are questions I had at the end of the issue. 

Cantirino’s art is a great compliment to Cornell’s script as she provides an aesthetic that I find  similar to other “horror”-style comics I’ve read in the past few years, but remains her own. One thing that I’m always a fan of in comics is when an artist can convey emotion through their character’s facial features, and here, Cantirino does a marvelous job here. When Jacey is confronting the killer, you can feel her contempt and annoyance at having to be in this situation. Later in the issue, Cantirino has Lacey run the gamut of emotions. I do also like the way Cantirino showcases the blanks in Lacey’s memory - it’s not super subtle, but it’s a little thing that’s fun to see. Couple all of this with Kelly’s colors throughout, this makes for a good looking comic book.