With titles under his belt like Saucer Country, This Damned Band, Knight and Squire and, of course, Captain Britain & MI13, Paul Cornell is a creator with a diverse bibliography of both Publishers and titles. Now, Cornell has joined up with the incredible Vault comics to release I Walk with Monsters, a supernatural thriller about the monsters that can be found in the world.

Publisher: Vault Comics
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Sally Cantirino (Art), Dearbhla Kelly (Colours) Andworld Design (Letters)
Price: £3.19 from ComiXology

I Walk with Monsters follows Jacey who, along with her companion David, travels across the country seeking out monsters of a very human nature who hurt the young and innocent. Now, with David having utilised his own, rather monstrous talent on their last target, the pair make their way towards their next suspect as the story behind Jacey’s origin and her mission is slowly revealed.

Paul Cornell has written a truly riveting opening with this first issue as I found fully engrossed and the end coming far quicker than I anticipated. As was alluded to in a recent interview, this story really feels like a very personal story for Cornell as the brutality and emotion of every moment and every action really jumps off the page. While little has been revealed regarding this (so far) small cast, Cornell imbues them all with a real aura of mystery and their actions, while not necessarily likeable, are nevertheless captivating. As a result, the first issue has left a lot of questions in its wake regarding not only the characters and their pasts but also the question that who, in this story, is the real monster?

Meanwhile, Sally Cantirino more than matches up to the writing with some terrific sequentials from start to finish. Cantirino feels like a perfect choice for this series as her style has this innocent charm about it which, despite its beauty, gives the visuals this rather unsettling vibe (but in a good way) as it depicts a much less innocent tale.

These visuals are further compounded by Dearbhla Kelly’s light and optimistic colours which reinforces the innocent, happy look of IWwM while completely contrasting the tone and theme of the story. That said, there are elements which fly in the face of standard style, such as the reveal of one particular monster. Here, Cantirino and Kelly perfectly changed their work to depict a more menacing and disturbing image which also works perfectly for the scenario in question. This further proves that they, along with Andworld Designs’ solid letters, were the perfect choices to render this story.

I Walk with Monsters shows itself to be the beginnings of a fantastic story and yet another incredible turn by Paul Cornell. With engrossing writing of both story and dialogue and beautifully appealing visuals, Vault have picked themselves up yet another winner here. I Walk with Monsters #1 is an alluring mystery that’ll leave you with many questions, but do it skillfully enough that you’ll come back for seconds.