Monsters take many forms. Some beasts are obvious while others lurk within, and the cycle of violence persists. That is what Vault Comics’ latest horror title I Walk With Monsters explores in a haunting, unsettling way.
Written by Paul Cornell (Doctor Who, Saucer State) and illustrated by Sally Cantirino (Dead Beats, Last Song), Dearbhla Kelly (Red Sonja, Queen of Bad Dreams) is on colors while Andworld rounds out the team on letters. Designs are by Tim Daniel, and readers can look for covers by Cantirino, Nathan Gooden, Jen Hickman, and Mirka Andolfo.
Read the full synopsis from the publisher here:
In Jacey’s past is the Important Man who took away her brother. Now Jacey has David, who sometimes transforms into a terrifying beast. Together, they’ve found a way to live–and to hunt, sniffing out men who prey on the vulnerable. But Jacey and David are about to run into the Important Man again. From Paul Cornell (Wolverine, Doctor Who, Elementary) and Sally Cantirino (Last Song, We Have To Go Back) comes a haunting story about the monsters that walk beside us all, and sometimes lurk within.
Cornell explained, “I Walk with Monsters is my attempt to do what Stephen King does: to make a horror story that speaks of genuine horrors. It’s about male violence and cycles of abuse. It’s also a nightmare that’s personal for me. It’s about a young woman and a middle-aged man making their way across America, finding and killing men that ‘need killing’. She’s afraid of the rage inside her. He turns into a beast and does the violence so she doesn’t have to. And thus he calms his guilt. And increases it. In flashbacks, we see what was done to her by others. In flashbacks, we see what he did to others. I Walk with Monsters is my most personal work. It’s taken a lot of digging to finally get here. Though it’s a tough journey, I promise that if you get through it there’s light at the end. It’s a book I’m incredibly proud of.”
Cantirino added, “I understand Jacey in I Walk With Monsters. Jacey holds her anger, heartbreak, hurt, and betrayal deep in her chest. She enacts her revenge through a proxy with the power to attack, a visceral and violent version of the same impulse that had me singing or screaming along to a song about being attacked by monsters, or about being the monster myself. Anger makes you feel monstrous, or capable of monstrous things. But how you are allowed to express that anger is described by privilege, which is no small part of what we are investigating in I Walk With Monsters—a story that is very much meant to scare you.”
I Walk With Monsters #1 hits stores on Wednesday, November 25. Ahead of the release, The Beat received an exclusive preview. Check out the covers and interior pages below!
