Jacey knows where the Important Man is. What is he up to, and can she and David even get to him? Find out in I Walk With Monsters #3 from Vault Comics!

I WALK WITH MONSTERS #3

Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Sally Cantirino
Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Andworld Design
Editor: Adrian F. Wassel
Publisher: Vault Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 10, 2021

Previously in I Walk With Monsters: Jacey and David are on the hunt. David can sense that there is trouble in the town they are in, something that involves the children. Jacey has a flashback to when she was in school and tells a teacher her fears about her dad, and his response is not to believe her. When she come back to herself, she runs off, and David turns into a large dog and tracks her down. She can’t talk at first, and we see more of her memories, about how her father was planning something special for her twelfth birthday, but how there’s an undertone of threat. Jacey has seen the Important Man who took her brother – in a picture on a campaign poster.

BROKEN BUT DETERMINED

I Walk With Monsters #3 is a horror story, and it is for mature readers. There are harrowing stories in Jacey’s and David’s pasts, and we see some of them here. They’re not presented graphically, but they can still hit pretty hard.

The book opens as a campaign event for the Important Man is setting up. The pundits sing his praises. He’s a widower; he’s respected everywhere from schools to law enforcement; he could be presidential material. David puts his powers to use and follows the scent trail of a young child that leads into the Man’s house, down a hallway, behind a closed door. That’s a problem with successful predators – they know how not to appear obviously predatory.

Back at the park, David and Jacey get some lunch as he tells her about the security. Her plan is for David to get away so she can kill the Man. She has a flashback to the eve of her twelfth birthday again, and we see he had a heart attack and orders her to call an ambulance. But she waits to be sure he’s dead before she calls.

David reminds her that that isn’t their deal. He is the monster; he does what he does so she doesn’t have to. He is making amends, in a way. He has reined in his inner monster and uses it to end predatory men who cannot control themselves. And we see his past, his predatory past, a life of manipulating women to get what he wants. Jacey is his balance point. He realizes he still is a monster, but by focusing on their mission, he can control it.

ANGER AND ANGUISH

The art of I Walk With Monsters #3 is moody and it builds that up with the contrast between the everyday world that other people live in, and Jacey and David’s world. We see the shift when David is using his ability to track a child by scent. These are silent panels. The style goes from light linework to a heavy, almost etched presentation. Through these panels, the child’s trail meanders, a bright red against against the shadows. It’s hard to tell if David is within the house literally or only figuratively (or with special monster powers), but it doesn’t matter. We know the truth, even if the Man tries to use the weapon of doubt later.

Jacey is a strong character, but that doesn’t mean that she is undamaged. She comes across as incredibly intense, as though her focus on getting to the Man is all that keeps her going. We see more glimpses into her past in this book, including when she is taken to foster care after her father’s death. She has difficulty adjusting to the kindness they show her, as well as dealing with her own thoughts which have become dark and violent. And that is when she realizes her tie with David begins, even before she knows who he actually is.

BOTTOM LINE: DARK AND INTRIGUING

I Walk With Monsters #3 is a dark book. Jacey and David are not good people, but they’re good enough to be bothered by their own darkness instead of simply justifying it or relishing it. The horror is grounded in reality so it feels visceral without appearing as overly bloody.

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