Review by Frank Plowright

Gourmand is a land where monsters exist, and towns have to be protected from them. But what do you do with a monster once it’s been slaughtered? Why, cook it of course! A whole society has developed around that idea of combining combat and cooking, with warrior chefs highly respected.

They have to be trained, though, and that’s where the Gourmand Academy of Culinary Combat comes in. Through the eyes of new student Hana Ozawa and her friends, Jordan Alsaqa introduces a frankly weird idea that he proceeds to pass off as relatively normal.

Despite the trappings, Cooking With Monsters is a school saga at its heart, with Hana and her good-natured friends running up against less well-intentioned and more competitive classmates, with a further contrast being Hana and Bobby’s rural upbringing. Alsaqa introduces their assorted issues well, providing credible problems and resentments, while the teachers to whom pupils are apprenticed for one on one training are an eccentric assortment.

Vivian Truong’s character-rich cartooning brings the cast and their feelings to life, and while action scenes are bread and butter to her, there’s a skill in conveying the joy of cooking. The use of monsters means there’s no need to research real recipes, but the preparations are much the same and Truong makes these unconventional dishes look utterly appetising.

In places the feelings are overplayed and exaggerated, but then that’s true to teenage life, and they’re strong and varied enough to engage readers while the cast are put through their paces. Hana’s insecurities dominate, and the spectre of Harry Potter hangs over any school saga with mystical elements, but the basic concept mixing cookery with combat holds up far better than expected and proves strong enough to continue in Harm to Table.