While Marcus the Monkey Prince has to deal with a combination of family troubles and the Ultra-Humanite, “Monkey Prince” the comic is also facing a new challenge: the crossover event. With “Batman vs Robin” leading to “Lazarus Planet,” will the new event break the narrative flow of an already-limited series, or will it tie into the story enough to keep the pace?
Let’s read on and see.
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Illustrated by Bernard Chang
Colored by Marcelo Maiolo
Lettered by Wes AbbottBATMAN VS. ROBIN TIE-IN! Sound the alarm bells and bow at his feet, because the legendary Monkey King is finally released from the Phantom Zone! And what timing this is, when the first thing Monkey King senses is that his oldest foe-turned-friend-turned-??? was also just released from his own captivity…Nezha! But most importantly…does Monkey King sense his own son, Monkey Prince, and does he even know of Monkey Prince’s existence? Find out here, along with the secret origin of Marcus Sun and why he is the Monkey Prince!
First of all, you can ignore the solicitation, because the Monkey King hasn’t been released quite yet. That’ll likely come in the next issue or two, because this one is more focused on giving us more time with the characters that showed up last issue while bringing Marcus into the events of “Lazarus Planet.” And frankly, that’s for the best, because it means the story isn’t rushing to the next plot point while we still have another to resolve.
“Monkey Prince” has taken the titular hero (although at this point we can still use that word pretty loosely) on a tour of DC’s most famous destinations, including Gotham, Atlantis, and Metropolis. Along the way, it’s introduced Marcus/Monkey Prince to a range of superheroes, most of whom he’s managed to piss off, and slowly developed his abilities.
And there’s few things I like more than an incredibly flawed protagonist who grows and improves as a person over time. (Longtime readers may recall I also praised Gene Luen Yang’s “New Super-Man” comic for giving us a protagonist with a lot of growth to do.) The fact that he not only dislikes superheroes, but was legitimately traumatized by one, only adds to his journey into… let’s say “heroism.”
So this event crossover is the time to start showing off that development, and we’re certainly starting to get that in this issue. Monkey Prince takes hits for his allies and runs towards danger when there’s people to save, which is certainly more than he would have done when we first met him. And while his powers are still growing, we get to see him unlock new abilities and put them to use in creative ways.
All the while, the story is building to its own conclusion, using the events of “Lazarus Planet” as a catalyst for story progression rather than an interruption.
So that brings us to the event tie-in itself. Sifu Pigsy played a moderate role in “Batman vs Robin,” but that isn’t referenced at all here, since his capture happened last issue. Instead, Marcus is trying to save his adoptive mother’s life while dealing with both Supergirl and Ultra-Humanite when the Lazarus rain begins, so it brings him into the story in his own way.
And that’s fine, because it helps the “Monkey Prince” comic remain its own self-contained story, without requiring readers to follow an entirely different comic to understand how he got from Point A to Point B. It still brings the story points together, so readers can hop into “Lazarus Planet” without missing a beat or even needing to read “Batman vs Robin.”
Thematically, the events of “Lazarus Planet” connect nicely to the “Monkey Prince” story, as they involve Nezha and King Fire Bull, who also originate in Chinese mythology. Frankly, they’re more appropriate villains for Monkey Prince to fight than any other DC hero, much less Batman, but DC has done a great job building up to this story by weaving together plotlines introduced across “World’s Finest,” “Monkey Prince,” and now “Batman vs Robin.” So if there was ever an event for Monkey Prince to play a big role in, this is it.
Continued belowNow let’s talk about the artwork. Bernard Chang provides the illustrations, with Marcelo Maiolo as the colorist, and together, they’ve made “Monkey Prince” look absolutely fantastic.
Not only are the designs all quite clean and strong, but there’s some nice depth added to each of them through the lighting and details. When we get close-up panels looking at characters faces, we can really see how Bernard uses lighting to add to the dimensions of the characters and convey their emotions.
And he even gets the opportunity to go all-out with some physical comedy when Monkey Prince accidentally reattaches his body backwards. It’s given half a page for full effect, and between the pose and expression, it hits nicely. (Did anyone else get reminded of the Spaceballs teleporter mishap scene during that page, or was that just me?)
Plus, this issue lets Bernard not only draw characters like Ultra-Humanite, but even a person transformed into a snake-person with Medusa-like snakes for hair (yes, that’s snake hair on a snake head), and the way the shadows and light work across the scales looks great.
And it wouldn’t be a crossover event without mass chaos, which we get plenty of in the crowd shots as the Lazarus rain spreads across the planet. The crowded streets and tall buildings of Metropolis take on a new light as we get a street-level look at the chaos, complete with plenty of imaginative mutations in the background.
Marcelo Maiolo’s color work does wonders here as well, casting a sickly green and yellow across the stormy sky, or illuminating lab scenes with a glowing blue. Meanwhile, the characters all stand out in their respective shades of heroic tones nicely against the backgrounds.
Plus, the color choices play into the light and shadow effects very well, further improving that depth and detail on each of the characters.
The artwork even gets a chance to go far more cartoonish than usual with the tiny Monkey Prince copies Marcus learns to make with his hair. The exaggerated features, flat style, and goofy proportions of the tiny clones stands out against the rest of the artwork, making them ridiculous in the best of ways, and suits the more comical attitude Marcus takes after transforming (a trait he apparently inherited from his father, the Monkey King).
So “Monkey Prince” #10 manages to make the event tie-in work as part of the story, using it to advance the plot while still connecting Marcus’ story to the greater DC Universe and ongoing event. All the while, it looks fantastic thanks to the art and color work. That gets it a high recommendation from me.
Oh, and this series also makes the entire events of “Journey to the West” canon to the DC Universe. Considering DC also features the Greek pantheon, a plethora of Egyptian gods, and the entire Arthurian mythos, I think including “Journey to the West” is only fair.
Final Verdict: 8.4 – “Monkey Prince” has been a fun ride from the first issue, and this one ties it in with the events of “Lazarus Planet” without missing a beat or compromising the story.
