Monkey Prince #6 – Gene Luen Yang, Writer; Bernard Chang, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This book is taking an unexpected few months off, returning with #7 in October—which is a shame, because this might be the best issue of the series so far. Following Marcus Sun, the teenage son of two genius henchmen with a deep dislike for superheroes, has been a lot of fun as he slowly overcomes his fears. But what we haven’t seen much of yet is his mysterious birth father—the Monkey King. This mythological figure seems to be long gone, but a flashback this issue shows his rise as a king, as well as his one weak point—a fear of death. As Shifu Pigsy shares the tale to help Marcus get over his own weak point, we see the Monkey King fall from grace, become a madman in the pursuit of immortality, and eventually redeem himself and find a greater wisdom—before falling in battle against an iconic DC villain and disappearing. But is he still out there? Marcus doesn’t have time to explore that right now—he’s got school.
The high school elements of this book are still the weakest—it seems like Marcus encounters a generic bully everywhere he turns. But those segments are brief, and Marcus’ plot collides with his parents’ as Black Manta unleashes a gigantic, demon-possessed hermit crab on the town in an attempt to draw Aquaman out of hiding. The new character we met last issue, a crazed half-Trench girl who tried to eat Marcus, surprisingly only appears briefly this issue as Amnesty Bay becomes the host to a massive kaiju fight. The action here is fantastic, and Bernard Chang’s art seems to get better with every issue. As we pass the halfway point of this story, we’re starting to get a bigger picture of the story here—and the cliffhanger throws just about everything for a loop. The three-month holdover might blunt the momentum a bit, but I think this—like all of Yang’s work—will read even better in a collected edition.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
