Monkey Prince #8 – Gene Luen Yang, Writer; Bernard Chang, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: We now know that this series will have a bigger impact on the DCU than we thought, with both lead character Marcus Sun and writer Gene Luen Yang jumping onto the upcoming event Lazarus Planet in 2023. That makes the format of this series, with the focus shifting every four issues, make a bit more sense. Marcus is being introduced to the heroes of the DCU—and it’s usually a bumpy ride. He’s certainly not made any friends in Atlantis, as Aquaman and his alliance view the Monkey Prince as an annoying invader and Marcus hasn’t done much to dispel that impression. But with a supernatural force becoming a living mountain on the outskirts of the city and the Trench descending on the depths to claim its food, the two heroes have little choice but to trust each other long enough to try to survive. The first half of this issue is fun and chaotic, but can be a little overwhelming in its pace and sheer number of elements.
There are a lot of things to like in this series, but the best may be the acerbic mentor/student relationship between Marcus and the eccentric Shifu Pigsy. Shifu’s attempt to teach Marcus key techniques usually comes in the form of trickery and hard-knocks training, but it also usually produces good results. However, this arc has been a little less strong than the first one just because there’s so much info in each issue and it feels like the subplot of Marcus’ parents has been left by the wayside a little. It’s even lampshaded in the final page that it’s time for them to move on again. Both arcs featured new, intriguing supporting characters that seem to be completely dropped as soon as the arc ends, and that makes Marcus’ world not feel as complete as it could be. It’s a fun series, but I’m hoping we get a sequel that might not be as based around dropping Marcus in one new setting after another.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
