It’s Batman and Robin versus the Monkey Prince, and someone better get his head in the game! Your Major Spoilers review of Monkey Prince #2 from DC Comics awaits!
MONKEY PRINCE #2
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: Bernard Chang
Colorist: Sebastian Cheng
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Jessica Chen
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 2, 2022
Previously in Monkey Prince: Batman and Robin fight with Pigsy over… a part of Monkey Prince’s body that fell off and is rolling around moving on its own? And Pigsy better grab it quickly, before Monkey Prince transforms back into Marcus Sun, because there’s no way a regular teenager could survive that!
“I FREAKING HATE BATMAN!”
After Batman accidentally cut off Monkey Prince’s head last issue, you might expect this to be a short issue. But magic is more complicated than that, leaving the two pieces of Marcus relatively functional, if panicky. When Robin tries to secure the head, Monkey Prince bites him, which leads the obnoxious Damian to drop-kick him while Batman struggles to take his body. Before anything terrible can happen, like returning to human form while bisected, Pigsy manages to reassemble his young charge so they can escape. Elsewhere in Gotham, mystical forces have infiltrated The Iceberg Lounge, which has altered The Penguin in a shocking way, causing him to drain the qi from his employees and making the GCPD think that there’s a new serial killer in town. Returning to high school, Marcus tries to come to terms with his new situation, while Robin slips in undercover to try and track down the Monkey Prince, revealing that security footage shows Marcus leaping into the school’s pool, the hero flying out… and, somehow, Marcus also climbing out? It’s impossible, but as Mr. Zhu reminds him, the rules of magic are different. But, if he can steal a red envelope from Pigsy’s hand, he’ll loosen the mystical singlet that binds him.
THE PENGUIN LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM
The story in Monkey Prince #2 is wonderful, the classic young person/superhero putting together the pieces, like classic Silver Age Spider-Man, or the more recent examples of Invincible or The New Warriors. There’s a nice balance of silly and serious here, with Mr. Zhu/Pigsy providing a whimsical sort of tuition, while even Batman can’t quite be the grimdark character preferred by modern DC. I’ve already read a few comments claiming that the Dynamic Duo is “out of character” in these pages, but in fact, they’re treating the hero the way they treat their villains, which is perfectly IN character for Batman.
Chiang’s art is likewise a lovely combination of traditional superhero art and more stylized designs with strong Chinese influences. The Monkey Prince himself is great to see in action, but I fear that, like Deathstroke and The Creeper, no one but his original creator will be able to make him look quite right. That’s a minor complaint though, especially given the joyful page of Marcus leaping onto a cloud to chase Pigsy through the skies of Gotham, an image that is breathtakingly good.
BOTTOM LINE: I WANT MUCH MORE OF THIS
If you miss Yang’s work on The Terrifics or New Super-Man, you’ll be happy to know that The Monkey Prince #2 is a very well-crafted story, with great art and coloring that always brings that little bit more life to the imagery, using a Batman guest-shot to great effect and making me imagine where this story might go, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. The Monkey Prince is a lovely addition to the DC Universe, and if there’s any justice, he’ll be around for a good long time. (I also have my fingers crossed for a New Super-Man appearance.)
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MONKEY PRINCE #2
It's fun to see Batman and Robin dealing with what they believe to be a threat when they're not the designated heroes and Marcus' continued exploration of his new powers is classic comics world-building.
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Writing9
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Art8
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Coloring8
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.