Travon was designed to be the new monarch of his species when they found a world to repopulate. But how much has living on Earth among humans affected him? Find out in Monarch #4 from Image Comics!
MONARCH #4
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Alex Lins
Colorist: Luis NCT
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Editor: Greg Tumbarello
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 10, 2023
Previously in Monarch: Travon never realized it, but his foster sister Marli not only saw him as her protector, but she believed he was a star person. Travon, on board the alien ship, learns that he was sent by the aliens to infiltrate the human world and send back information about it. He realizes that he is indirectly responsible for their deaths. But he also realizes that he has formed attachments not only with Miss Wilamae and her other kids, but also with Daysha. Daysha and Kurtis are still at the school. Angie goes missing, and when they find her gagged and tied to a chair, they realize that Todd is responsible and now he is after them!
HOW THE PAST SHAPES THE FUTURE
Monarch #1 opens to show us more about Todd. He is a white boy who feels like he does not fit in, and he is angry. He looks at social media and it makes him feel worse, even though he is aware that so many of the happy, perfect pictures are not even real. It turns out that his mother left him four years ago. She promised to call, that he could visit her, but she never contacted him. A huge part of his life was lost, and he withdrew, holding everything inside but his anger.
Travon realizes that he has come to love people from Earth. The mothership also knows this. He has a job he is supposed to do, but now the ship sees him as a possible danger. Travon must fight against it to survive, even though every part of the ship he destroys is also a part of his own people too. He makes it out of the ship and back down to the streets. The ship considers him in his spot, balanced between the repopulation of his species and their extinction.
Daysha and Kurtis run from the room where Angie is while Todd mocks them over the P.A. system. He is playing a dangerous game with them as his targets. Daysha has the idea to go to the gym – a large, open space where they should be able to see him if he tries to approach. Todd remembers his father after his mother left. He turned to drinking and would spend hours staring off into the distance. Todd knew he was suffering, and the thought came to him that he needed to kill him.
As Kurtis and Daysha get ready to face Todd, they have no idea he is in the stands with a gun. None of them realize that Travon is outside trying to find a way in. The doors are locked. He does not want the noise of breaking a window to alert the tripods. But they spot him and shoot him. He makes a run for another door, and their next shot breaks it open so he can slip inside.
He finds Angie and set her free as she tells him that Todd has lost it. They hear shots and Travon races to the gym where alien drones are converging on Daysha and Kurtis!
DECISIONS AND CONSEQUENCES
The art of Monarch #4 is solid and atmospheric. Todd’s flashbacks have a muted palette that approaches sepia tones which not only sets them apart from the present day, but it gives us a sense of the starkness of Todd’s life. In the opening sequence, he is at home, and we see no one else with him. The house is neat and orderly as he goes about his morning preparing his own food. He looks like he is perfectly capable of caring for himself, but he is also quite young. What is the price someone pays when they have so much responsibility thrust upon them? What inner damage is he hiding after the loss of his mother?
Travon is in a difficult situation as well. He has little time to think about his decisions, but we can tell that he has no good ones. If he sides with his own species, he does so at the cost of the humans he has come to love and to respect. If he sides with those humans, his own species will see him as a liability to their survival. He realizes that he loves Daysha, and that shapes his decision.
BOTTOM LINE: SURVIVAL…BUT FOR WHOM?
As the story approaches its peak, Monarch #4 shows it from multiple points of view, reminding us that each individual experiences events in their own way, and the past may have a profound effect on the future.
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Monarch #4
Travon decides what matters to him and now his life is in danger!
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Writing8
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Art8
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.