DC Comics’ newest Asian superhero meets the Dark Knight in debut issue of new ‘Monkey Prince’ miniseries
By Ryan General
DC’s newest Asian American superhero is now starring in his own comic book with the debut of the “Monkey Prince” miniseries this week.
“Monkey Prince,” whose first issue was launched on Feb. 1 in print and as a digital comic book, features demigod Marcus Sun as the Monkey Prince with supporting characters inspired by “Journey to the West,” a classic work of Chinese literature from the 16th century.
Created by award-winning writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Bernard Chang, the character was first introduced in last year’s “DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration” anthology, as NextShark previously covered.
In DC’s first-ever Asian-American superhero anthology, fans saw the Monkey Prince team up with the superhero Shazam in the 12-page comic “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes.”
Enter the Monkey
Yang and Chang return with colorist Sebastian Cheng to flesh out the character’s origins in “Enter The Monkey, Part 1,” the first issue of “Monkey Prince.”
The maiden issue focuses on how high school student Marcus Sun becomes a superhero after learning more about his heritage. It also features an encounter between the Monkey Prince and the Dark Knight himself, Batman.
Additionally, the series will touch on the titular character’s relationship with the Monkey King, Marcus’ father Sun Wukong who is based on a legendary character from the original “Journey to the West.”
Janice Chiang did the lettering for the issue, and artists Stanley Lau, Dustin Nguyen, Zao Dao and Anand Radhakrishnan created art for variant covers.
The launch of the new series coincided with the celebration of Lunar New Year this week. Fans can get a sneak peek of Monkey Prince No. 1 in the series’ ten-page prologue, Monkey Prince No. 0, which is available for free on DC Universe Infinite.
Featured Image via DC Comics
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