Brent Jackson
Introducing the newest hero in the DCU, the great sage, equal to the heavens, better than his predecessor the legendary Monkey King, even better than the Justice League—and definitely the Teen Titans—(actually, all the heroes combined), everyone put your hands together for…the Monkey Prince!
To commemorate the Lunar New Year launch of Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang’s new series, incredible gold foil open-to-order variants in lucky red envelopes have been created for the first issue. Orders for Monkey Prince #1’s “Lucky Red Envelope Foil Variant” are due December 12 and will arrive in stores on February 1! The Lunar New Year Lucky Red Envelope Foil Variant is the only Monkey Prince #1 variant on Final Order Cutoff this Sunday, December 12. The remainder of the Monkey Prince #1 covers, including the main cover, the open-to-order variant cover, and 1:25 and 1:50 incentive covers will FOC on January 9. Let your Local Comic Shop know which cover(s) you’ll be pulling!
Marcus Sun moves around a lot because his adoptive parents are freelance henchpeople, so this month he finds himself as the new kid at Gotham City High School, where a mysterious man with pig features asks Marcus to walk through a water curtain to reveal himself as who Marcus really is…someone who has adventured through The Journey to the West, can transform into 72 different formations, can clone himself using his hairs, and is called…the Monkey Prince!
Below, Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang share insight into the shape-shifting character’s origins and ties to Chinese mythology.
What is the personal importance of introducing this character?
Gene Luen Yang: It’s a thrill. There’s a lot of overlap between the Monkey King and the American superhero genre. They both are heroes, they’re battling for the fate of the world, they’re both dressed up in fancy, colorful costumes, and they both have these fantastical, superhuman powers. It felt good to bridge that gap between those two loves—American superheroes and the legend of the Monkey King.
Bernard Chang: My family immigrated to the US when I was six. Immediately, I took a liking to American comic books like Batman and Superman. They helped me learn English, but also taught me a lot about values. So, when my dad saw I was consuming a lot of superhero stuff, he wanted to introduce me to an original Chinese superhero and got his hands on a Monkey King book. He would read to me a few pages each night, and I would go to sleep dreaming about these amazing and fantastical adventures.
How did the Monkey Prince come to life for you?
Yang: We wanted to firmly ground our character in the DC Universe. We wanted it to feel like a story that couldn’t be told anywhere else. The main character isn’t the Monkey King himself, he’s actually his son—that’s why he’s called the Monkey Prince. Second, we wanted to tie him into DC heroes and DC conventions. We wanted a relationship between the character and the heroes and villains that already exist in the DC Universe.
Chang: Monkey Prince is all about attitude and character. My initial reaction to the original Monkey King character is that he’s a rebel, a mischievous figure who defied the gods and wanted to do things his way. So, bringing that element into the design was a key factor.
Monkey Prince #1 (of 12) by writer Gene Luen Yang ???, artist Bernard Chang ???, colorist Sebastian Cheng ???, and letterer Janice Chiang ??? will publish on February 1. DC’s Jessica Chen ??? edits Monkey Prince.
Follow DC on Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok for more information about Monkey Prince. Fans can also discuss Monkey Prince on DCCommunity. DC’s Monkey Prince first debuted in DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration.
