Asian-American superheroes are not completely unrepresented in Western comics. However, Asian superheroes created by Asian/Asian-American creators have been far and few between. Take the DC comics superheroine Katana, for example. The crime fighting samurai warrior first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #200 (1983). However, Tatsu Yamashiro was created by two white creators. Katana received her own New 52 series in 2013, yet was again written and illustrated without any Asian-American creators involved. Yes, Ann Nocenti is one of the most talented and lovely writers in comics. But were any Asian creators even considered to write about the Asian hero?
Further, not only have Asian stories and characters been imagined by white creators, but some of this “representation” has either emerged as borderline or straightforwardly offensive. Of course, not all aforementioned creators approached these stories with bad or problematic intentions. But this dangerous precipice, this threshold where the crux between “misguided” and “racist” proves far too easy to cross, is exactly why comics can avoid controversy altogether by simply handing over the reins to Asian creators for primarily Asian-centric storytelling/representation.
Enter Gene Luen Yang. Gene Yang is a Chinese-American cartoonist and writer, and one of my all-time favourite creators in the comics scene. His 2006 graphic novel American Born Chinese and his 2019 authored comic illustrated by Gurihiru, Superman Smashes the Klan, both utilise his Asian-American perspective to present accessible stories about race, heroism, and individuality for kids and adults alike. Yang has a way of writing that feels personable while incorporating heavy, relevant topics into his work.
DC Comics and Marvel Comics took notice of Yang’s talent when they brought him on to write for ongoing titles such as Batman/Superman (2021) and Shang-Chi (2021). Recently, DC and Marvel have made strides to begin correcting their long history of minimising or problematising the Asian-American experience in comics. Marvel Comics released their Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1 (2021) last year to celebrate AAPI Month with an anthology collection starring an all-Asian creator line up, including Yang. Importantly, Yang also lent his talent to the DC anthology comic issue, DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021). This is where Yang introduced a new Asian-American superhero, The Monkey Prince.
The 12-issue Monkey Prince comic maxiseries, from an entirely Asian team of comic book creators, arrives at a pertinent time in regards to the current social milieu. In the aftermath of the racially-motivated brutality, fatal murders, hate rhetoric, and microaggressions on Asian Americans that have risen exponentially since the pandemic’s origins in China, positive Asian representation in fiction should not be a demand, but an obvious necessity. Writer Gene Yang springboards the first issue off the characters’ mini origin stories from the DC Asian Superhero Celebration and the Monkey Prince #0 short comic. For Monkey Prince #1, he is joined by artist Bernard Chang, colourist Sebastian Cheng, and letterer Janice Chiang to bring Asian mythology to the American comic book scene.
Marcus Sun appears in the established DC comic universe as an original character. However, the Monkey Prince story evolved as a fusion between Western superhero comic aesthetics and narrative elements from Wu Cheng’en’s profound 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West. Regarded as one of East Asia’s most profound pieces of classic literature, Journey to the West featured the legendary mythical figure, Sun Wukong – otherwise known as the Monkey King. The legendary Monkey King possesses powers such as shape-shifting into 72 different formations, incredible speed and strength, and even the ability to create miniature clones of himself using his hairs. Sun Wukong’s story from Journey to the West inspired many iterations and adaptations. Thus, The Monkey Prince draws from the novel’s canon and adapts the story into yet another iteration, this time, through a comic book series.
The two influences – Chinese mythology and Western superhero comics – combine and culminate in a fresh, exciting story, promoting an Asian superhero character. Monkey Prince #1 imagines if the Monkey King had a son who inherited both his mantle and his immense superpowers. The first issue drops Marcus Sun into the path of the ultra-popular DC comic vigilante, Batman.
Immediately, the comic feels akin to the typical flashy modern superhero story replete with cameos and a character on the brink of experiencing his own superhero origin story. It’s a wonderful blend of cultures where neither overshadows the other. Readers don’t have to know any Batman or any Journey to the West canon to read Monkey Prince #1. Readers are taken along with the main character as he begins his own journey toward understanding the new identity unfolding before his eyes.
As his adoptive parents work as criminal freelance henchmen, Marcus has actually developed a fear of superheroes in Monkey Prince #1. He doesn’t know anything about his father or his monkey persona in the comics’ opening. Instead, his burgeoning powers threatening to overtake his body take precedence over any circumspection. Marcus cannot make friends with other kids since his parents move the family so often. Finally, just when he begins enduring another round of torment from bullies at his new school, Marcus learns about his father’s identity from the campus’s quippy, pig-faced maintenance man, Mr. Zhu.
Monkey Prince #1 reads like a welcoming first issue slowly breathing life into its story. The comic relies on a steadily-paced narrative where dialogue organically informs the character’s backstory while building the world in the present. If readers want to do a little bit of research, they’ll gain an expanded appreciation for the Journey to the West allusions. Characters such as Mr. Zhu emanate from the character of the degenerate “Pigsy” from the Chinese novel. But Monkey Prince offers Pigsy charming, leadership qualities divergent from the gluttonous debauchery the character endorses in the book.
Yang and the team bring the comic in some juncture between recognizable Journey to the West folklore and revitalised superhero comic visuals. Marcus goes through his transformation from an Asian-American spouting low self-esteem to a shapeshifting monkey where he takes on the superhero role that once scared him. Artists Chang and Cheng fully express this transformation through vibrant splash pages and colours popping off the page. The verge away from the more realistic style many superhero comic artists employ permits The Monkey Prince to stand out on supplemental aesthetic levels.
The Monkey Prince #1 is a comic where kinetic synergy flows through panels. Old and new, Chinese and American, literature and comic mediums unite in a freewheeling synthesis of styles thrumming with a zeal for the craft. It’s a true delight when a reader can viscerally experience the creators’ passion unequivocally torpedoing through the pages. Although The Monkey Prince only begins his story in this first issue, the series will pull people in from the opening pages.
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