Official DC Community Book Club: Monkey Prince!

General Discussion Comic Books
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In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, we’re kickin’ it with new kid at Gotham City High – Monkey Prince!

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Starting on Monday, May 22nd, we’ll be swinging into the life of Marcus Sun — a completely (ab)normal boy who is about to find out that being the new kid in school is the least of his problems. Can this Batman-loathing teen truly be the one to save the world? Join Marcus, a.k.a Monkey Prince, and Shifu Pigsy through 5/22 - 5/29 and find out!

Remember, Monkey Prince #0-3 will be free to read for the duration of this book club, so head over to DCUI and get ready to get your read on!

Issues #0 - #1 Discussion Questions

  1. Darkseid seemed to give up the fight with Monkey King a little too easily — why do you think that is? Do you think he truly did see himself outnumbered by Monkey King’s hair clones, or that he had a bigger plan in mind?

  2. Following the battle with Darkseid, it’s implied Red Boy might’ve went down a dark path after his tragic loss. If such is the case, do you feel he’s justified at all? Who do you think he blames?

  3. What do you think became of the Monkey King after this experience? Furthermore, do you think he held onto any guilt from the events with Darkseid and Red Boy’s family?

  4. Do you think there is any hope for Marcus’s parents to “reform” themselves, considering their occupations?

  5. Marcus indirectly mentions that he wears shoes all the time, even inside his house, to avoid being barefoot. Do you think his apparent interest in expensive sneakers stems directly from his trauma?

  6. How do you feel about Mr. Zhu’s approach to Marcus’s fears? Was he right to tell him to “jump in”, or should he have taken a different approach?

  7. The first thing Marcus does in his “realized” form is take revenge on his bullies. Do you think this was the right path for him to take?

  8. How do you feel the accident with the Batarang will pan out, considering Marcus’s feelings about Batman? Furthermore, do you think Marcus stands a chance at becoming a hero — if such is the path he chooses — with “villain” parents and a deep-seeded hatred for Batman?

Issues #2 - #3 Discussion Questions

  1. Marcus says he prefers to live a life knowing fear because it helps keep him out of dangerous situations. Let’s say there really was a way out of being the Monkey Prince — do you feel he would’ve made the right choice by throwing the circlet away?

  2. Do you agree with Mr. Zhu that Marcus being petty makes him just as much of a bully as Riz?

  3. Say Monkey Prince didn’t have magical powers to preserve his head. How do you think Damian feels knowing that Batman might’ve accidentally decapitated someone? Do you think he’d get over it, or would that pose as a problem for him?

  4. The motif of this story is “embracing your fear”. If you were in Marcus’s shoes, are there any fears that you absolutely would not be able to cope with in order to become the Monkey Prince?

  5. Given his relation to Kaya, whom Marcus holds in warm regard, do you think Riz has any chance of redeeming himself in Marcus’s eyes? Similarly, do you think he’ll stop being such a bully after his experience with Damian?

  6. Why do you think the Penguin specifically sought out the powers he has in this story?

  7. Given everything he’s dealt with in the past week, what do you think ranks #1 of Marcus’s current fears?

  8. It’s the end of our Monkey Prince journey! What was your favorite piece of sage wisdom from Shifu Pigsy?

As always, a DC Community Book Club isn’t complete without some great digital perks!

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Awesome! I am a huge Journey to the West fan and I think that the Monkey Prince series was an awesome addition to the mythos. I won’t give any spoilers away, but the ending was so cool and so in theme that I was blown away!

Some of my Journey collection:

IMG_20230519_150007044_Original
IMG_20230519_150007044_Original4160×2792 1.92 MB

IMG_20230519_150015262_Original
IMG_20230519_150015262_Original3585×3120 1.64 MB

IMG_20230519_150154194_Original
IMG_20230519_150154194_Original3449×2975 2.39 MB

If the Monkey Prince sparked any interest, I would highly recommend checking out Journey to the West. The complete version in total is quite long (around 2,000 pages or so), but there are some very accessible abridged versions that tell the story in a more compressed version that is still really fun to read.

The only thing I missed out of the Monkey Prince series was Wonder Woman interacting with Marcus or Pigsy. That would have been amazing. It could still happen. I am hoping to see more of the Monkey Prince and Pigsy in the future. :monkey_face: :pig:

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WHOAAAAAAA!! Amazing collection!!

I’ll have to check Journey to the West out soon then!

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Impressive! I feel like such a collection warrants at least one Son Goku. And maybe the Beyond Good and Evil video game.

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Awesome™:+1:. Been on my list for a bit. Guess it’s time to start reading.

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I’ve been meaning to read this series for a while. Looks like this is a good reason to finally read it!

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Thanks! I’m glad to have a chance to show it off.

Thanks! Strangely enough I never got into Dragonball Z when it was popular, and only found out it was linked to Journey to the West years later.

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I grew up on Sun Wu Kong and the Journey to the West cartoon so I’m excited for DC’s interpretation of the story!

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Happy Monkey Prince Monday, y’all!

Discussion questions for the first two issues are up! :monkey:

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So, I went to read the first few issues of this series yesterday and I read all of it… :sweat_smile: Great series. I hope we get more Monkey Prince soon!

Anyway, on to the questions:

Considering what he did next, a little bit of both. He saw a chance to take out two enemies and then just leave in a retreat. Maybe he didn’t want to fight all the clones but he still wanted his revenge?

A little bit? I do know who he becomes so it is hard to say. He is justified in wanting revenge for the death of his parents but I think, he does go too far, eventually.

He might have held onto some guilt but I don’t think he was to blame. He did everything right to corner Darkseid. Darkseid just found a way out.

There is some. They seem to really love Marcus. I do like seeing this side of ‘henchmen’, if we want to call them that. Usually, there are one dimensional henchmen with no motives, but it is nice to see it from this point of view. I think that Marcus’ parents have a chance, they just need to figure out how to do what they do for a good cause.

Considering this was mentioned on the same page this sneaker collection is introduced, yeah I think it is. It is a cool collection.

He should have taken a different approach. That isn’t the way to deal with a deep fear like that. Though, Mr. Zhu couldn’t have known it was the deep of a fear, but still. Just telling people to do the thing that scares them, isn’t how people ‘get over’ fears.

…In that situation, that’s what I would have done. Right or wrong? It’s high school. Marcus is riding the adrenaline high of new superpowers. It’s a logical path. Maybe not the morally right one. But it makes sense.

Reading this series, the idea that he would be anything but a hero never crossed my mind. Yeah. He has ‘villain’ parents and a hatred for Batman but he is a good person. And his hatred is more of a fear of Batman. I don’t think he would ever seek out Batman to fight him. And he doesn’t seem like the guy who would follow in his parents’ career path.

I think it will all work out. Batman won’t trust him, because he is Batman, but Marcus can be a hero if he wants to be.

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  1. I think Darkseid is perhaps more pragmatic than he’s traditionally given credit for. As much as he loves a bit of conquering, I think he’s more than happy to lose a battle that’s too much work for something he doesn’t want that badly.
  2. I can picture him blaming the Monkey King, especially since MK and King Bull Demon already didn’t get along
  3. I’m guessing he does feel guilty and may be in self-imposed exile currently.
  4. They’re clearly career criminals and not just desperate people trying to get by, so the road to redemption won’t be short or easy, but they obviously love their son. I think if Marcus asks them to go straight, they could work toward becoming better people.
  5. I think he’s subconsciously trying to de-monkey himself.
  6. He had his reasons. I honestly trust that lascivious pig demon with my life.
  7. I fully support taking the shoes back, and maybe doing something to embarrass them for catharsis, but I think Marcus’ vengeance was too violent.
  8. This is a dream sequence, right? Batman is WAY too casual about decapitating a minor! I think Marcus will be motivated by his fear of Batman to be a hero who doesn’t utilize fear.
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Partially, I think the version we see is Pigsy’s simplification of events. I don’t think he so much saw himself as outnumbered, but when he saw Monkey King’s powers he changed him plan from simple conquest of the Heavenly Realm to something where he feels he can leverage MK’s power to his own end. Presumably tied to MK’s self -exile.

More relevantly, though, Darkseid’s attack is secondary to Marcus’ story and leaves room to retcon more detail in at a later date if a more Darkseid-centric story is crafted. (AFAIR, we get no further confirmation of Darkseid involvement through this series?)

Pigsy’s comment reads to me like Red Boy could’ve turned out to be the Bat of the Heavenly Realm, and been justified in that path, but chose the “less noble” path. Any rational child would blame Darkseid. And perhaps by extension the “Apokoliptian element.” Blaming his parents’ colleagues is the sign of a character already broken and misguided inside, leaning towards a villainous justification. From the immediate reaction we see in Pigsy’s retelling, it seems far more likely that some external element twists his grief to their own ends.

Err, at the time I think I just presumed he’s still chilling in the Heavenly Realm, doing Heavenly Realm stuff, and presumably spent many years trying to resurrect King Bull Demon and Princess Iron Fan with peaches and other Heavenly magicks. Of course, I’ve read beyond the assignment and thus better spoiler out my earlier comment and not comment further here.

I really hope not. Reform would probably result in one of them being killed. This is such an awesome mechanism of awkward stalemate. I love that Marcus only feels safe with them, sees them as his only “real” family, and vice versa, but they constantly lie to one another to keep the happy home life afloat. Far better to have his inclusion in the hero community tempered by not only his hatred of Batman but various forms of “why’d you let those henchfolk go” distrust than to have to homogenize him by bringing conflict with gramps to a head.

I think his trauma is only part of it. His parents are scientists, and implicitly don’t teach a lot of folklore. Rather than being afraid of the lightning and worrying if Leigong is going to get him, he finds comfort in understanding exactly why the sounds occur. They also presumably don’t teach him about the bad luck of wearing shoes into the house (and perhaps don’t worry about germs because he keeps his shoes so shiny clean), so it is very much an assertion that Marcus is not “into” his presumed Chinese heritage.

More importantly, it contrasts the role he is about to inherit. I believe Monkey King is always pictured barefoot, so Marcus’ comfort with always wearing shoes echoes his initial rejection of his fate/inheritance. Not insignificantly, he also doesn’t cross the curtain at the pool until after Riz steals his shoes; at the Monkey King Festival in Kowloon, the medium doesn’t receive the spirit of Sun Wukon until he is barefoot (so he can run over hot coals, of course) - this representation of the rebirth of the Monkey King is echoed in Marcus’s (unwilling) removal of his shoes.

As a High School janitor, he was absolutely wrong. As an immortal who has presumably still not quite achieved Nirvana and become an arhat (as we see in his leering at Laura Shugel-Shen), I think its the only method he knows. Just because he’s given himself the title Shifu doesn’t mean he’s good at it.

I mean, if it was good enough for Bastian Bux…

But no, it wasn’t the “right” path – it was his misinterpretation of being told to retake what is his. He’s still seeing himself as “Marcus, all American sneakerhead.” Its a sign he hasn’t accepted his role as Monkey Prince, but is happy to use the powers he has to his advantage.

Everything will be allright. This is a thirteen issue series. :smiley:

Yes, he absolutely can be a hero, and will, like most of the younger generation of heroes in DC, find his own path to what that means for him.

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It’s Monkey Prince Monday! Let’s get on with the next round of discussion questions! :monkey_face:

BE WARNED: Here there be spoilers!

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W1

  1. Darkseid seemed to give up the fight with Monkey King a little too easily — why do you think that is? Do you think he truly did see himself outnumbered by Monkey King’s hair clones, or that he had a bigger plan in mind?

Could be both. Saw that he may have underestimated his opponent or overestimated his forces or just felt it wasn’t worth conquering right now. So let’s break him down and maybe try coming back later.

  1. Following the battle with Darkseid, it’s implied Red Boy might’ve went down a dark path after his tragic loss. If such is the case, do you feel he’s justified at all? Who do you think he blames?

Justified maybe but not right. As for blame monkey king. He’s the protector and failed to protect his parents as well as his parents distain for him at the time before they died.

  1. What do you think became of the Monkey King after this experience? Furthermore, do you think he held onto any guilt from the events with Darkseid and Red Boy’s family?

Maybe lead to some self reflection and doubt after it. He definitely has to feel some guilt.

  1. Do you think there is any hope for Marcus’s parents to “reform” themselves, considering their occupations?

Yes. There’s always a chance to reform for anyone.

  1. Marcus indirectly mentions that he wears shoes all the time, even inside his house, to avoid being barefoot. Do you think his apparent interest in expensive sneakers stems directly from his trauma?

Yes. Mostly likely being barefoot during that event lead to the feeling being a trigger so wants shoes or something to cover his feet. The shoes being expensive though most likely personal taste.

  1. How do you feel about Mr. Zhu’s approach to Marcus’s fears? Was he right to tell him to “jump in”, or should he have taken a different approach?

I think he was right. Not perfect but good intentions. Some time to stop fear is to dive in head first.

  1. The first thing Marcus does in his “realized” form is take revenge on his bullies. Do you think this was the right path for him to take?

No but a common thing for bullied young heroes to do.

  1. How do you feel the accident with the Batarang will pan out, considering Marcus’s feelings about Batman? Furthermore, do you think Marcus stands a chance at becoming a hero — if such is the path he chooses — with “villain” parents and a deep-seeded hatred for Batman?

If may definitely spur the relationship. And cause more distain between the two but I think they’ll work something out. As for being a hero many have evil parents and hat bats so his chances should be good :sweat_smile:.

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W2

  • Marcus says he prefers to live a life knowing fear because it helps keep him out of dangerous situations. Let’s say there really was a way out of being the Monkey Prince — do you feel he would’ve made the right choice by throwing the circlet away?

No I think he’s good and wants it but that fear is making him not sure about. But with pigsy’s help and his good heart he’ll do it.

  • Do you agree with Mr. Zhu that Marcus being petty makes him just as much of a bully as Riz?

Yes

  • Say Monkey Prince didn’t have magical powers to preserve his head. How do you think Damian feels knowing that Batman might’ve accidentally decapitated someone? Do you think he’d get over it, or would that pose as a problem for him?

He’d try to hide it and act like it’s all good but eventually will confront bats about it and comfort him for killing someone though his past doing such.

  • The motif of this story is “embracing your fear”. If you were in Marcus’s shoes, are there any fears that you absolutely would not be able to cope with in order to become the Monkey Prince?

Heights and death.

  • Given his relation to Kaya, whom Marcus holds in warm regard, do you think Riz has any chance of redeeming himself in Marcus’s eyes? Similarly, do you think he’ll stop being such a bully after his experience with Damian?

Like I said everyone has a chance. So he may redeem himself and stop bullying.

  • Why do you think the Penguin specifically sought out the powers he has in this story?

Greed power or because it was gold. He’s Penguin always trying new things :sweat_smile:.

  • Given everything he’s dealt with in the past week, what do you think ranks #1 of Marcus’s current fears?

Losing those he cares about.

  • It’s the end of our Monkey Prince journey! What was your favorite piece of sage wisdom from Shifu Pigsy?

Not sure maybe the soda one :thinking::sweat_smile:

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Week 2 questions

  1. I don’t think Pigsy would be putting this much effort into recruiting and training Marcus if he wasn’t really necessary for averting this evil thing that’s coming. It’s probably best that Marcus embrace his destiny.
  2. 100% when the strong pray on the weak, they are being bullies, no matter how right they feel.
  3. I feel like Batman (and maybe Damian. I don’t read a lot of stuff with Damian in it) is written super out of character in that issue and in this series. A hero with such a famously strict no-kill code should not react to decapitating someone (someone he does not yet know will survive said decapitation) with an “it was an accident. Get off my case!”. That didn’t answer the question, but I needed to get that out there.
  4. I can think of one serious fear that I haven’t been able to face in my real life, but I’ve never been faced with a situation where I really had to. I think if my boy, Shifu Pigsy, were to help me out I could conquer it.
  5. I can picture him having a redemption arc similar to Zoe from Ms. Marvel, but the whole nicknaming himself The Riz and exclusively referring to himself in the third person thing makes him irredeemable in my eyes
  6. In issue #1 he clearly just thinks the idle will turn things and people into gold. He definitely did not want whatever’s going on with him now.
  7. After his inner monologue on page 13 of issue #2, I would say his greatest fear would be something happening to his parents.
  8. Does the part where he refers to Marcus’ mom as “the wide-hipped beauty” count as sage wisdom?
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This took me right out :rofl: :rofl:

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I’m not sure I agree with the supposition that throwing the circlet away is the right choice. Its perfectly natural to want to throw it away, and want a “normal” life back, but the circlet is about learning self control; it’s not like throwing it away makes him not the Monkey Prince. He’s the Monkey Prince either way, and until he gains enlightenment, the circlet is with him.

So if we’re asking whether walking away from life as the Monkey Prince is something Marcus should have done, if he had been able to … I guess it is a path that would be his right to choose, but wouldn’t be very interesting - he’d still be able to call Kaya as a peer counselor and hopefully work through his own inner demons, but he’d probably be an orphan sooner and end up living with a weird uncle in Saint Roch.

That’s not what he says, is it? The fact that his power now make him stronger than Riz is what makes him a bully. His pettiness is natural, and part of his path to enlightenment. Wanting revenge is natural, but he’s no longer the underdog defending himself; he struck out with no (immediate) provocation, which does make him the bully.

An interesting side note here is Marcus’ Jiayou t-shirt he changes into after falling in the pool in issue 1. It’s not clear if his mom brought it or Mr Zhu gave it to him, or if it’s like a backup shirt he keeps in his locker or something. But its the only bit of Chinese culture we see him with before passing through the water curtain. Is it reflective of him, by nature, being giving and supportive, not the bully he becomes when he suddenly has power? Or is it forced upon him, or put on begrudgingly when the situation demands it, reflective of his rejection of “enlightenment” along with his Chinese culture?

>TT<
Damian would get over it near immediately. He’s believed Bats should be more extreme since day one. This would just be ammo for him to use the next time Bruce saves a the life of a villain who kills an innocent civilian as soon as they are well enough to do so.

I can’t afford Marcus’ shoes. :smiley: I’m an old man and am not sure I have many fears that overlay Marcus’ save for fear of losing a loved one. That’s a hard one to let go of, and usually only achieved after the fact through grief.

Nah, he’s finally risen above petty vengeance, but only shifted to pity. Riz is a stepping stone in Marcus’ path, not anyone who needs to be redeemed. Maybe if a future story brings him back to Gotham, Riz might do something to be seen as relevant to Marcus, but I don’t think there’s anything he has to be redeemed for. Rescuing Riz from Damian is the lesson Marcus needed to see the problem with how he was behaving. Riz is a prop here, not an antagonist.

I don’t think he did. Issue 1 established that his plan was to turn Mr. Lester into gold. The way its phrased, I don’t think he believed the Golden Horn Demon was something that would possess him or give him powers. He was expecting some sort of curse that would result in him having a huge Investment Advisor shaped chunk of pure gold to sell for riches. He is genuinely surprised when an actual demon pops out and goes all Cave of Wonders on him.

Once possessed, he’s following the cravings of the Golden Horned King to consume Qi, not his own cravings.

Becoming a bloody splotch.
Or a bloody jerk “hero” like Damian and Batman.

“Yer mom’s hawt, but I’m celibate.”

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Definitely agree on this point. (I think Damian is in character, though.) Bat’s reaction to knocking Marcus’ head off made me honestly think we were in Marcus’ nightmare or water-curtain-hallucination, not reality. The lack of “waking up” in the next issue really took me by surprise.

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