Image Comics
Creator: Juni Ba
As subtle as Comrade Molotov’s own distinctive smoky blend, Monkey Meat takes aim at unfettered capitalism and delivers a scorching commentary. Juni Ba’s (Djeliya) fresh anarchic style brings a lively take to Image’s five issue anthology series, set on an island exploited by The Monkey Meat Company (exporters of fine canned processed meats). Each issue promises a unique view of this surreal industrial hellscape, and if the first issue is any indicator, some stinging satire as well.
Issue one sees us introduced to the world of Monkey Meat Island to truly see how the sausages are made. Through the eyes of the disgruntled Groundskeeper, a mutated former woodland creature called Thaddeus Lug, we see what life is like for the island nation under their industrial overlords, as Lug attempts to survive the daily grind.
The toxic effects of rampant capitalism, neo-colonialism, environmental and cultural destruction are all showcased here, in an effective and comedic fashion. It’s expected, and obvious, but that’s the charm of this work. Monkey Meat is made as a rallying cry, a slap in the face, or a wake-up call. Exaggerated? Certainly, but it is bright and bold satire, so what do you expect? What Monkey Meat does in a slightly more subtle manner, is show the drain on the soul – be that a homogenised bland personality created through the power of the advertising media, to the personal drain on the worker as they seek to achieve corporate goals.
This appears to be a partial revisiting of Juni Ba’s previous three issue Monkey Meat Safari, allowing for a thorough exploration with a more developed setting and style. You can see the influences of Hellboy and Gorillaz here in the art style, but it definitely has its own unique flavour. Hopefully, it’ll be in an exploration of this setting that we see a continuity through these various anthology tales, with the reappearance of setting and characters building a wider meta narrative.
Whatever the future offers, issue one of Monkey Meat certainly has some meat on those bones, and a fairly spicy tang.
