Monkey Meat – An Anticapitalist Fever Dream

I knew nothing about Monkey Meat other than its title and cover art. I didn’t quite know what to make of a hand crushing a Spam-esque can with a monkey on the front, but I knew I was interested in reading more. Monkey Meat: the First Batch is a zany and dark anthology that I fell in love with. It’s not the most original critique of capitalism I’ve seen, but it’s certainly one of the most engaging. I truly believe that if companies could get God to sign over the rights to people’s souls, they would absolutely do so. My only regret is that it doesn’t seem likely to get a sequel, but I will certainly be chasing down more of Juni Ba’s work in the future. 

Comparable Media: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Invader Zim, Rick and Morty

Elevator Pitch:
This anthology (though it might be better described as a mosaic comic) focuses on Monkey Meat Island. Once an untouched paradise, it is now ruled by a capitalist megacorporation cranking out questionably sourced meat, energy drinks made out of souls, and action figures showcasing the indigenous cultures the company eradicated to ‘honor’ them. Each story follows a different protagonist, but several characters run through the series, including the enslaved enforcer Lug and the supernaturally persuasive Salesman. In this collection you’ll get

• Lug’s Origin story for how he became a puppet of Monkey Meat Corporation
• A disaffected disaffected man drinks the soul of a god and gets recruited by the corporation
• A fable about an adventurer rescuing a young girl from monsters of Monkey Meat’s creation
• Monkey Meat’s biggest fan learns the reality of their crimes
• A superhero threatens Monkey Meat’s future, but their solution is even more dangerous

What Worked for Me:
Monkey Meat really nails the intersection of dark comedy and social commentary. It’s absurd, overly dramatic, and true to reality. The best way I can describe this book is if Sunday morning cartoons were made for adults. Like some of the more commercially successful adult comics, each entry in Monkey Meat establishes some lore that will get referenced in later episodes, but it largely keeps the status quo the same to avoid interfering with ideas for future episodes. Through the comic is absurd logic, unhinged one-liners, and really creative thinking. Logic has no place on Monkey Meat island, and everything is fair game. One of my favorite lines was the Salesmen, in response to a query from the board on threats to the company’s financial future, saying “Living toys, a possessed goose, a superhero-led uprising … nothing we can’t monetize.” Ba has a very specific point of view in this comic, and I loved it.

I think Monkey Meat’s art is very successful here as well. Ba served as both writer and illustrator (but not colorist), and there’s a strong connective tissue between story and image. He shifts styles a bit for each story, but exaggerated character designs, dynamic poses, and contrast are a running theme. There’s no attempt at realism on Monkey Meat Island, and that effect only gets exaggerated when intense colors are layered into the story. Everything is over-the top, but Ba has a really unique style that never left me bored or disinterested. 

What Didn’t Work For Me:
At times I think this comic was unfocused in the individual story plots. The message was consistent: Monkey Meat Corporation is evil, and thus so is capitalism by extension. However, I was left feeling like the comic never quite went deeper than surface level. It was engaging, funny, and insightful, but I don’t know how much it pushed me to think in new ways. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it did place some limits on the type of stories Monkey Meat is equipped to handle. On a more literal level, there were definitely times where I struggled to understand exactly what was happening in a panel or page. The most notable example was Lug, arguably the most important character in the whole comic. I never quite understood what I was looking at with him. Lots of people seem to dislike this comic, and with a 3.28 on Goodreads, this might be the biggest gap so far this year from ‘common consensus’ and my personal opinion. 

Conclusion: This was a rollercoaster ride of a comic. I want to read more things that are as creative and unique as what Ba cooked up in Monkey Meat!