Ninja Monkey Comic (updates Wednesday)

@ninjamonkeycomic.bsky.social

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A comic produced by René (The-Z) Barr and updated weekly. home: http://www.ninja-monkey.com support: https://www.patreon.com/NinjaMonkey or http://www.ko-fi.com/TheDashZ No portion of this comic may be edited or displayed without written permission.

A digital three panel comic. The top panel is populated by a dozen diverse characters armed and waiting to face an oncoming foe. The text of the panel reads: The Heroes of Heaven assembled at the gates to attempt to slow the Monkey King's Advance. If they could spare the Jade Emperor from having to deal with Sun Wukong again, their reputation would soar! The second panel shows these same characters blown away by a bubble of energy in their midst with the shadow of The Monkey King within. The text reads: Unfortunately for them, it seems that in one-hundred years they had forgotten the Monkey King's own reputation. He batted them aside like mere annoyances and proceeded to the throne. The third panel is one of action centering on The Jade Emperor on his throne. He is leaning forward in anticipation as The Monkey King with fire streaming from his mouth, dives at the rule of Heaven. The text balloons begin with the seated Emperor, "You again!" "Surprised?!" Sun Wukong responds. "Don't you have a new place to offer me? Maybe I should take your seat!"
A digital comic page split into five panels. The center diamond panel shows a monkey screaming in rage, fire erupting from his yellow fur and his eyes ablaze in fury. The upper right panel has him leaping off a cloud, brown, and shedding ashes as he holds a staff in his right hand behind him. The upper right panel shows the monkey, now free of the ash, golden and fighting an armored guard with the staff. In the lower right panel, The Monkey King is viewed from behind donning the armor for which he just fought. He is currently placing his bun in a crown. The lower right panel shows a towering city illuminated by an ominous red gold glow. Dialogue: "Ash rained to earth as The Monkey King Leapt into the sky and summoned his magic staff." "With a mighty blow he reclaimed his enchanted armor." "Finally, he donned his crown, capping his rage with a single-minded purpose... To bring down heaven and The Jade Emperor with it." "The sky over The Heavenly Palace burned like a brilliant sunset at Sun Wukong's approach."
A three panel digital comic page that begins with a bunch of guards blocking a pair of large double doors. "The door!" an old man staggering through the guards yells, "Bar the door, you idiots!" "Close the door!" shouts a guard in a gold helmet. "We'll get him to safety!" The second panel has a monkey-shaped molten creature carrying a huge crucible full of molten material inside. He is muttering "burn" with increasing intensity, ending in, "Now you'll burn!" The third panel is a low angle shot of a three tiered palace at the top of ivory stairs amid the clouds. The green and red structure is topped with a telescope and birds are taking flight from its conical rooftops while a giant CRASH blows out the wall of the bottom tier on the viewer's right. Small silhouettes of guards are seen flying.
A four panel digital comic page featuring a monkey of molten rock emerging from a burning crucible. An old, bald man with a long beard is running from him. The dialogue reads "I tried... to live as you expected me to." "I sowed sincerity and you LIED to me!" "I was peaceful and you used it to CONTROL me!" "You create rules you do not follow" "And yet I was the one who burned." "You called m a demon, but I see no difference." "Other than who gets to define civility." All this spoken by the monkey man and then the old man yells for his guards.
A four panel comic predominantly in black and gold showing a flaming crucible emptying its molten contents into a symbol on the floor. A black arm and hand cut through with flaming cracks like the crust on top of lava thrust out from the inferno inside the container. The stooped wise man watching all this removes his glasses, squinting at the event as a silhouette appears from inside. He exclaims in disbelief "Could it be?"
Digital art depicting a slightly anthropomorphized golden monkey with a staff on his shoulder. He is squatting on a rocky peak while dressed in a blue bandanna, a red sash, and a leopard print loincloth. The words read "Ninja Monkey, Prologue: The Legend of the Monkey King"
A three panel comic page in predominantly purple contrasted with orange. Panel 1: An wizened, bald old man strokes his long, white beard. Text: "Violence, destruction, theft, and general mischief were the crimes brought against Monkey. Particularly concerning were the Pills of Immortality the Monkey King downed by the handful. Laozi proposed they could be extracted by reducing Monkey to ashes in his giant crucible." Panel 2: Between raging clouds, long dragons usher in a storm of wind and rain. The Jade Emperor has his hand raised in proclamation while Guan Yin huddles against the wind, back partially turned to the viewer. Text: "And so he was sentenced to purification by fire. Though a great storm raged with the holy decree, Guan Yin stood in placid contemplation." Panel 3: Fires swirl in toward the center of the panel with a naked monkey huddled for cover, miserably protecting his head. Text: "Sun Wukong was thrust into the darkness of the Great Crucible where he tried to escape the licking flames by pressing himself against each wall in turn. His skin blistered. His lovely golden fur singed black. But suddenly, he sensed a breath of relief far back in a darkened corner. There he huddled in misery until hunger overwhelmed him. He found, even though it was painful, he could eat the glowing coals within the forge and they sustained him. For a century, his only companions were pain, regret, and resentment. His tears evaporated before they even touched his cheeks." End prologue part 1
A four panel digital comic. Panel 1: Shows a sunset background with silhouetted reeds. In the foreground, on a sandy bank, Monkey in frog shape gets pinned to the ground by a long bird's leg. Text: "But sometimes even the most clever among us are blind to our own shortcomings... With minimal effort, Shen tracked Monkey to the salt marshes where he located him by his boastful croaking." Panel 2: Again, sunset sky, reeds, and sandy bank on which Erlang Shen in the shape of a red crowned crane carries the frog-shaped Monkey by one leg back to where he came from. Text: "Though he would never admit to it, embarrassment is what finally defeated Sun Wukong. In the form of a great, wise crane, Erlang Shen escorted his prisoner back to the Heavenly Court to answer for his crimes." Panel 3: In the court with gray walls and a polished obsidian floor, Monkey is bound as a prisoner and forced to his knees. Behind him, Erlang Shen stands guard. Text: "Brought a third time before The Jade Emperor, this time Monkey objected that Heaven had deceived him and shamed him for only following his nature. How are they permitted to misrepresent their intentions and steal his time but face no consequences?: Panel 4: In the heavenly court stands a veiled woman in white and red with a pink sash dancing about her shoulders. Next to her is the Jade Emperor in his yellow, orange, and green robes. Text: "This time Guan yin chose not to intervene. In light of everything The Jade Emperor did not look favorably on Monkey's crimes or his accusations."
A comic page in five panels. Panel 1: Tentacles converge, closing in on a puff of smoke. Text: "With that realization... Monkey disappeared in a great puff of smoke!" Panel 2: A lizard gleefully runs across the ocean waves. Text: "To reappear as a tiny lizard hooting in laughter amid his escape." Panel 3: A long, narrow horizontal panel showing a series of small splashes of water that form the trail of the lizard running across the ocean. Text: "Speeding over the waves, the Monkey King soon left the ocean behind." Panel 4: A small inset panel with a purple background. In the foreground the lizard transforms in a three part sequence into a leaping frog. Text: "With a great leap, he became a frog to hide among the thick marsh reeds." Panel 5: A large bottom panel with a sunset and reeds in the background. On a sandy shore a frog rocks back on his rear smiling in a self-satisfied way. "Then he boasted it was inevitable Erlang Shen would be outsmarted. There was no shame in being beat by The Great Monkey King!"
A digital comic in four panels. Panel 1 portrays a large fish, mouth wide open, in pursuit of a smaller fish who seems to be transforming into something distinctly unfish-like. The narration reads: "A chase ensued with such speed, that Monkey was nearly started out of fish form." Panel 2 depicts an underwater scene in which there's a large cloud of bubbles moving away from the big fish in the background and arcing toward the ocean's surface. "Monkey sped away for the surface with the singular goal to assume a form too large to be captured." Panel 3 A great sperm whale breeches against the sunset, upsetting birds from the water's surface. "Erupting from the surface, he tried to grasp his racing thoughts to choose his next form." Panel 4 shows the whale being dragged back into the depths by several green squid tentacles. ""Impossible!" Monkey thought. "I am The Great Sage Equal to Heaven! No heavenly citizen can best me!"
A comic page of four panels all taking place underwater. Panel 1 shows an octopus in an official-looking hat and spectacles with a scroll in one arm. The background is a coral reef. The narration reads: "In the cold, endless expanse of the eastern ocean, Monkey grew bored counting the hours while "playing" hide and seek with his opponent." "So he started teasing the fish, chasing, biting, and dive bombing them." "One unwitting playmate turned out to be the messenger for The Lord of the East Sea." "Harried and upset, he rushed back to the Dragon Lord to report the fish's disrespectful behavior." panel 2 takes place inside an open-walled undersea palace. Erlang Shen in his human form and full armor bows his head respectfully in the presence of the Lord of the East Sea. "As it so happened, Erlang Shen had just about given up on ever finding that rascal monkey in the great ocean. So when he called on the Dragon Lord for help locating him, there was good reason to suspect Monkey's location." panel 3: An arowana fish in Shen's colors with his headress seems to be searching while swimming. panel 4: With the arowana hunting in the waters near the surface, a smaller fish resembling the one Monkey turned into is cowering in the cover of sea weeds and anemones. "Shen took the form of a great fish and swam swiftly to the location suggested by The Dragon Lord."
Digital art comic page depicting a falcon and a bird that transforms into a fish in a chase in which the fish manages to outmaneuver the falcon by transformation. panel 1: With the sun at its back, the falcon swoops to catch the small bird in its claws, but the bird launches into a more accelerated dive. "Tiring of the game, monkey decided to try and lose Shen in the fastness of the ocean." panel 2: The falcon has circled around, for another attempt while the bird continues to transform into a fish. "He dove for the water, focusing intently on a form that would fool even native sealife." panel 3: The falcon skims the water's surface in the background in pursuit as a fish is about to triumphantly escape into the water. "Pleased with his own cleverness, he lost track of his opponent..." panel 4: The fish is clipped just as it hits the water's surface, but the falcon's grasp is tenuous and it causes the fish to bounce along the surface of the water before successfully escaping into the depths. "Miraculously, the Monkey King, now in fish form, escaped the great warrior by a slipper fin and descended into the depths of the great ocean."
page 5 Ninja Monkey Prologue panel 1: Against a sickly yellow sky, warriors descend from heaven on a churning purple cloud. On the ground, a mob of monkeys surrounds The Monkey King who stands ready to battle the army of heaven. "Having had enough of Monkey's mischief, The Jade Emperor decided he would put an end to it for good!" "A great war party descended from heaven to attack Monkey on the mountain he called his throne. The Monkey King rallied his many subjects to take up arms and defend their land." "Heaven and Earth quaked in anticipation of disaster." panel 2: A graceful woman in white drifts on a pink cloud between the two armies, hands raised in a gentle plead for both armies to hold and listen. "Upon hearing the earth despair, The Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin was moved to intervene." panel 3: A young warrior stands proudly with a white dog at his feet. "She bade The Jade Emperor to send his nephew, the renown warrior Erlang Shen to confront Sun Wukong alone."
Ninja Monkey Prologue, page 1 panel one: two beams shoot heavenward from a great mountain "Long ago when the world was young and the gods has not finished assigning order to the world. A great mountain gave birth to a monkey." panel two: A manic monkey swings through a forest "This monkey grew as wild as the nature that surrounded him. And as strong as the rock that birthed him." panel three: Monkey, now more mature points a staff at a looming, wizened figure who is raising its hands defensively. "But as to be expected from a monkey, he made great mischief upon the earth... until the gods could ignore him no longer!"