Monkeysuit #5: Death Comes to Monkeysuit

Posted: Tuesday, September 6, 2005
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Monkeysuit #5: Death Comes to Monkeysuit Creator(s): Pat Giles (ed)
Publishers: Monkey suit
From: USA
Price: $11.95(US)

Monkey Suit press makes its final appearance with this issue. Collecting the work of a mad bunch of monkeys New York animators, this paperback sized anthology spans all manner of material. The comic looks great from the outside, but what about the contents? Join me, comic pathologist Darren Schroeder, as I try to divine from the rotting entrails of this book just what caused the death of such a well liked collection.



The first incision reveals that all the stories in here are remarkable well drawn, in a variety of styles. Once can detect a cross pollination between the work here and the sort of animation to be seen on MTV and the cartoon network at the moment. This shouldn't be a surprise, because several of the contributors do work for these channels. There are also traces of creators such as Peter Bagg in the story Goe Cortez High by Miguel Martinez-Joffre. A letter found with the victim stated that all the creators are busy busy in their animating careers, in part thanks to Monkey Suit. The evidence is here to support that claim.



Closer inspection of the plots contained find several autobiographical pieces, something I was pleased to discover. Pat Giles' Deal-Town sticks in the mind as Pat presents us with a child caught between his separated parents, slowly learning some truths about a father figure who only occasionally enters his live with strange rendezvous at a toy store. The contrast between the child's fixation on toys, and the truth behind the vision he has of his father is touching and well constructed.

For the more alternative of readers there's part three of The Adventures of Captain Pure. The contrast between the very scruffy male characters in the story and the gorgeous b-girl pin up look of all the females is quite disconcerting. This tale of the adventures of a rogue and scoundrel Captain Pure has a underground comics feel, and I suspect would make more sense if you were smoking some illegal substances.

All evidence is that Monkey Suit was in peak condition at the time of its demise, making its passing all the more tragic. The light that burns twice as brightly last only half as long. What a great way to go.

In a Word: Spectral.



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