Hit-Monkey is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Hit-Monkey #1, released in February 2010 (with a cover date of April 2010), created by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talijić.
Publication history
Hit-Monkey made his debut in a 2010 eponymous, digital comic on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. The one-shot was released in print format a week later and, starting in the same month, he was featured in a 3-issue story arc in Deadpool #19-21. Cover artist Dave Johnson also accidentally confirmed that Hit-Monkey will be featured in his own three issue mini-series, a fact later confirmed by Daniel Way at the 2010 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.
Fictional character biography
Origin
An unnamed assassin was marked for death after his part in a failed political coup. After blowing up a squad of enemy soldiers, he decides to run for his life. Passed out in the snow after four days of fleeing, he was rescued by a troop of Japanese Macaques. The monkeys allowed the assassin into their clan, with the exception of a lone monkey. The man knew that he would be hunted so he trained daily using snowmen as training dummies. Quietly, the monkey that distrusted him watched, and eventually picked up on the fighter's skills. The assassin's health began to fail, and as the tribe of monkeys tried to save him, the lone monkey objected, eventually fighting the rest of the group with his newfound skills. Because of the violence he displayed, the monkey was banished from his clan. However, on his own, he saw a group of men on their way to kill the assassin. He tried to run back and warn his tribe, but it was too late - the assassin had been killed as well as the rest of the monkeys. Furious at his clan's slaughter, the monkey picked up extra guns from a bag and proceeded to kill the entire group of men. Determined to avenge his fallen tribe, the monkey now dedicated his life to killing assassins - under the alias of Hit-Monkey.
Versus Deadpool
In Deadpool #19, Spider-Man finds a local shop owner brutally murdered. Having seen Deadpool in New York earlier, Spider-Man suspects he is the killer, and fights and catches him. However, Deadpool claims he has an alibi. After examining the crime scene, Deadpool says that only one assassin could have pulled off a job so flawlessly: Hit-Monkey. Deadpool and Spider-Man team up to catch Hit-Monkey, who is known for killing other assassins. Because of this, they realize that Deadpool is likely on Hit-Monkey's hit-list. Spider-Man reluctantly teams up with Deadpool, and after some dirty cops are killed by Hit-Monkey, Spider-Man is followed by Hit-Monkey in order to kill Deadpool. Hit-Monkey accidentally shoots Spider-Man in the fight and seemingly feels bad about it, showing that he is not just a ruthless killer, but a killer of known assassins. Trying to capitalize on this moment, Deadpool attempts to kill Hit-Monkey, but fails and is shot several times. Hit-Monkey leaves him for dead, apparently not knowing about Deadpool's healing factor. Deadpool then pretends to be Spider-Man and fakes his death. At "Spider-Man's" funeral, Hit-Monkey comes to pay his respect, thinking he killed him. However, Deadpool jumps out of the casket in order to kill Hit-Monkey. Spider-Man renders both fighters' guns unusable so they can't kill each other without blowing themselves up as well. Deadpool doesn't care and pulls the trigger, seemingly killing Hit-Monkey but surviving due to his healing factor. Nevertheless, Spider-Man reveals that Hit-Monkey did survive- or, at least, that his body was not found. Hit-Monkey later returns for a short cameo.
Collected editions
The character's appearances have been collected into a trade paperback:
- Deadpool, Volume 4: Monkey Business (collects Hit-Monkey #1 and Deadpool (vol. 4) #19-21, 120 pages, Marvel Comics, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4530-3)
- Hit-Monkey: Year of the Monkey (collects Hit-Monkey #1-3, Hit-Monkey one-shot, 96 pages, Marvel Comics, softcover, January 4 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4859-0)
Other media
A video game based on the comic was announced as being developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision for release in 2013. This was revealed to be a red herring meant to foreshadow the release of Deadpool.
Hit-Monkey has been announced as the first "Build-a-Minifigure" in the Marvel Legends line. He debuted in wave 4, late 2012.
References
External links
- Hit-Monkey at the Grand Comics Database
- Hit-Monkey at the Comic Book DB
- Hit-Monkey at ComicVine
Reviews
- Review: Hit-Monkey #1, Comic Book Resources
- Hit-Monkey #1 Review, IGN
- Hit-Monkey #1 Review, Comics Bulletin
- Best Shots Reviews: BATMAN & ROBIN #8, HIT MONKEY #1, more, Newsarama