The Monkey King: The Complete Odyssey - by Chaiko Tsai (Paperback)

About the Book

"The complete story of the legendary Monkey King fable of ancient Chinese lore. Artist Chaiko brings his unique visual style and humor to this fantasy adventure about a monkey who acquires supernatural abilities and intelligence and chooses to use them for mischief and glory before finding himself at the ire of the Heavens. Imprisoned by the Buddha himself, the rapscallion vows to prove his worth by escaping and retrieving the sacred sutras on a mighty quest. A comic adventure story, humorous satire of bureaucracy, source of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory all brought to life in a dynamic animated style that will entertain readers young and old."--

Book Synopsis

2024 EISNER AWARD NOMINEE

The complete story of the legendary Monkey King fable of ancient Chinese lore. Artist Chaiko brings his unique visual style and humor to this fantasy adventure about a monkey who acquires supernatural abilities and intelligence and chooses to use them for mischief and glory before finding himself at the ire of the Heavens. Imprisoned by the Buddha himself, the rapscallion vows to prove his worth by escaping and retrieving the sacred sutras on a mighty quest.

A comic adventure story, humorous satire of bureaucracy, source of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory all brought to life in a dynamic animated style that will entertain readers young and old.

About the Author

Chaiko is the pen name of Cai Feng, an internationally recognized artist, graphic novelist, and illustrator from China. He was born in 1981 and started drawing at a very young age before learning traditional painting at a fine arts college. He began his career as a concept and development artist in the digital entertainment field while also producing original illustrations for newspapers and magazines. His first graphic novel, Love Fragments, was published in 2008, earning a lot of attention in Europe. He followed that success with several other titles, primarily initially published in French: The Jade Door, Chronicles of the Immortals, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Also known as Ruzhong, Wu Cheng'en was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician during the Ming Dynasty in the 1500s. He is widely considered to be the original author of the Journey to the West novel, although it was originally published anonymously in 1592. While he was known for some creative writing and poetry, fantasy fiction such as Journey was at the time considered "vulgar" and not true literature, unlike the classical works of previous dynasties. It wasn't until centuries later that textual analysis of works from that period was studied, along with reports from his hometown, suggesting that he might in fact be the original author. His use of local vernacular instead of classical Chinese, as well as the familiar "defiant spirit" of his other writings, has led most scholars to conclude that he is the most likely author of this legendary classic.