The five-issue arc, Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch, by award-winning cartoonist Juni Ba, will feature more morsels of humor and horror with two bite-sized tales per summer magazine-style issue
Award-winning cartoonist Juni Ba (The Boy Wonder, Djeliya) is returning to his dark fantasy anthology series Monkey Meat to produce more morsels of humor and horror for a new five-issue arc, titled The Summer Batch. Each issue will be formatted like a summer magazine, offering two tales, games, and double the traum…huh, excitement! Now, fans will be able to snack on more bite-sized mystery meat stories when the devilishly fun Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch hits shelves in March.
Written and drawn by Ba—with special authorization from the Monkey Meat Company—the tasty, critically acclaimed anthology is back for a second serving! In Monkey Meat: The First Batch, readers visited Monkey Meat Island—where the infamous Monkey Meat Company’s wacky experiments and processed goods have taken their toll on the local, magical fauna. What was once a lush and magical island is now a hyper-capitalist hellscape wherein even demons have to pay rent. Now, in Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch, readers are invited to vacation on Monkey Meat Island for what promises to be an entertaining and gonzo escape. What could be more diverting than a vacation to a hellish west African fantasy island run by a corporation of questionable intent? Embark on a brand new set of adventures to amuse (and mentally scar) the whole family! Exotic locations, debt-collecting forest witches, and a superhero monkey suing the corporation that owns him. All these and more await our guests.
“I’ve needed this! Monkey Meat is where I get to have fun, shed the corporate expectations and rules, and conceive comics that are cartoonish, experimental, and infectious. Hopefully they are as enjoyable to read as they are to draw,” said Ba. “This is by far the comic I get the most requests to continue making, and I’m happy to oblige. This new batch goes for a more underground feel. Like a comic you’d find dusty and ruffled on the floor of a Senegalese dibiterie meat restaurant. Dig in!”
Featuring a cover by Ba, Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
Monkey Meat: The First Batch, which collects Monkey Meat #1-5, is now available for purchase at comic book shops, at independent bookstores (ISBN: 9781534323230), Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones, and across many digital platforms.
Select praise for Monkey Meat:
“Epic Dragon Ball Z-style action.”—Entertainment Weekly
“A unique, comedic art style that delivers laughs through both its dialogue and visual cues…readers will want to keep following to see what happens next.”—ComicBook
“With this follow-up to Djeliya, Juni Ba delivers a smart, funny, and drop-dead gorgeous satire of capitalism, climate annihilation, and perpetual content culture, proving once again that he is one of the most exciting cartoonists working today.”—Sebastian Girner, creator of Scales & Scoundrels
ABOUT JUNI BA
Juni Ba is the award-winning cartoonist behind Monkey Meat, Boy Wonder, Mobilis, and Djeliya. He’s 80% orange juice (for the energy), and 20% Cartoon Network reruns (for the unhinged imagination).