What if superheroes existed in a world where every conspiracy theory
was completely true? Monarch is a triumph, a story that rises above
its roots to tell a larger tale about the darkest depths and loftiest
heights humanity has hidden within itself.
What if superheroes existed in a world where every conspiracy theory was
completely true? Monarch is a triumph, a story that rises above its
roots to tell a larger tale about the darkest depths and loftiest
heights humanity has hidden within itself.
Jeff Morgan is a typical cynical nobody, the type of paranoid blowhard
that sees conspiracies behind every aspect of the society around him.
His girlfriend was recently killed during an incident involving Monarch,
the most beloved superhero in the world. Unavoidable collateral damage,
of course.
After meeting a strangely familiar person on the street one day, Jeff
receives a call that recites odd code-phrases in his ear, and the
horrible truth is revealed. He is actually Monarch, but due to hypnotic
restraints placed into his mind by his handlers, his different
personalities are completely ignorant of each other.
In the world of Monarch, superheroes are created by brainwashing
children using horrifically traumatic MK-Ultra techniques, and they are
controlled by covert government organizations. The positive publicity
about them in the mainstream press hides their actual hedonistic,
sadistic natures, indulged and encouraged in secret by societal leaders
in exchange for their servitude. But, ultimately, what's the point of
all that excess, all that suffering, all that evil?
Monarch is an audacious and unflinchingly adult graphic novel. In it,
writer Mauro Mantella and artist Martin Tunica use superheroes and
conspiracy theories to explore questions about the cruelty and potential
of humanity and beyond. Its depictions of brutality and wonder, tempered
by its pitch-black sense of satire, bring its ideas into sharp relief
and leave readers wondering about their own mores, their own worlds.
