Marvel's Bloodiest Anthology Series Ever Just Brought Back The Most Underrated Assassin

A fan-favorite character who deserved more than two seasons of his own series is back, and he is just as lethal as ever.

In a preview of "The Hitman's Boogeyman" (by Gary Moloney, Baldemar Rivas, and VC's Joe Sabino, from the pages of Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #1) from Marvel Comics, readers find the villainous Gorgon preparing to lead the murderous ninjas of The Hand through a dreadful, gruesome ceremony. Fortunately, there is one hero already on his way to stop whatever that entails, and not even the ghosts of his past will slow Hit-Monkey down.

Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #1

• Written by B. EARL & TABOO; GARY MOLONEY; and PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
• Art by LUKE ROSS; BALDEMAR RIVAS; and CHRISTIAN ROSADO
• Colors by ALEX GUIMARÃES
• Letters by VC's JOE SABINO and VC's CORY PETIT
• Main cover art by PHILIP TAN
• Variant covers by ADAM POLLINA and PACO MEDINA & JESUS ABURTOV

Introduced in the pages of 2010's Hit-Monkey #1 by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajic, the Japanese macaque known as Hit-Monkey was once an ordinary primate living an ordinary life in the wilds of his native land. When a wounded assassin wandered into the macaques' midst, the animals as a whole nursed him back to health, while one in particular studied the man as he trained while recovering.

After the assassin was killed by a band of soldiers who also cut down every other macaque in his clan, the one who would become Hit-Monkey picked up the assassin's pistols and his new mantle along with them. With the assassin's ghost helping lead the way, Hit-Monkey began a quest for vengeance that ultimately led him to become the most unlikely lethal antihero in the history of Marvel Comics.

In 2021, a Hit-Monkey animated series made its debut on Hulu, bringing the titular primate assassin to a wider audience than ever. The series featured a star-studded voice cast led by Ally Maki as Tokyo cop Haruka, George Takei as local politician Shinji Yokohama, Jason Sudeikis as the late assassin Bryce Fowler, and Fred Tatasciore as Monkey. A second season was released in 2024, closing out Hit-Monkey's story after 20 episodes in total.

Across both seasons, Hit-Monkey received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. As of the time of writing, Season 1 of Hit-Monkey holds an 84% "Fresh" rating via review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, as averaged across 19 critical reviews, while Season 2 holds an 83% "Fresh" rating as averaged across 6. For comparison, the audience-generated "Popcornmeter" scores for Season 1 and Season 2 of Hit-Monkey currently stand at 93% and 95%, as averaged across more than 100 and more than 50 verified user-submitted reviews, respectively.

Marvel: Black, White & Blood and Guts #1 goes on sale December 3 from Marvel Comics.