Conjuring Comic Reveals the Origin of the Warrens’ Cursed Monkey Toy

Contains spoilers for The Conjuring: the Lover #3. 

The accordion-playing monkey is one of the most iconic items in the Warrens’ supernatural collection in the Conjuring series and a recent comic has finally revealed its origins. In DC Horror’s  The Conjuring: The Lover #3, the accordion money’s mysterious origins are finally shown – and they are just as tragic and dread-inducing as one might imagine. While not all of The Conjuring spin-offs make sense, The Conjuring: The Lover is a perfect addition to the universe.

The Conjuring Universe has quickly become one of the most popular horror movie franchises in recent memory. The movies – and now the comics – follow Ed and Lorraine Warren as they deal with ghosts, possessions, and hauntings of all manner. With many more films on the way, it’s about time that The Conjuring Universe makes the jump to comics. The Conjuring: The Lover acts as a prelude to the new movie, The Conjuring: the Devil Made Me Do It. The new five-issue, monthly series follows Jessica, a college freshman returning to campus after winter break. She had a tough first semester and is bringing more than just the weight of bad grades with her back to campus – she’s bringing an unknown demonic entity, too.

In The Conjuring: The Lover #3, written by Tim Seeley, with art by Kelley Jones and colors by Jordie Bellaire, readers are taken back to the 1930s and introduced to an unnamed doctor, his nurse Maureen, and the Root family. The doctor notes how Maureen quickly begins to spiral into what he perceives as insanity after the Root family gives birth to their child, Joey. Maureen believes that Joey isn’t actually the Roots’ baby but a demonic entity, a belief bolstered when the other babies at the hospital have scratches appear on them. The doctor has Maureen committed, believing the children were scratched by rats. To make up for the trauma surrounding the birth, the doctor gifts the baby the accordion monkey, hoping that they could one day look back on this and laugh. But this ends up not being the case, as more terror and sadness follow Joey’s family.

Each time something terrible happens to the Root family, they play the monkey’s music. However, it’s soon revealed that the monkey is the cause of the trouble, rather than a comforting presence. When the doctor dies in a car accident on his way to the Root family, the monkey is there, playing his music. While the comic does not reveal how Jocko (the monkey) ends up in the Warren family’s artifact room, it does show just how much of a threat this monkey is. There’s something to be said for seeing a single stuffed monkey cause as much havoc and destruction as he does in The Conjuring: The Lover #3.

While the purpose of the comic is more to introduce the demonic entity for the third Conjuring movie, giving background information on the already-rich world of the Warrens is a welcome treat for fans. Perhaps the fourth issue of the series will show how exactly Jocko ends up in the Warrens’ possession, but for now, just knowing how much damage a single, accordion-wielding primate can cause is pretty spooky in and of itself. Jocko has become such a face of The Conjuring Universe that knowing his origins – as hazy as they are – is a treat for horror fans and comics fans alike.

About The Author

Lauren Hitzhusen
(54 Articles Published)

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Screen Rant comics editor Lauren Hitzhusen read her first comic at age 16 and took her high school senior photos in the graphics novel section of Borders (yes, seriously). It was truly love at first panel. A graduate of NYU’s Masters of Publishing Science program, she knew comics was the industry for her. She is a former assistant comics editor and has worked a variety of publishers in a freelance capacity. She has a passion for all-ages comics, and frequents conventions in search of the next good story (and old issues of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen).

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