We’d advise approaching this juicy slice of speculation with some caution, but a couple of clues have led some internet bloggers to believe that work on Monkey Island 5 could be underway, deep in some subterranean LucasArts laboratory.

Clue one: Last week, Rumorreporter.com claimed that a fresh Monkey Island title was being planned, according to insider contacts at LucasArts. "The fifth Monkey Island is coming," declared the site. "I know some of the guys who worked on the music compositions for the original PC classics, and they say that it is currently being planned amidst rumors. However […] don't expect any revitalizations of its classic graphic adventures until 2008 at the earliest."

On their own, Rumorreporter.com’s claims carry relatively little weight, but the second clue is rather more compelling. A couple of days after Rumorreporter.com had sown the seeds of suggestion, Monkey Island fansite WorldofMI.com received an email from LucasArts illustrator Steve Purcell (also the creator of Sam & Max, no less), along with three pieces of new artwork that Purcell described as, "in no way connected to any existing or canceled [sic] piratey project…"

And lo! Is that not Monkey Island villain supremo LeChuck in one of Purcell’s sketches (above)? The other two drawings, which can be viewed here, give away far less in terms of concrete clues, but our money is still placed tentatively on a Monkey Island revival and a swashbuckling return for Guybrush Threepwood.

Of course, our prediction could have all the accuracy of a Steve Harmison bouncer, and perhaps we are jumping ahead of ourselves, so don’t bombard us with spiteful mail when it turns out we were way off-target. Or do, actually. We’re pretty lonely, you know.