By Ashley Gibbs
Adventure Time Comics #11 is a fun and light hearted trip to the Land of Ooo with fan-favorite characters from the TV show of the same name. This issue contains four original stories that are not connected to each other and can be enjoyed independently from the show. As a fan of the series who hasn’t been able to keep up with every episode, I enjoyed this title because it gave me some nice moments with characters I liked. While it may not be as wild and crazy as the show itself, it made me smile and laugh and really that’s all I wanted. Sometimes the real world can be pretty dark and a light hearted comic is a great escape from that.
The book is divided into four short stories; “Princess Rap Battle,” “Chef BMO,” “Laugh Cry Laugh,” and “Feeling Peachy.” The first is about exactly what it sounds like, we get to see Flame Princess and Breakfast Princess duke it out in a rap battle. It felt like the shortest of the stories and also it was a bit bland and not very funny to me, even with Lumpy Space Princess making a cameo. I loved the second story about BMO wanting to make soup for Finn and Jake, it was very cute and had a sweet message about being yourself as well. The third story focuses on Bubblegum Princess and Marceline, it was the funniest out of the four stories to me, it was very light hearted and showed a very positive female friendship which I think is an important message. The final story is about T.V., Jake’s son and it’s pretty much about him wanting to find a snack. It’s simple, short and has some humour to it but it didn’t do much for me besides a few smiles but I did like it.
Each short is written by someone different, but that person also does the artwork for their own story as well so the styles vary. I felt that the first and third story looked most like the artwork from the show, the second did as well but the colors were very subdued and more pastels were used I was reminded a lot of chalk artwork, the third story had a nice art style that did come close to the show style but was still very unique. While I didn’t expect for any artist to mimic what the show does down to the letter, it is nice to see them try while also adding their own flair to things. The use of colors in each story is spot on, no matter what style is used, they all convey a magical land where imagination runs wild.
I really enjoyed reading Adventure Time Comics #11, it was a great break from reality and other darker comics on the market. This is a great book for fans of the show and because each story is a one shot it’s also good for new fans to get a taste of things. One doesn’t need a lot of background on the source material to enjoy this, which is good, especially for younger fans. This is great for fans of any ages, though I did notice one use of the word “dammit” which I found really off-putting in a comic aimed towards younger readers based on a cartoon also geared to that demographic. However, it wasn’t a very graphic word so parents may feel otherwise. Overall, I had a great experience reading this title and may even come back for more when I want to relax and have a laugh.
Score: 4/5
Writers: Jarrett Williams, Grace Kraft, Patsy Chen, Lucy Ebrey
Artists: Jarrett Williams, Grace Kraft, Patsy Chen, Lucy Ebrey
Publisher: Boom Comics