In the latest issue of “Adventure Time,” Ryan North and an army of fantastic artists present an anthology comic about comics. The singularity has been reached.
Written by Ryan North
Illustrated by Kat Philbin, Missy Pena, Becca Tobin, Liz Prince, Yumi Sakugawa, Carey Pietsch, Jess Tise, Ian McGinty, T. Zysk, David Cutler, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb.t’s a rad stand-alone ZINE Special! Enjoy this crazy special as the citizens of Ooo create their own zines to share. Marceline has a lot to say about her music, Peppermint Butler has a few life tips for anyone who will listen (and everyone should listen), and Finn creates his very first journal comic. A sick homage to DIY and mini-comics culture printed on uncoated paper and made to look like a zine from the ADVENTURE TIME gang!
What makes a comic, or anything else for that matter, “perfect?” Is it the inherent technical quality of a product, compared to a Platonic ideal? Is it the addition of numerous qualitative rubrics, resulting in a whole that reaches the max sum of its parts? Is it the ability of a product to instill joy and reverence in the maximum number of people? Is perfection something that can even be attained, or is our idea of the “pinnacle” always growing, shifting, and being replaced? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say “Adventure Time” #30 is perfect.
“Whoa, an “Adventure Time” comic book is better than “Watchmen?” No! (Had to get that out of the way).
In “Adventure Time” #30, regular series creators Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb are joined by over a dozen talented artists to craft this tribute to indie comics. No, I don’t mean the kind of stuff you read over at Image, but rather true do-it-yourself comics. Channeling the diverse personalities of the denizens of Ooo, North and company create a brief anthology that somehow encompasses the diversity of comic books and, for that matter, story-telling in general.
From a production standpoint, BOOM! has outdone itself. The very presentation of the issue itself is an homage to small print, with its card stock cover and pulpy pages. Publishers puff out their chests with 3D lenticular, chromium, wrap around, fold-out, die-cut covers that have little tie to the stories themselves. “Adventure Time” #30 shows that production gimmicks work best as an organic extension of the stories within and upon those pages.
Contained within these twenty-two pages is a tribute to 24-hour comics, graphic scientific experiments scrawled on laboratory notebook paper and a delightfully cannibalistic recipe for peppermint bark that just begs to be tried. Quintessential genres such as horror, super-hero/action, and romance are represented in these stories. Things even get international, with an adorable Korean manhwa.
Marceline’s fictional foreword sets the tone for the entire issue and draws the reader further into the issue’s illusion. While this is a book created by very real writers and artists, it is also the extension of a group of fictional characters into themes and ideas. The idea that North and company are telling stories through the mouths and minds of characters created by Pendleton Ward and company is delightfully meta; it’s incredibly easy to forget that these stories aren’t actually written by Finn, Jake, or BMO. This is not a knock on the creators involved, but rather a testament to their ability to fully immerse the reader into this world.
Yes, each story bears a particular gimmick, but none of them feel gratuitous or exploitative. Even the least interesting of the bunch are redeemed by true wit and terrific art direction. Standouts include Lemongrab’s disturbingly dark free form poem, Lady Rainicorn’s indecipherable ode to favorite kissing places, and the somber black and white dream world of the Ice King. The latter, told across two pages and featuring 52 panels, is some real Chris Ware stuff, sure to impress the graphically inclined reader.
Capping off the issue is a real treat: a return to the future depicted in “Adventure Time” #25, illustrated by Paroline and Lamb. North’s apparent dedication to add to his source material, rather than simply repackage it for different medium, is a true delight. Here’s hoping that this reprisal hints at a deeper look into the future of Ooo in coming issues.
Continued below“Adventure Time” #30 is an incredibly full and complete package. The issue establishes its theme and explores it thoroughly. The breadth of humor, design, style, tone, and nuance is unbelievably impressive. The fact that it is presented in an all ages adaptation of a children’s cartoon does not detract from this fact, but rather exemplifies it. The book has few objective faults to speak of as each individual story is so well executed, with the collection itself becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Never once did I encounter a segment that dragged on too long, or failed to impress in some manner. It’s hard not to be impressed by such fun, wonder, and unabashed brilliance.
While I’ll surely catch some flack for this, I can’t help but say “Adventure Time” #30 is a…
Final Verdict: 10.0 – While it may not be everyone’s form of perfection, “Adventure Time” #30 draws incredibly near to the ideal of “comic book.”
