Super Visions: Hey! Kids' comics! (Part III)

At last, it’s adventure time. Sort of. ?? ?

The Cartoon Network series “Adventure Time” and the Kaboom comics series of the same title swayed me to begin this series of blogs looking at the intersection of animation and funny books putatively created for young readers. Sometime late last year I bought Candy Capers, the first compilation of the show’s spinoff kids’ comic. Around the same time I watched the series’ initial ep via Netflix and found myself utterly captivated. ?? ?

?? Although I no longer recall which came first, book buying or vid watching, I do recall what made “Adventure Time” a blip on my radar: Tor.com’s reproduction of fan art that mashed up characters from author Gene Wolfe’s masterpiece The Book of the New Sun with stylings from the Cartoon Network show. Wolfe’s work, published as a series of novels that began with 1980’s Shadow of the Torturer, is one I probably think about at least once per week*, in large part because of its masterly use of language. The connective tissue between the two is verbal as well, according to that Tor.com page, but I haven’t made it far enough into the show to know for sure. Wolfe’s setting and that of creator Pendleton Ward’s supposedly show share the name Urth. ?? ?

The world of “Adventure Time,” referred to as "Ooo" in the comics, is bright, chromatic, and strange. Finn and Jake, a noseless boy and his bespectacled dog, hang out in places including the Candy Kingdom, Lumpy Space, and the dungeon of the Ice King. They travel from the aforementioned kingdom to Lumpy Space via ingestion by cross-eyed frogˣ. Princesses seem to come in every shape and form, including a Slime Princess who might be snot or maybe slime mold. The denizens of Ooo/Urth seem mostly childlike but sometimes creepily knowing. ?? ?

Something’s missing from the animated version, though. Maybe it’s the voice cast, which does include a  George Takei turn and the ever-enjoyable John DiMaggio (Bender on "Futurama," Dr. Drakken on "Kim Possible") as Jake, but other members of which were new to me. And a little odd. Is it for hipster children? I still can’t say, but brief as each ep is (11 minutes and change) I often find the mix of saccharine and maturity a little trying to get through.
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? The comics don’t have the same problem. Drawn by Ian McGinty in a style that’s faithful to the show but also lively in its page layouts, the Adventure Time compilation is often funny as it undercuts the conventions of high fantasy, detective stories, horror, and other genres. My favorite moment might be when Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun (Did I mention that secondary characters take the spotlight on the page?) meet Death in a perfect anticlimax. ?? ?

Because someone who is interested in Gene Wolfe’s work is also interested in the televised version of “Adventure Time,” the show warrants my further attention. But so far, the comics version gets my gets my vote over the show. ?? ?

*And I’ve done so pretty much since the first book’s initial publication.
? ˣNot one suffering strabismus, but one with round-tipped Greek crosses for irises. ??