Adventure Time #50 Review - Saturday Morning Weirdness

I Am Into This Stuff!

Written by: Christopher Hastings
Art by: Ian McGinty, Maarta Laiho and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 9, 2016
Publisher: Boom! Studios

I know what you're thinking, "This isn't a DC Comics book and I thought that's all you guys review because you're narrow minded and a bunch of jerks!" Well, right you are, at least with the bunch of jerks part, but one thing the Weird Science Get Fresh Crew is not and that's a bunch of jerks...wait a minute, I meant to say narrow minded.  The fact of the matter is, our minds are so puny that it would be really hard to call them "narrow" or "closed" or any other adjective besides, well, puny.  Speaking of which, I seem to have lost my train of thought and have no idea what I am going on about.  I'll be right back after I read what I already wrote.  I can't believe you waited ten whole minutes for me to return, but i really do appreciate it.  So...I am going to shove this review of Adventure Time #50 into our Saturday Morning Weirdness column under the guise that since there are really is no "Saturday Morning Cartoons" anymore, shows like Adventure Time are the next best thing.  Actually, it's a lot better than some of the crap I used to watch (I'm looking at you, Rubik, The Amazing Cube) so I do not feel any bit of guilt throwing this review up.  So, now that I've spent way to long explaining myself, lets get on to the review...




One thing I want to point out before starting my review is that this one-shot story is not as new user friendly as I imagined going into it.  So, it is a one-shot that is more of an everything that came before it shot and while I think that everyone can get some enjoyment out of it, it's more for long time fans of the show.  Just remember, a hero is always a hero, unless they aren't and books are only okay as a sometimes treat.

The issue starts off with Billy.  We get an awesome theme song before diving into a fight between the heroic Billy and the Lich.  It's not much of a battle, but hints at the theme of the book, things happen because they happen and they always will happen no matter what happens.  Hey, I'm not as good as Christopher Hastings in getting it across, but trust me, it's good.

All of this leads to an evil, skeleton, Lich tree (again, trust me) that Finn and Jake enter only to find a picture book of Finn and Jake's early years and before you can say, "Mathematical!" Finn is sucked into it.  Remember...sometimes treat!

I'll admit that at this point, I was having a really good time. Hastings nails the characters while Ian McGinty's art was spot on, but I was also lost to the point of my head spinning.  However, this issue goes with the "darkest before the dawn" type of storytelling because as the story unfolds from here, everything starts making sense and because the reader isn't being lead by the hand, it makes it that much more satisfying.  You might even wrongly think you are a smart person who understands philosophy and stuff, but we all know you only understand the stuff part and even that's a stretch.

The rest of the story revolves around Finn going through his past selves while the Lich acts as an evil narrator.  A narrator and an evil presence trying to make the other Finn's do things they wouldn't normally do.  But, here's the catch...even if these other Finn's don't have the heroic drive of our Finn, they still end up being heroes in their own way.  They can't help it and as you see Shoko, The Comet, Davey and Butterfly save the day again and again, I couldn't help but smile.  It's all part of a crazy, twilight zone story turned on it's head kind of thing that fits perfectly in the Adventure Time world. The issue ends with Finn reunited with Jake, BMO and an irritated Princess Bubblegum, but the final pages again show that no matter how much you try to change things, things change in a way that changes them to make the change not so much a change.  This is why I don't write comics, isn't it?!?!

If you are a fan of Adventure Time, you should already be reading the comic since it's cannon and that means it matters.  I said it up above, but I'll repeat myself like I always do, Christopher Hastings knows these characters and world and everything here feels right.  That may not seem like an impressive feat, but with such a unique and expansive world, it would be easy to get carried away to the point of being ridiculous.  I don't know Hastings, but he's not a ridiculous dude, at least not here. Maybe at dinner parties or when he's alone in the bathtube putting his hair up in a soapy mohawk, but not here.

The art team lead by Ian McGinty does a fantastic job making everything look pretty much perfect.  I won't say the cliched "It's like the cartoon on the page", but I will say that it's like the cartoon on the page.  Wait a second...oh, shoot!  It really looks that good and I want to give a shoutout to letterer Steve Wands who's font work pushes the story along so well.  You know a book looks great when even the letterer gets serious props!  Just kidding Steve, we're all winners here!!!

Bits and Pieces:

While this oversized one-shot could have been a bit more new reader/tv watcher friendly, it is a great comic for Adventure Time fans and a fun story for anyone who wants to believe that there is a hero in all of us.  Christopher Hastings and Ian McGinty make sure that everyone can get nice and comfy in the Land of Ooo with music and fun and if you're not careful you might learn something before it's done.  Hey, Hey...Wait a minute.  Strike that.  Reverse it..."Adventure Time!"

9.0/10