Written by Christopher Hastings
Illustrated by Zachary Sterling
Colors by Maarta Laiho
Published by BOOM! Studios
Adventure Time started as a short from Pendleton Ward. Nowadays, it is normally found in animated form on Cartoon Network. The show now has six seasons strong on the channel. Adventure Time has even found its way to a comic book form for up to 37 issues. Clearly, the show offers a strong story and mass following of audience members in different age groups. So why not come along for a read? Enter into the magical land of Ooo and grab a friend. It is adventure time! Join the heroes Finn the Human and Jake the Dog in the mighty quest for food and cooking.
The story begins with a wakeup call to Finn and Jake as they awaken from a good night’s rest. Finn ventures downstairs to get food for his breakfast preparations. Inside of the refrigerator Finn runs into a tiny blue man, who is tasked with guarding the food within. Finn disregards the tiny blue man’s warnings and tries to make some breakfast. Finn fails completely to make any form of breakfast. Jake comes along to try and save the meal, but it becomes clear after a few moments and one fire later that Jake does not remember how to cook. Off the heroes go to the Candy Kingdom to eat because Finn will not wait in line to eat his grub. Inside of the Candy Kingdom, the heroes run into Princess Bubblegum who reports no one in the city knows how to cook and it may endanger the social order of the kingdom. Soon the heroes find themselves in danger as they discover the other kingdoms getting ready to attack the Candy Kingdom. Here the story kicks off to new levels of exploration, fun, and excitement as the heroes figure out why no one is Ooo can cook.
For a comic such as Adventure Time, the writing reflects a maturity in it for adults and humor for children. Hastings stops to look at the important role of food in the everyday world and its role in society. Food and cooking in the land of Ooo plays a large role in keeping social order and peace. Without food, the citizens of the Ooo become restless and dangerous. The concept gives readers food for thought. In societies food plays a key role as it allows people to bound together, be part of religious events, and it serves as part of the most basic needs. When people do not have food, there is the real risk of starvation and death. Hastings makes light of the deeper concept by having visual gags such as Finn failing to cook so badly that his indigents land in the toilet. The humor in the comic makes the storyline still feel cheerful and a good ending to the tale is on its way.
Th second aspect brought up by Hastings is the concept of maturity. Maturity is brought up on several times. The first time is when Finn decides he does not want to wait in line for food and has switch over to using lasers as his weapon. Finn is shown shortly afterwards to have fallen, injured himself, and starts to weep. His “maturity” is lost once he cannot use his new laser weapon and finds himself hurt. The second time has Ice King, an ice wizard and ruler of the Ice Kingdom, agree to assist in Finn’s and Jake’s quest to find food. The Ice King is not known for being very sane in the series. In fact, when the Ice King is questioned about his choice he replies to the others it is “one of saner [his] days.” Of course, the “maturity” he shows is only after he gets turned down by Princess Bubblegum for a date in trade of food. The Ice King goes to offer assistance to the others by giving them his food. Here we have maturity mocked as something that can be talked about among children and adults alike. But no one is truly mature. They can been seen as childish or maybe just a little crazy.
The visual work of Sterling and Laiho’s artwork does not disappoint. The artwork reflects the original nature of the animated series. The illustrations show lively action and color to support the beauty and humor of the work. For example, the scene of which Jake tries to take over breakfast preparation from Jake and it only results in a fire. Sterlings and Laiho create a humorous result as they cut away from the two for moment. Then soon afterwards the whole living room and kitchen of the heroes is on fire. The expressions of the heroes is perplexed and somber in contrast to the bright fire and a secondary character known as BMO running about with a happy look shouting about the fire.
Adventure Time # 37 offers whimsy, action, comedy, and fun for all. The artwork gives an upbeat feeling matching the tone of the story. It will leave the reader hungry for more!