What Can’t Adventure Time Do?

Anyone who knows me in the context of what I understand the kids these days are calling “IRL” is likely to know of my deep, deep love for a little cartoon called Adventure Time. Aside from an allusion here or a reference there, I’ve yet to really write about it, and thus anyone who knows me exclusively through what they read here is likely to register this as news.

If you aren’t familiar with this animated tidal wave of excellence, it all started as a short that ran on Nickelodeon some time ago. Due to how densely packed the hilarity is and the creativity on display it became an instant classic on the interwebs and managed to succeed in a viral sense, thus leading to a full-length series on Cartoon Network.

If you’re reading this then odds are good you already know what’s up, but to those who don’t, the show is layered like Inception but benefits from the absence of any confusing science. At a glance, it’s the story about a human boy named Finn and his magical dog Jake. These two are the most totally mathematical adventurers you’re likely to find, and the Land of Ooo is one rife with dungeons, legends, and princesses in need. The layers come into play in a way I’d regret spoiling, so I’ll just say that over the handful of seasons you’re treated to insights about how their world ties into our own. They’re subtle, but they provide depth and intrigue to a series that isn’t above a well-timed fart joke.

So good is this show that I’ve made a point of purchasing their piecemeal DVD offerings that continue to be released as they “test the waters” for a seasonal DVD treatment. I decided this was gonna be one of those show and tell posts where I take pictures, so I took pictures of Adventure Time: My Two Favorite People and Adventure Time: It Came From the Nightosphere in all their glory.

We’ll get those seasons someday, but given the revenue Cartoon Network likely derives from advertising during the reruns, it’s understandable that they’d want to take their time releasing ‘em on DVD. (The first season ended in the Fall of 2010.)

But what kind of radcore, addictively magical webs has Adventure Time begun to spin outside of their standard realm of television? Since these outings are relevant to my interests, it should be obvious that video games and comic books both bound to enter into this conversation.

If you’re one of the many Adventure Time super fans, the comic iteration is gonna be right up your alley. You’ll find tons of fan service with references to minor and major moments in the series, the iconic art style perfectly mirrored in the main arcs, vignettes featuring some of your favorite supporting characters (Tree Trunks, LSP), sharp, clever writing, and all kinds of talented people behind the scenes. Anyone familiar with Dinosaur Comics might preemptively lawl when I throw out that Ryan North is the lead writer.

In addition to all of this, they have vibrant, rich covers as you’ll see below.

Don’t like any of those? Good news! They release some crazy number of variant covers for each issue, and the reprints rock new art, as well. (Of which there have been many.) So you can basically customize your own little Adventure Time comic collection if you’re one of those obsessive types who haven’t yet discovered the joys of the bonsai tree.

So KaBOOM! Studios has a cash cow and we all have access to more of what we love. Win-win. Hopefully the same is true about the much more mysterious Adventure Time game Joystiq is reporting will be coming to the DS and 3DS in the Fall.

Reading the article you’ll find as good of an analysis of the tentative cover art as any. I mean, dude’s probably right. Ice King likely steals their garbage, creates a garbage princess, and then it’s up to our heroes to save her from that sloppy milkshake.

It’s been made clear in the past that Pendleton Ward has spent some time ruminating on the idea of an Adventure Time game. Perhaps extensively so. With the general ideas he’s pitched and as competent a developer as WayForward (of Aliens: Infestation fame) working to make this game a thing that exists, it seems likely that fans of the show are gonna get the kind of handheld awesome they deserve.

So long as that kind of speculation holds true, the answer to the question in the subject line appears to be an emphatic “nothing!”