a weird thing happened when I was watching the latest cartoon of Adventure Time– I got confused about what I was seeing until I realized I was mixing up events from the comic with events in the cartoon. The fact that these two products became so interchangeable speaks to the strengths of this comic– it’s so near to the actual cartoon that you’ll forget it’s a comic!

From characterization to plot to humor, the comic captures everything that makes Adventure Time one of the best cartoons produced by Cartoon Network. This issue is a real gem too, as I love time travel stories in particular, and there are some great mind-twisty moments.

Unfortunately, my guess however is this particular issue (number 9) may be difficult to connect with new Ad Time fans, as it recalls a neat visual gag used in the first issue, which itself was a neat visual gag based on the cartoon’s opening titles, and also there is a sequence involving the pilot episode of the series which I think was only available via YouTube.

The worst thing I have to admit is the steep price tag. 3.99 is pretty hefty, especially when the main story was broken down into episodes with filler gags strips rather than having a compete story. A great story, sure, but having to wait three months for what you can usually get in a 12 minute TV episode is a strange disconnect. The comic creators embrace the medium in some great ways– using panel-to-panel timing to emphasize the humor, for example, but maybe there are other limitations of the publishing industry to overcome. That, or wait for trade.