Comics Review: Adventure Time Comics #16

Hambo loses an arm.

Courtesy: Boom Studios

Overview:

The first segment is” Broken” by Bethany Sellers, and focuses on Simon and young Marceline. Marceline accidentally breaks Hambo, and they go on a search for sewing supplies to patch him right up. Simon manages to sew Hambo’s arm back on, and reminds Marceline that there’s always a way to fix something that’s broken.

Next is “The Bummer Story of Choose Goose” by Leah Williams and Ryan Jampole. It details Choose Goose’s backstory, from how he came from a noble family of geese and was once named Chauncey. When he was hanging out with his friends, he spotted some rare berries that belonged to a witch. The witch cursed him to become silly and only speak in rhyme, and he was forced to abandon his name and title. His former life was destroyed, but he managed to become a successful merchant. In the meantime, the witch took over the geese castle and is revealed to be the narrator.

The third is “Cosmo Custodian” by Iam Herring. A space custodian sweeping around a statue encounters a pigeon and tries to chase it off. The pigeon lands on the statue’s head and decides to defecate there. Frustrated, the custodian tries to chase it off, but the pigeon becomes a giant shadowy bird, and the custodian has to fight it off. To prevent any more birds from perching on the statue, the custodian shines a spotlight on it and continues with his work.

The last is “Training Day” by K. Kinoko Evans. The Banana Guards all watch a training video but end up falling asleep midway through.

Our Take:

Overall, this was a very solid issue. It has an extremely strong start, opening with a segment about Simon and Marceline. Their backstory is a very touching part of Adventure Time, and it’s always lovely to see more of them. This time, Simon is trying to find materials to repair Hambo, all while encouraging Marceline to not become a bad person. The last few words he says isn’t just reflective of repairing Hambo, but also of repairing their world post-Mushroom War.

Choose Goose is definitely someone I wouldn’t have guessed getting any backstory at all, and his is kind of tragic. A witch cursed him and ate his parents, and he is forced to abandon his title because nobody can take him seriously. It’s comedic, but it’s also very dark.

The segment on the Cosmic Custodian was also very creepy, right out of a horror film. There are no words, but the surreal, unsettling mood is very well depicted. Somehow space pigeons are able to turn into menacing shadow monsters, and custodians have to fight back against them. Odd, but well done.

Score
8.5/10