Comics Review: Adventure Time Comics 22

A new slew of adventures.

This opens with Gladiator Realm by Jamie Coe. Finn and Jake have whisked away to an otherworldly colosseum, where they are to fight for the amusement of the emperor Bro Limz. They can only return by stealing the king’s remote control, but they plan to get all the prisoners out. By causing a distraction, they’re able to yank the remote and send everyone home. They wake up in their beds thinking it was all a dream… but realize that one of the prisoners is still there with them,

Next is Pepper Power by Danielle Chenette. BMO’s latest pizza is no ordinary pizza but has been sprinkled with particle pepper. It sends those who smell it back in time so the entire comic stretches. Only by sneezing are the characters able to leap out of the time warp and return the pages back to normal.

In Favorite Shirt by Reza Farazmand, Finn finds that his favorite shirt has shrunken. He blames it on the Ice King, but Jake reminds him that it was most likely the laundry machine. Finn prepares to fight the machine, and Jake decides that it’s best to fight with him.

Things take a darker turn in Billy the Hero by Brandon Zuern and Matt Frank. This story doesn’t have anything to do with Finn or Jake, but a new character named Billy. Billy goes on an adventure into a dungeon, surviving all sorts of traps and monsters. What ends up doing him in is the Lich, lurking in the deepest part of the dungeon. Instead of leaving the dungeon as a hero, Billy ends up possessed by the Lich.

Last up is Sword of the Sun by Carissa Powell. Finn and Jake go on a quest to find the sword of the sun and ask directions from an armadillo. They answer a riddle and get the sword, but realize that the sword is plastic.

The stories are individually fun but don’t mesh very well. Overall, most of the stories are lighthearted, but Billy the Hero is immensely dark. Not only is it accompanied by an art style shift to something seen more in traditional comics, but the protagonist doesn’t escape unharmed. We’re quickly introduced to Billy, only to have him lured to his doom by the Lich. It was a very good segment, probably my favorite of the bunch, but it was definitely a lot darker than I expected it to be.