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It's ADVENTURE TIME! Join Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Princess Bubblegum for all-new adventures through The Land of Ooo. The top-rated Cartoon Network show now has its own comic book! With the show exploding in the ratings, garnering rave online reviews, major cosplay at the San Diego Comic-Con, and huge displays dominating the New York Comic Con, it's clear fandom is obsessed and 2012 is the Year of Adventure Time! Don't miss out on this new phenomenon—this first issue is sure to get snapped up!

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Adventure Time books

• 1.1.1 Epic Tales from Adventure Time
• 1.2 Lore Books
• 1.4.1 Mad Libs
• 1.5.1 Which Way, Dude?
• 1.5.2 Episode Books

Adventure Time Books [ ]

There are Various Adventure Time books that have been released over the years, from story books to cookbooks.

Story Books [ ]

Books centered on story telling.

Epic Tales from Adventure Time [ ]

Based on an idea from Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward comes a series of epic fiction inspired by classic pulp adventure stories

Lore Books [ ]

Books with a large amount of lore.

Books that help as a guide in one or many ways.

Activity Books [ ]

Books in which the reader is meant to right/draw in.

Mad Libs [ ]

Miscellaneous [ ]

Not yet sorted books, or books that don't fit the above categories.

Which Way, Dude? [ ]

There are so many things to do in the Land of Ooo that sometimes the characters need a little help.

Episode Books [ ]

(May Not Be Fully Organized)

(Listed by date)

• Adventure Time
• 2 Princess Bubblegum

Review: Adventure Time #1

By matthew meylikhov | february 9th, 2012 posted in reviews | % comments.

Written by Ryan North Illustrated by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb Back-up by Aaron Renier It’s ADVENTURE TIME! Join Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Princess Bubblegum for all-new adventures through The Land of Ooo. The top-rated Cartoon Network show now has its own comic book! With the show exploding in the ratings, garnering rave online reviews, major cosplay at the San Diego Comic-Con, and huge displays dominating the New York Comic Con, it’s clear fandom is obsessed and 2012 is the Year of Adventure Time! Don’t miss out on this new phenomenon–this first issue is sure to get snapped up!

What time is it? Review Time!, with Matt the Human (and Boots the Cat is lurking around somewhere as Matt writes).

Seriously, though. I love Cartoon Network’s all-ages program Adventure Time , and I have ever since I saw that rejected NickToons short on YouTube. It’s about time there was a comic with these characters.

Take a look after the cut for some thoughts on the first issue of a book everyone should want, let alone need. Oh my Glob! ( Sorry. I can’t help myself. )

Now that experience has been brought to comics, with Dinosaur Comics ‘ Ryan North writing and Boston-based duo Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, all of whom are tasked with bringing Pendleton Ward’s characters to the pages. Luckily,  Adventure Time the comic continues the tradition Adventure Time the show began, creating an infinitely accessible all-ages experience that ranks with the best the industry has to offer. It’s a comic created with fans of the series in mind, yet it remains an entirely open door for someone who has never traveled to the magical land of Ooo — and in the end, what more could you ask for?

There is no better way to put this: the comic is  the show. Combining characters and a program I love in a medium I adore, the book is absolutely in sync with the machinations that make the show so effortlessly affable and infinitely delightful. While property-based comics are very hit or miss, Adventure Time  is a home run, a touch down, a goal, a strike, a slam dunk and a myriad of other sports-based references that I can’t think of/don’t know of. If ever there was a comic that could give you a high five from reading it, Adventure Time  would be that comic.

North is an excellent pick as author of the series. Fans of his webcomic are certainly used to his rather sleek and clever sense of humor, and it makes for a pitch perfect accessory to the show. North’s voice rings true in Finn and Jake yet it also keeps their dynamic true to form, and North’s open recognition of Finn and Jake’s friendship is a nice touch. Even the return of the Lich is a great and unexpected turn of events, and you can practically hear Ron Perlman cackling from the pages of the book. Throwing in some great beneath-the-surface gags (the quick Dungeons and Dragons reference and alt-text at the bottom of certain pages is great) and building on the qualities that keep the show’s fantasy mythos vibrant (Desert Princess! — not to be confused with Dessert Princess, of course), North absolutely nails Adventure Time  in every conceivable way.

Add to that Aaron Renier’s “My Cider the Mountain”, and you’ve got quite a fun bundle of both a story that is  the show accompanied with one that pays tribute to the show’s ideals. Adventure Time has a thriving and pro-active fanbase, all taking their stabs at participating in the vast and inviting universe of the show, and by including Renier’s piece in the book it brings the discussion about the series and its qualities to an entirely different level. Not only is this book here to continue the ever expanding and limitless reality of the show, but it is truly an opportunity for fans to expand on the stories of characters they love, similar to what Marvel has done with books like Strange Tales . With Tree Trunks and Cinnamon Bun getting a chance at the spotlight in a quaintly illustrated seven-page short, Renier continues the grand tradition of the show in both it’s trademark sense of humor and his own. While it deviates from the visual style of the show that Paroline and Lamb imitate so well, it’s ultimately that deviation that  makes the entire comic package so wonderful: Adventure Time – By Fans, For Fans (and everyone else too, really).

I’ve read Adventure Time #1 four times now (twice while discussing it with one of the artists of the book, Braden Lamb, at a local comic creator meet-up, once with an advance from BOOM!, and once after purchasing it) , and as a fan of the series and a fan of comics I can find nothing wrong. Fans of the show won’t be disappointed, and I can’t imagine that folks curious enough to travel to Ooo will find the experience uninviting either.

Well done by all.

Final Verdict: 10.0  – MATHEMATICAL

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, " X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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Adventure time (book review).

8 comments:

They look great. That show is on tv here but my kids haven't seen it yet. I used to love the Wonder Twins and Transformers. My kids love Arthur and my eldest loved The 99, which I have to say is pretty good!

I'm horrible for remembering what cartoons I watched when I was little. I know I loved The Flintstones. That's about it. :) I wish my kids still liked Arthur. I enjoyed that one. :)

My daughter loves that show. It does seem like the Cartoon Network shoes get weirder and weirder! That gum ball show drives me crazy!!!! I can relate, tv, iPhone, Xbox, outdoor play, reading...it's a lot to balance!

Yes, very weird! And my son needs constant "encouragement" to do something productive. ;)

I have not heard of this show, sounds interesting and I love those doodle books. My son is 8 so probably a good age for them. One of my favourite cartoons was Barbapapa....not sure if I am the only one who remembers this show! Pia pjmscloset.blogspot.ca

I just love doodle books, regardless of the subject! I remember Barbapapa! :)

I love books that encourage creativity {your son is quite the artist!}. I can't say that I miss the cartoons my kids watched-- funny how cartoons are so awesome as a child and so annoying as an adult. I was a big Justice League/Scooby Doo/Bugs Bunny type fan when I was younger!

Thanks! Both of my kids love art, but it's hard to get the boy going! I'm not too fond of a lot of the cartoons either. And oh the shrieky voices nowadays. Killer.

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[ART BOOK REVIEW] Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo

You might be thinking to yourself,  Why is Mason reviewing an Adventure Time book? He always makes fun of it,  as you hug on your Marceline plush toy.

Well, I’ve since changed my ways. I watched quite a few episodes of  Adventure Time with Finn and Jake in preparation for Abrams Books’ latest,  Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo . And somewhere in between the Candy Kingdom slumber party gone horribly wrong and the glory of Billy’s loincloth, I fell in love with the show.

But even if I weren’t a newly converted Adventure Time acolyte,  The Art of Ooo is more than enough to get anyone, even the skeptics, excited about the show, a show Guillermo Del Toro himself dubbed “a miracle”. It’s more than an “art book”. It’s an in-depth encyclopedia on what makes the show so magical and appealing.

We’re talking  over 340 pages of all things  Adventure Time . Of course there’s beautiful artwork to look at, but the real value of the book lies in all the behind-the-scenes information that you can read about and see. It’s evident that the makers of the book appreciate their dedicated fans and also want to expose newcomers to all the effort that goes into making such a deceptively simple show.

Below is a list of some of the book’s features that I found particularly interesting (not meant to be comprehensive):

• Introduction by Guillermo Del Toro
• Series Pitch Bible – a rare glimpse of the  Adventure Time “manual”, meant to be shown to Cartoon Network execs to generate interest in the show
• How to Draw Adventure Time! – a style/reference guide laying down the “rules” on maintaining a consistent visual style for characters
• Pen-Style Cartooning – a look into the artistic mind of show creator Pendleton Ward
• Interviews – Jeremy Shada (Finn the Human), John DiMaggio (Jake), Olivia Olson (Merceline), Tom Kenny (The Ice King), and more
• A very thorough analysis of Fionna and Cake
• Interviews with  Adventure Time  writers
• Tons of annotated storyboards
• Extensive environment/background painting gallery
• Fan/crew art gallery

So whether you love  Adventure Time for the art, the humor, the characters, the weirdness, the music, or whatever,  The Art of Ooo has something to say about it. No facet of the show’s production is left out (although the most hard-core fans might be disappointed to find a lack of coverage of the show’s more obscure characters). As an animation student, I’m extremely thrilled to have such a comprehensive volume on this show’s production. And while the book definitely provided lots stuff to read about at the expense of full-page illustrations, the amount of valuable information on such a fascinating show certainly makes up for it. This could be the best art book ever made for a contemporary animated series, and I wish that all my favorite cartoon series could get the same love and appreciation displayed in  Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo .

Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo:   Amazon  | Book Depository

Adventure Time fans! Are you excited for this art book? Sound off in the comments below!

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Adventure Time Volume 1 Paperback – Nov. 19 2012

• Reading age 9 - 12 years
• Part of Series Adventure Time
• Print length 128 pages
• Language English
• Dimensions 17.78 x 1.02 x 25.4 cm
• Publisher KaBOOM!
• Publication date Nov. 19 2012
• ISBN-10 1608862801
• ISBN-13 978-1608862801
• See all details

Popular titles by this author

Product description

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ KaBOOM! (Nov. 19 2012)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1608862801
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1608862801
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 318 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 17.78 x 1.02 x 25.4 cm
• #1,187 in Children's Action & Adventure Comics & Graphic Novels
• #1,551 in Children's Humorous Comics & Graphic Novels
• #1,981 in Media Tie-In Graphic Novels

About the authors

Ryan North is the (New York Times bestselling, Eisner-award winning) creator of Dinosaur Comics, the co-editor of the Machine of Death series, and the author of both "To Be or Not To Be" and "Romeo and/or Juliet": the choose-your-own-path versions of Shakespeare's plays. He also wrote "The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl" for Marvel Comics, who you might know from their movies about an iron man. His non-fiction work includes "How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveller" and the upcoming "How to Take Over the World".

He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife Jenn and his dog Noam Chompsky.

Mike Holmes

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Steve Wands

STEVE WANDS is best known as a Harvey Award and Lammy Award nominated comic book letterer with DC Comics, Image, TKO Studios, Random House, and others but he’s also indie author of the Stay Dead series, Feareater, and co-writer of Trail of Blood. When not working he spends time with his family in New Jersey.

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Adventure Time Compendium Vol. 1

Trade Paperback

LIST PRICE $49.99

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Table of Contents

About the book, about the author.

Ryan North 's recent work includes the nonfiction books How To Take Over The World and How To Invent Everything , the semi-fictional graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five , and the so-far-fictional Unbeatable Squirrel Girl series for Marvel. He's a multiple New York Times bestseller whose work has been translated into 16 different languages to date, and as a linguist, he's very happy about that. He lives in Toronto, where he once messed up walking his dog so badly it made the news .

About The Illustrators

Comic illustrators Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb form an Eisner Award–winning art team collaborating on the Adventure Time comics, Midas , One Day a Dot and Making Scents . Braden is the colorist for several New York Times bestselling books, including Guts and The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels. Shelli is co-director of a local arts festival, the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). Together, they share a passion for graphic storytelling for all ages. They are married and live in Salem, Massachusetts.

Mike Holmes is the author of My Own World (First Second), the artist for Wings of Fire (Scholastic) and Secret Coders (First Second), has drawn for Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors , and was a regular contributor to MAD magazine. He created the comic strip True Story and the art project Mikenesses . He was born in British Columbia, raised in Nova Scotia, and now lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Meredith, and son, Oscar.

Dustin Nguyen is a New York Times bestselling and multiple Eisner Award–winning American comics creator best known for his work on Image Comics’ Descender , Ascender , Little Monsters ; DC Comics’ Batman: L’il Gotham ; Scholastic’s DC Comics: Secret Hero Society , and many other things Gotham–related. His past body of work includes Wildcats V3.0 , The Authority Revolution , Batman , Superman/Batman , Detective Comics , his creator-owned project, Manifest Eternity , plus Batgirl and Batman: Streets of Gotham . He also co-wrote and illustrated Justice League Beyond and illustrated Vertigo’s American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares with writer Scott Snyder. Aside from providing cover illustrations for the majority of his own books, his cover art can also be found on titles from Batman Beyond , Batgirl , Justice League: Generation Lost , Supernatura l , and Friday the 13th , to numerous other DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Boom, IDW, and Image Comics.

Jess Fink is an award-winning illustrator and graphic novelist living in New York, but she is originally from outer space. Her graphic novels Chester 5000 and We Can Fix It are published by Top Shelf Comics. She has a degree in illustration and cartooning from the School of Visual Arts. Her illustrations have appeared in the New York Times , the North American Review , and more. Various anthologies have featured her comic work, including SPX and Popgun . Her erotic comic work has been published by Fantagraphics books and featured in the Museum of Sex in Manhattan, New York, as well as the Best Erotic Comics , Erotic Comics , and Smut Peddler collections.

Jeffrey Brown is the bestselling author and illustrator of the middle-grade Jedi Academy series, as well as the Darth Vader and Son series. When he was a kid, Jeffrey always dreamed of growing up to draw comics and make books for a living—and now he’s living that dream! Jeffrey has written a number of autobiographical books for adults, humorous graphic novels about cats, and parodies like Incredible Change-Bots . His middle-grade series Lucy & Andy Neanderthal was 40,000 years in the making, telling the story of a kid sister and brother living in the Stone Age, along with real research into life in prehistoric times. He also paid tribute to all the great teachers he's had with the picture book My Teacher Is a Robo t .

Jim Rugg is a comic book artist, book maker, illustrator, and designer. Books include Street Angel , The PLAIN Janes , Afrodisiac , Notebook Drawings , Rambo 3.5 , and Supermag . He loves comic books, zines, lettering, podcasts, running, pro-wrestling, pizza, and cats. He lives and draws in Pittsburgh. He teaches visual storytelling at the School of Visual Arts and the Animation Workshop in Denmark. Accolades include Eisner and Ignatz Awards, AIGA 50/50, Society of Illustrators Annual, and Investing in Professional Artists: The Pittsburgh-Region Artists Grants Program, a partnership of the Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Missy Pena is an American illustrator living and working in Barcelona, Spain. Missy specializes in 2D digital art, and is best known for fantasy character designs, nerdy fanart, and cover work on the Steven Universe comic books.

Becca Tobin is a cartoonist, illustrator, and visual artist from the UK currently living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Becca’s comics include Understanding , Frontier 9 , It's Me , and Lunchtime .

Liz Prince was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1981, and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2002, Liz returned to Boston to attend the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where she received a BFA. Liz draws comics full time, and lives in Portland, Maine, with her cats, Wolfman and Dracula, and her husband, Kyle. Her first book, Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed? (Top Shelf Productions) received the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut in 2005. She has drawn comics for dozens of anthologies, self-published many mini comics and zines, and has contributed to several Cartoon Network comics properties such as Adventure Time , Regular Show , and Clarence . Liz’s first graphic novel, Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir , was released in 2014 by Zest Books, to critical acclaim, and has since been published in French, Spanish, Korean, and was adapted as an audiobook. In 2017, Liz created the punk comic series Coady and the Creepies for KaBoom! with artist Amanda Kirk, and it’s probably her favorite comic that she’s made.

Yumi Sakugawa is an Ignatz Award–nominated comic book artist and the author of I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You and Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe . Her comics have also appeared in The Believer , Bitch , The Best American Non ­Required Reading 2014 , The Rumpus , Folio , Fjords Review , and other publications. She has also exhibited multimedia installations at the Japanese American National Museum and the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building. A graduate from the fine art program of University of California, Los Angeles, she lives in Los Angeles.

Carey Pietsch is currently the co-adapter and artist on the Adventure Zone graphic novel series from First Second books. Books 1–5— The Eleventh Hour, The Crystal Kingdom , Petals to the Metal , Murder on the Rockport Limited , and Here There Be Gerblins —are out in bookstores everywhere, and you can buy them online at theadventurezonecomic.com. Previously, she was the artist on the Mages of Mystralia webcomic, Lumberjanes Issues #29–32, and Adventure Time: Marceline Gone Adrift . Her original comics Rift and The Witches' Daughters appeared in SOI's Comic & Cartoon Art Annual, 2015; Gleam was a part of the 2016 show. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies, including Chainmail Bikini , Oath , 1001 Knights , Blood Root , and Terrestrial . When she's not making comics, she's probably playing a tabletop game, collecting more plants, or working on a goofy podcast about Animorphs . She graduated from Swarthmore College in 2010 and is now living in Brooklyn.

Jesse Tise is an Los Angeles–based, multidisciplinary artist who graduated with honors from Art Center College of Design with a BFA in illustration design. Freelance editorial clients include Strategic Insight, the New York Times , BOOM! Comics, and Cricket Media. After working as an art instructor teaching adults with developmental disabilities in the nonprofit sector, he transitioned full time to the TV animation industry with Netflix Animation, where he helped design backgrounds, props, and effects for an upcoming CG–animated preschool series. He currently works at Shadow Machine as a background layout artist, and resides in South Pasadena, California, where he enjoys throwing functional, wheel-thrown pottery and watching endless reruns of Mystery Science Theater 3000 with his wife, Elizabeth, and their cat, Maple.

Ian McGinty was an American comic book writer and artist. He was best known for his creator-owned comic Welcome to Showside , as well as for his work on Adventure Time , Bee and PuppyCat , and Invader ZIM .

David Cutler is an artist and illustrator who has been working in comics since 2010, his clients including Marvel Comics, Warner Bros. Animation, Alternative History, Zenescope Entertainment, and Boom Studios, among others. Born in Bay St. George, Newfoundland, David is a proud member of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation, and is a swell guy to boot. He moved to Toronto in 2007 to follow dreams of comic book stardom, where he currently lives with his first born catson, Chester. Somewhere along the way, he earned his BA in English literature from St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and studied illustration at Max the Mutt Animation School.

Product Details

• Publisher: Oni Press (October 15, 2024)
• Length: 688 pages
• ISBN13: 9781637155295
• Grades: 4 and up

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Book review: adventure time: the art of ooo.

It's MARVELous

Another giant (and weighty) leap for comics history as Taschen delivers the goods on Marvel. The huge books follows the same format as the story of DC Comics Taschen published in 2010 though with a couple of differences: the five fold-out Timelines in the DC book are now presented as a loose insert printed both sides and folding out to fifty-five inches wide; there is no index, which I find sort of amazing in a title like this.

The editorial covers eight decades of Marvel and author Roy Thomas would seem the obvious choice to write about the company, he was an editor there from 1965 to 1980. The four chapters, each opening like the DC book with a spread wide bit of art printed on thick paper with reflective metallic ink, look at the origins of Martin Goodman and his Timely Comics of which Marvel was a subsidiary group of titles. Timely morphed into Atlas comics in 1951 which eventually, in the early sixties, became the Marvel line that carries on today and the book is right up to date, too, with the cover of Black Widow issue six from July this year.

A nice feature of the editorial are references to comic and media items through the decades and how they related to Marvel and their comic characters. I think the real strength of the book is the art, pages and pages of covers, spreads, individual frames and several examples of cover art (blown up big) as inked but before the color was added. A two-page foldout of Steranko's spread from Strange tales 167 is also included.

The book's production is, as the DC title, first-class. Beautifully printed and bound with all the images getting deep comprehensive captions, eight pages at the back have biogs of several dozen writers and artists who were the real masters of Marvel. Taschen have thoughtfully provided a blue silk bookmark.

Overall a feast for the eyes but what will the next book be about? I'm putting my money on EC comics getting the Taschen treatment, in three or four years time.

75 Years of Marvel Comics: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen is available at Amazon ( US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN )

Adventure Time fans would be delighted with this humungous 352-page hardcover. It's really worth the money considering the price and how much content there is.

Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo provides an in-depth look at the origin of the animation and the creative process of making one. It's packed with concept art of the characters, environments and the early sketches used by creator Pendleton Ward's for pitching to studios. The characters are amusing and the art style is certainly very "Adventure Time".

The highlight of the book is the lengthy interview-style text from the start to the end of the book. The staff artists talk about the stories, characters and art. It's written in a casual manner but yet is very insightful. You'll read about the history of Adventure Time , the story pitches and changes that led to Cartoon Network picking it up, style guides on how to draw the characters, interviews with voice actors, and a lot of interesting things that happen behind the scenes, the many side stories, muses.

For the artworks, there are lots of character designs. Finn the human, Jake the dog, Fionna and Cake, Ice King, Bumblegum Princess, Rainicorn, Earl of Lemongrab and many others. Environment art are of the various kingdoms, space, the Tree House, "Beautopia" and other settings in the post-apocalyptic, magical land of Ooo.

The character designs are unusual. The artists explain the style guides, like why Finn only has dots for eyes, the rules for the world of Ooo, e.g. if you're born with dots as eyes, you're not supposed to grow sclera, the white part of the eye. The Cosmic Owl's design was inspired by a light pattern that hits the urinals in the toilet at the workplace. Many of the designs look like they could be doodles from some kid's textbook. But that's also part of the charm because not everyone can draw like that. Pendleton Ward had great difficulty assembling a crew of artists who can draw just like that. All images are captioned to explain what they are and where they come from.

The last section of the book is dedicated to fan art. This section also has the staff artists drawing the characters in any style they like, e.g. such as in Street Fighter style.

Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo is a wonderful book that looks at the work it takes to make such as animation possible. It's well written, insightful and fun to read. Highly recommended to fans of Adventure Time .

There are two publishers for this book, Titan Books and Abrams. Abrams seems to be distributing for USA and Canada, and Abrams for Europe.

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The Abrams published edition is available at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn

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Review and Exclusive Artwork From Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo

A few weeks back, we showed you the recently published Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards , an art book that breaks down the creation of each of the opening tableaus from the first two seasons of Adventure Time for your nerdy and over-analytical pleasure. But if you know the show, you also know that there’s so, so much more to explore—and this massive new book curated and written by animator Chris McDonnell is sure to help you do just that.

Readers, if I had a week to sit down with each of you individually and point out every cool little tidbit of information or art in this book, it would still not be enough time—each of its 352 pages is crammed to the gills that Susan Strong probably doesn’t have with pure, unadulterated amazingness. There’s the pitch bible Pendleton Ward first sent to Cartoon Network after Nickelodeon declined to take his original  Adventure Time short to a full series; how-to drawing guides that lovingly describe Finn’s arms as “al-dente noodles”; concept art of everything from the smallest ancillary Candy Kingdom citizen to the largest panoramic cityscape; storyboards, scripts, and notes for episodes of the series; gorgeously done fan art and comic book covers from the Boom! Studios series; and thousands of little easter eggs to pick up on.

Now, while you might be coming for the wonderful art, you’re certainly going to stay for all the stuff within the book that you can actually read , starting with the wonderful introductory note by none other than professional Totoro impersonator (and also talented director too, I guess) Guillermo Del Toro, and continuing on to interviews from the cast and crew. This includes a particularly interesting bit about how Princess Bubblegum voice actor Hynden Walsh sees her character’s relationship to Marceline (it’s  not necessarily what you think,  but it’s still utterly fascinating).

But it’s the insight from the show’s writers that really sticks with you—such as this bit from Jesse Moynihan, on the subject of why  Adventure Time  is willing to take its young audience members to some very dark and mature places (from page 234):

“It’s fun to drop cosmic bombs on kids and to make it feel as real and legit as possible. I’m pretty sure kids like to get their minds blown. They want to engage forces that are infinitely bigger than themselves. At least that’s how I felt as a kid, and how I still feel.  You can address the heaviest questions and use them in the context of adventuring and humor. The weight of those questions serves to deepen the enjoyment of the adventure. If you nail the right proportions of fear, then you’ve got a gem of entertainment, I think. It also helps to have an opinion on all this stuff while you’re writing it. I can always detect a phony when they write generic stuff like ‘Use your heart.’ What does that mean? Use your heart. It doesn’t mean anything by itself. Using your heart has to apply to the character’s specific personal experience, or to a specific idea of where ‘the heart’ comes from in relation to the birth of the universe. Then ‘Use your heart’ means something.”

But anyway, back to that incredible art I was talking about: one of the most interesting aspects of  The Art of Ooo  is the wealth of doodles, concept art, etchings, ink drawings, and unofficial concept work for the series. So far, my personal favorite is  this doodle of Princess Bubblegum dressed as Daenerys Targaryen  that I found in the margins of the concept art section—if  that  isn’t remarkably relevant to my interests, I don’t know what is. But there’s a lot—and I mean a  lot— of details to love (I mean, heck, the Cosmic Owl gets two pages all to himself; the Earl of Lemongrab and his various lemon mutants, of course, get several), including the below never-before-seen work by storyboard artist Seo Kim.

( click to embiggen ) Exclusive concept art of the many Ooo princesses by Seo Kim. The BREAKFAST ROLLS ROYCE! I am smitten.

( click to embiggen ) More concept art by Seo Kim, primarily of Breakfast Princess.

As with the title card book, this is the sort of companion work that fans obsessed with “making-of” stories will not just enjoy, but straight-up salivate over. It releases next week on October 14th , and if you’re a die-hard fan of the show with a penchant for exploring the creative process, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. You know, if you can. It’s pretty heavy. You might need to do some sick amounts of adventuring to level up first.

Previously in Adventure Time

• Review: The New Adventure Time Title Card Art Book Is Totally Mathematical
• Adventure Time ‘s Series Creator Stepped Down Last Season, Here’s Why

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Adventure Time Reviewed

“jerry” review.

Original Airdate: September 21, 2023

Written & storyboarded by: hanna k. nyström, anna syvertsson, jim campbell & jackie files.

Whoever wrote the “Jerry from HR” line that was included in Fionna Campbell and Simon Petrikov made me feel like the biggest jackass for three weeks thinking I was onto some crazy crackpot theory about who Jerry was.

Jerry may be the most overtly bleak episode of the series to date. While Adventure Time primarily takes place within the aftermath of a ruined society, it’s contrasted with the colorful, manic beings that inhabit it. Jerry takes place in the aftermath of a ruined society and is complimented by barren, empty land that is devoid of all life. That being said, it still cuts down some of that bleakness by sliding in one of Adventure Time ‘s schmaltziest love stories to date. And BMO. It’s always good to see BMO!

Betty and Simon’s history together is fleshed out in great detail throughout Jerry . The original series was always pretty vague about what brought them together in the first place outside of the general implication that they were in love. We were treated to tidbits here and there, mainly toward the end of the series; Simon mentions Betty’s library book note in Broke His Crown , Simon and Betty are both seen in a photograph with the Enchiridion (which we see in real time here!) in I Remember You , and Betty’s trip to study petroglyphs, as well as the said search for the Enchiridion, are explored through memories in Temple of Mars . Jerry pretty much works with all of those little pieces of the puzzle to build out larger picture of their relationship. It’s always kind of a gamble doing these backstory episodes, because there’s the chance that it’ll ruin some of the mystique of just offering hints and leaving the rest to context clues. But in the case of Simon and Betty, I think these two are LONG overdue for an episode focusing on their relationship. All we’ve pretty much ever gotten from the two of them are dramatic acts of clinging to a lost love, so actually getting to see and understand what went into that love is kind of important. Otherwise, it just sorta feels like a one-dimensional concept. The way it ends up being presented is still kind of a one-dimensional concept, but this where context starts to become important when looking at their relationship from a distance.

Their story starts in a campus lecture hall (following a spicy encounter at the library), where Simon is making a presentation about ancient artifacts, including the Armor of Zeldron ( Blood Under the Skin ), the Wand of Disbursement ( Sons of Mars ), and the porcelain lamb ( Beyond this Earthly Realm ). I really wonder what specific class this is, because why did they invite Simon just to fuckin’ rag on him? Even the instructor thinks he’s a basket case. I’m guessing it’s supposed to be some sort of ancient mythology class that Simon was invited to for the purpose of discussing fictitious artifacts, but went off the rails and just started preaching about his own fascination with Dungeons & Dragons esque fantasies. Betty seems to be the only one who is actually interested in his lectures, and this is really the first time we get to see her personality shine. She’s a lot more outgoing, adventurous, and seemingly more impulsive than Simon is. I wouldn’t say this is entirely new from what we’ve seen from her in the past – Magic Betty had a similar drive to latch onto seemingly outlandish ideas as well as engaging with Ice King head-on in a seemingly direct approach. It’s kind of cool, seeing as how they really just needed her to be crazy and desperate in the Magic Betty, but there’s definite aspects of her personality that connect through all explorations of her character. Kind of like how Magic Man is still somewhat of a douche as portrayed in Temple of Mars , showing that magic or not, these traits still exist in the user. I like how Simon kind of jokingly mentions going on the expedition and she immediately invites herself onto it within seconds.

I do enjoy how the expedition itself is left mostly in the dark – I think the concept of finding the Enchiridion is way too fantastical in theory to tack into a pretty tight story, and it’s not really the focus anyway. We get nice little moments of their dynamic playing out and I can only imagine whatever went into actually discovering the Enchiridion was consciousness expanding for them both. Board artist Nicole Rodriguez even drew up a few sketches implying that some expedition funny business went on between the two, though Simon mentions wanting to keep things professional later, so I have to imagine he never got TOO comfortable. It’s kind of sweet how hesitant Simon is to be transparent about his feelings, but it also makes sense given the fact that we later explore a bit of an unevenness in their relationship in terms of how much Betty sacrificed over Simon. Adding in a bit of a power dynamic where he’s pursuing a student might’ve overcomplicated the themes they were going for. But as I mentioned, regardless of thematic elements, watching their relationship unfold paints a very rich picture of how these characters operate. When Simon fails to communicate his own desires at the bus stop, you kind of get the idea that, while super bummed out, Betty’s self-sufficient enough that she would power through. She quickly dismisses the note when she thinks she’s in over her head, and is readily prepared to throw herself into uncertainty. Simon finally buckles up the courage in what is a very romantic gesture, but the sublimity of it all is put into question when he begins to grapple with Fionna’s misconception that he joined Betty on her journey. Betty was prepared to proceed confidently through her own life, but how much was Simon ready to navigate through his own?

I think it’s an idea that presents some level of cynicism – what appeared to be this flawless, glossy relationship in Simon’s eyes actually had elements of imperfection that he may not even been aware of. I think it’s helpful for his perspective, but their story doesn’t just dissolve there. The sequence with the lovely Half Shy song shows that there was genuine love exploding between the two of them. Their scenario doesn’t really lean into black-and-white viewpoints of any kind, it just begins to plant the seeds into challenging Simon’s perspective beyond what he is currently choosing to believe in. I really love how romantic the scene is between the two – I don’t really think we’ve ever seen this level of mushiness displayed between any couple in the show. Though again, it doesn’t really stop playing with those aforementioned ideas – the song itself was playing when Betty was about to leave on the bus. “Her” song quickly became “our song,” according to Simon.

I know I usually wait till the end of these write-ups to talk about anything related to Fionna and Cake themselves, but I actually really like Simon and Fionna’s relationship in this one! It’s nice that Fionna starts to gradually shift from being focused solely on herself and her own journey and gives her full attention to Simon’s story. Her willingness to listen to him as he describes the most magical time of his life is ultimately what leads to her increased empathy with Simon’s current dilemma. That, and a disregarded Ice King video tape, complete with a spoofed version of “Everything Stays.” It’s also really sweet to see Simon act as somewhat of a caretaker to Fionna, which is a role he obviously excels in. I really love when he uses his own romantic tale to cheer Fionna up when she’s upset – it very much reads as an old man method of “here’s a nice story to distract you from your difficult emotions.” And the bit of playfulness they share, like Fionna pretending to be disinterested in Simon talking, is also a nice touch.

My thoughts about Fionna and Cake’s dynamic in this one are less than positive. I feel like the entirety of their conflict is pretty unnecessary and bogs down any moments where it arises again. I get that Cake’s character journey is about her desire to become more independent, and I think you can still accomplish that just with her moment towards the end when she fights with Fionna over the crown. But having her be uncharacteristically joyless throughout most of this one (though some of her pouting makes for funny drawings) only for it to get resolved pretty unceremoniously takes me out of the experience. A loooong time ago I talked about the episode Video Makers and the philosophy that it’s not really entertaining to do entire episodes pitting best friends against each other unless it’s particularly funny or dramatic. While I think I was kind of being a persnickety internet critic back then (I probably still am one!) I do agree that you kind of have to tread careful waters with this type of dynamic, because what plays out here is just pretty tiresome. I think, at the very least, Cake’s admiration of BMO makes her portrayal in Jerry a bit less contentious. Oh, and while I’m being a snarky internet critic, that BRB note we see from Finn was created in Temple of Mars , years after the events of Finn the Human ! Do better, AT crew!!!!!

BMO in general is great to have back. I was a little miffed when I saw BMO in the trailer for the first season of F&C , because it really seemed like they were going to overly rely on characters from the OG series instead of fleshing out the newer ones. But my cynicism dissolved quickly, because BMO is always delightful. I’m not sure what it is about her, but I kind of have yet to see a poor portrayal of her. Besides some inconsistencies of how she acted at the beginning of the series versus now, her presence always seems to get the right blend of character traits down. It’d be so easy to just make BMO overly cutesy and whimsical or something, but she’s always a little bit of an asshole too, and there’s usually this subtle (or, in this case, overt) level of sadness that she carries with her. It’s extremely sad to watch the little dude mosey around amidst the destruction of Ooo, and I wonder how much BMO is able to actually grapple with it on a conscious level. I imagine her behavior is somewhat of a trauma response, but also just goes to show how far BMO’s imagination can be stretched to the point where I’m not sure if she’s really able to tell the difference/deal with such horrendous destruction in a way that involves legitimate grief. BMO referring to Fionna as “Finn” further supports the idea that she may not be able to differentiate reality from fiction, which was possibly heightened by her current surroundings as well.

It also makes me wonder – if BMO survived because she’s not technically “alive,” who else can say the same? It’s interesting to see the Candy Kingdom is still intact as opposed to the plant life, considering that Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the Candy People are pretty much entirely made up of the stuff. And what’s the story for Marceline, who is not “alive” fundamentally? It’s probably not worth overanalyzing in too much detail, as it probably isn’t a world that will be expanded much more, but my single headcanon is that NEPTR also survived the extinction, but BMO just pretends he isn’t there like usual. Poor NEPTR, these spin-offs have not been kind to you. BMO’s sole friend that we hear her talk about is Jerry, a character I wasn’t really sure I knew what they were going to do with. Again, my working theory was that the Jerry from HR McGuffin back in the first two episodes was somehow going to tie into this twist, but eventually I just figured Jerry was going to be a figment of BMO’s imagination. That was maybe a bit too elementary of a guess, because I got slapped in the fuckin’ face over that Lich reveal!

Honestly, similar to BMO, I’m always surprised at how much I’m delighted by a Lich appearance. Like, by the time Whispers aired, I was pretty tired of his character because his appearances no longer felt very “weighty” to me. He started out being the most intimidating baddie in any animated series, but by the end of it, he was feeling more and more like a glorified villain of the week. This was the same with Together Again , where most of the horror was shed, but Ron Perlman’s delivery, the dialogue they gave him, and the way it worked as kind of a bookend for Finn and Jake’s journey as a whole roped me in. Now with Jerry and the way he actually somewhat develops in the next episode, I think I’m back on the Lich train fully. Granted, I still think he should probably be retired from this point onward, but this is the first time in years I actually feel like we’re learning something about the character. Whispers more so utilized his presence to build on Sweet P’s character, while Together Again simply features him as a final boss of the sorts. Jerry shows the Lich in a bit of a different light, as he has lost the drive in his goal to end all life, seemingly succeeding in his efforts for the most part. It’s pretty similar to the state we saw him in throughout Wake Up , where he operates with no purpose when he cannot carry out his primary function. Here, however, it seems like it’s more of an active choice on his part? It’s kind of easy to forget that the Lich’s autopilot isn’t just to destroy everything in his path – his titular episode back in season four had him scheming and manipulating to carry out his duties, which implies that there is some level of conscious decision making on his part. I didn’t really ever need the Lich to be fleshed out, because part of what makes him cool is that he’s shrouded in such quiet terror. But the added mysticism of his role in the universe does help to continue to expand the world of Adventure Time beyond its humble roots. And how cool is it that this is the wish world that was created in Finn the Human ?? I love how nuanced that detail is, in a way that I didn’t even realize it on my first watch (though the whole “wearing Billy’s dead skin” thing should’ve been a dead giveaway). Also, I absolutely adore the fact that BMO has clearly been braiding Lich Billy’s beard, because it wasn’t like that the last time we saw him in this condition. So cute… I think?

In fact, we get A LOT of cosmic expansion in Jerry . A whole other chunk of the episode takes place in a dimension filled with other worldly beings, namely Orbo, who has put Scarab on trial. Orbo is voiced by David McCormack, most known for his role as Bandit on Bluey , a show I’ve watched way too much of for someone in their late 20’s with no children. McCormack does a great job of breathing life into the character, and he’s animated super well. I thought it had to have been Nick Cross that did the individual animation for facial expressions, and lo-and-behold, it was! It’s super cool that Cross is always around for whenever a visual bump is needed in the series. I do love the continued theme that most cosmic entities are just party dudes trying to have a good time and don’t really pay too much mind to being sticklers for the rules. Scarab is the exception of course, but I do think there is a bit of sympathy lent to him in this one. He’s of course a total buzzkill and seems hyper-focused on something that everyone agrees isn’t really a big deal, but he also seems like the only person in this realm who is attempting to do their job properly. I also love all the background deities we see in this one, most of which were designed by Steve Wolfhard. I love the one with two heads intersecting in Venn diagram fashion, but my favorite has to be the God lard. I need an entire season of F&C about his story.

This is probably the best looking episode of the season as well. I love the way color and light really erupt within the confines of the cosmic realm, carrying on a lot of the visual identity we’ve seen from both Prismo and Cosmic Owl’s domains. I’ve talked a bit about the backgrounds, but haven’t given proper due to those who have put the effort into breathing life into them. Jesse Balmer played a big role in the visual development of the season, having worked on the last chunk of AT and did a bunch of stuff for Distant Lands . A lot of the concepts for landscapes in this one came from Balmer (mainly the dilapidated grass lands) while a team of BG designers also chipped in. Jarrod Prince, Craig Bowers, Udo Jung, and Nicholas Maniquis are are credited for design work on this one, each having a unique portfolio within the industry, with Maniquis even dipping his toes in Natasha Allegri’s other project, Bee and Puppycat . I really love the eerie look of Ooo that contrasts the vibrant colors within the cosmic realm; I’m using the word “contrast” a lot in this write-up, but there’s so many craftily placed divergences in tone, color, and form in this one that it’s hard to ignore. The way the clouds wrap around like dead vines while the sun beats down in inconsistent rays makes for an ugly bit of solemnity that really carries out the bleak tones it’s going for. This is an episode that is pretty light on score during the actual scenes in Ooo, and I think it’s all the better for it. I don’t mean it as another diss towards the soundtrack, but the hollowness of it all is only benefited by how infrequently music cues support it.

And talk about hollow – BMO fucking dies in this one! If it was any other show, her sacrifice would’ve given the main characters the necessary tools to move forward in their journey, but no, she just straight up dies in a pretty gruesome way and the main crew is none the better for it. The funeral scene is genuinely impactful – even though the BMO we know is fine in the mainline universe, it doesn’t shy away from the fact that her demise DID make an impact on Fionna and Cake, and probably more so to Simon, who didn’t know if he’d ever see the “real” BMO again. It has one of my favorite Tom Kenny line readings from the series, when Simon defeatedly utters, “farewell, you little miracle…” That shit HURT. Of course, Simon’s own state of mind begins to unravel a bit more in this one. It’s clear to everyone around him (well, actually just Fionna) that turning back into the Ice King is something that would essentially destroy his mind, but Simon still doesn’t seem to care about that reality. Even though he’s been vindicated by the idea that there doesn’t appear to be a healthy way to interact with the crown and that his role in Marceline’s life undoubtedly paved a way for the common good, he’s still more concerned with erasing his current existence and escaping into a mind of incoherence. This fixation on self-destruction, coupled with his incantation spell, throw him right into the realm of GOLB, with the Lich and Scarab not far behind.

Jerry is another excellence episode from the season. I have my qualms with it, though most are on the smaller scale and don’t bog down the stuff that is really, really good. The super glossy, cheery bits intersect perfectly with the harsh realities that are dished out, without them ever feeling like they’re competing with each other. It also feels like a good penultimate culmination of a lot of what the season’s individual arcs having been building into, in some ways that kind of surprised me, with Simon forced to question his own stagnant views on his former love life. It’s another episode that moves the plot points forward successfully while never detracting from the unique individuality of the episode itself, immersing us in an alternate reality that is one of the most compelling we’ve seen from the series thus far.

I mentioned the Half Shy song earlier in the review, but a studio version was released that is much longer than what we hear in the episode itself. You can give it a listen here , it’s quite nice! Though, I’m still patiently awaiting the day “Greatly Appreciated” from Min and Marty gets released. Your move, Ashley Eriksson!

Favorite line: “And she could make the best soft-boiled egg! Not runny, but perfectly jammy.”

“the star” review.

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jacob Winkler & Sonja Von Marensdorff

And we’re back!! Was a bit burnt out by Fionna and Cake but the time I got to the sixth episode review, so I figured instead of forcing myself to muster up the inspiration to get through those last few episodes, I’d take time away to do other stuff and eventually return back. Since then, we’ve also gotten some exciting news – the show has been renewed for a second season! Of course, that means I continue to be trapped in a reality where I’m stuck reviewing Adventure Time episodes for the rest of my life, but hey, at least we’ll get to see more of sexy adult Finn probably!! In all seriousness, I do pretty much plan on continuing this gig as long as I have to drive to do it. I definitely don’t have the same passion as I used to – I started this project about 8 years ago now and I could churn out reviews like crazy, now it takes me weeks to complete just one! But I love AT and it will always have a special place in my heart, so it’s always a treat to get to return to it time and time again. And hey, this blog has actually never had more views! I was shocked to see that last year performed better than it ever did during the show’s original run, which is really, really cool to see. Thank you to all the devoted readers over the years, you are appreciated endlessly!

My gushing aside, let’s get to the real MEAT here. The Star takes us through yet another alternate reality of Ooo, and serves as the unofficial spiritual successor to Stakes . I mean unofficial pretty loosely, because they even brought back the tarot naming conventions with “The Star.” I’m not really a tarot expert or anything, but just scanning over explanations online, I can only assume the reversed meaning most directly correlates with Marcy’s portrayal. On The Tarot Guide , specifically with love in mind, the reverse description reads:

“The Star reversed indicates loneliness and lack of faith in the universe’s plan for you. You may be feeling like you will never meet the right person for you. You may feel that you are becoming cynical about love.”

A large chunk of this is an exploration of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship through multiple different iterations, and displaying that, regardless of intent, the passion they share for each other is relatively unchanging. Though Fionna and Cake’s world finds their incarnations in the least toxic of situations, the vampire world features a different type of dependency. Bubblegum has devoted her life to bringing down Marceline and the Vampire King, while Marceline views PB more as a playmate than an actual person. Despite claiming to have zero feelings of affection towards her adversary, PB sure has devoted much of her life around the downfall of said opponent. Even more so than the Vampire King, apparently! Marceline claims that Bubblegum shouldn’t be underestimated, but really, I think she probably could take her out more easily than she lets on. The reason their rivalry spans across so many meetings between the two (enough for Marceline to know that PB’s first name is “Bonnibel”) is because Marcy is restraining herself just a bit in the spirit of fun.

While the Stakes miniseries tackles Marceline’s struggle with feeling as if she can never truly grow as a person, The Star plays with a version of Marceline that never developed out of her childhood worldview. The way she interacts with both PB and the Vampire King prove how infantile her version of connections are, in a way that I don’t think that pain described in the tarot reading is even felt in a conscious way by herself. She only knows how “human” connectedness works from the perspective of a seven-year-old mind, which was likely instantly warped when meeting with the VK. The Vampire King returns once more in this one, with Billy Brown reprising his role. With the amount of tertiary characters that got recasted this season, it’s pretty cool to see they got Brown back, even for such a small role. I do wish he got a biiit more to do, only because Stakes provided us with hints of a really cool character, somewhat squashed it, and then never really did anything with him again. He gets a few neat moments here (namely the scene where VK tries to allure a vulnerable Cake) but is mostly around to drive forward how much Marceline’s motivations have shifted without Simon around.

The episode admittedly has a bit too much fun with Bubblegum and Marceline’s dynamic that it slightly overshadows Simon and Marcy’s connection to each other, but I kind of prefer it that way. There’s a few moments that reinforce how much Simon’s presence had an impact on Marceline’s life, but I didn’t need the whole episode to be devoted around that. We already know that from everything we’ve seen in the series up to this point and it simply serves as an important reminder for Simon when he’s at his lowest, especially considering that he initially figured that Marceline would be fine without him in the flashback shown at the beginning of the season. Although, it was even a bit on-the-nose to have Simon call VK a bad dad, but I like how much of a dork Simon is so I’ll let it pass.

Gary and Marshall continue to be very cute and the entire blood drive event parallel was quite fun. Once again, we’re treated to a lot of different genderbent cameos, this time with a special Jesse Moynihan theme! You’ve got lookalikes of Xergiok, Bandit Princess, Ron James, Magic Man, Maja, Crabbit, Samantha, Tiny Manticore, and even some deep cuts like Gridface Princess, Bella Nocce, and the demon guard. Moynihan’s presence on the show is surely missed, so this is a great little tribute to him (P.S. check out his project Jesus 2 if you haven’t yet!) Along with some other character additions like Eberhardt, Ricardio, and Caroll (did you expect Steve Wolfhard to not bring her back as a genderbent character?) And of course, you have the big reveal of Hunson Abadeer’s counterpart, aptly just as dancey and cruel as her male stand-in. She’s also kind of a baddie! I had to look up who actually voiced her and was surprised to see it’s Erica Luttrell, who portrayed Elise back in Obsidian . A great casting choice, especially since she’s essentially just portraying different versions of Marcy’s mom. Also a nice touch – Tom Kenny voices the male version of Maja, who was portrayed in the original series by his wife, Jilly Talley. Granted, Kenny only has one line of “well!” and I’m sure they just had him do it because he was already in the booth, but I’d imagine at least ONE staff member made the connection.

We’re also treated to some alternate versions of other recurring characters in the vampire world – namely Huntress and Martin. It’s pretty cool how Huntress’s human form is marked only by the lack of there being any source of magic for her with the sun being covered up – though I’d imagine the sun isn’t the only thing that makes her a magic user. It also curious that her name is just “Huntress”; at this point I’m wondering if it’s just a Doctor Princess-esque surname for all of her incarnations. Martin returns once again in a much nobler light. I was kind of wondering what the real purpose was of showing that Martin and baby Finn (who stowed away from baby world) were able to bond together in Martin’s current state. Similar to what I said about Simon and Marcy, we already know that Martin’s capable of showing love under the right circumstances. However, I think this kind of works hand-in-hand with what is being shown between Bubblegum and Marceline: that Martin and Finn have a connection pretty much across all (or most) universes where they coincide. Even in this case, across several universes! It’s interesting to think that such a tumultuous relationship that we’ve come to know is somewhat bound by a strong connections across the multiverse.

We also have the titular alternate reality versions of Bubblegum and Marceline, whose dynamic I’ve spoken heavily about, though not their individual roles. Honestly, while I love how their relationship plays out and parallels the interactions between Marshall and Gary, I don’t love these depictions of the characters that much. I think Bubblegum’s characterization is a little too standard in playing into post-apocalyptic survivalist tropes – it just doesn’t really feel engaging to me when it’s an archetype that I’ve seen across so many different pieces of media, and even then, it’s not an archetype I love in general. I don’t really have a problem with Marceline’s depiction and how it plays into a more childlike version of herself, but I dunno, I don’t really think I like Olivia Olson’s delivery here? It’s a bit too… theatrical? I can’t really articulate what does and doesn’t work for me about the performance, and maybe it’s more so the dialogue that was given to her, but something about it just didn’t jibe with me. Which I know I’m probably gonna get shit for because I’m pretty sure this is the one episode that everyone really got into, but it’s nothing like, awful to me. Like I said, I still really like their dynamic and I do think there’s interesting things to explore with their individual portrayals, namely that Bubblegum still needs to be validated by her own accomplishments and is still vulnerable to deep insecurities beyond her gruff exterior. I just wasn’t swayed by the anime vampire dresses. Sue me!

Oh yeah, and Fionna and Cake are here too! Remember them? I feel bad for anyone that comes to this blog wanting me to whip up paragraphs upon paragraphs of Fionna and Cake’s character journeys, but like, I just don’t have all that much to say! As I’ve mentioned, I don’t think anything with them is especially bad (except for some moments we’ll be exploring in the next episode), but their arcs just kind of speak for themselves and there’s not a ton I feel that is needed to be said that wouldn’t be just reiterating what the episode is showing. You have Fionna feeling guilty in her inability to be able to make a difference through her actions, even when they are out of goodwill, and Cake’s fight for wanting her own autonomy in her new self-sufficient form. It’s all fine stuff, it’s just never something I feel the need to dig deeper into/what I’m particularly drawn to with this season as a whole. Which sounds kind of harsh for a show that’s primarily about them, but I do think each episode comes with its own unique sense of individuality and explores the nature of multiple worlds in a super intriguing way that I don’t really mind that I’m not drawn to them as much! Just be grateful if you’re not a Scarab fan, because I have even less to say about him.

I do mostly dig this one overall, even purely from an aesthetic perspective. It’s got a really great, bleak look to it all, especially in the background department. Which, you think would get less interesting when hopping over the human world, but DAMN, I love the way Hana Abadeer’s stain glass tower looks and really meshes with the gothic tone that the episode is going for. In general, it serves up some very bleak imagery (that the next episode also really excels with) such as vampire world Simon’s lifeless body and, what might be my favorite shot in the entire season, the dead body of Billy with the words “turn back” written on a rock. Quite haunting atmosphere throughout, though I will say, most of the wall writings in this one feel a little lackluster. I live in Philadelphia, so I’m used to seeing super soul-crushing things on bar bathroom walls that could easily rival any graffiti included in a post-apocalyptic landscape. But, as desolate as it feels, the world is also equally as invigorating. The high-adrenaline vampire fight sequences are great, with some really great boarded action, cool Cake transformations, and a solid score to boot. This is probably my favorite of the episodes Amanda Jones scored this season. The track “ Vampire World ,” which was released as part of the official soundtrack, perfectly captures the frantic energy of the scene it’s in and feels like it encompasses a lot of the spirit of what Tim Kiefer brought to the table in the original series.

The Star is another solid one from the season, and though I don’t think I loved it as much as most people did, there’s no denying that it’s a decent amount of fun. Like the few before it, I really enjoy how it plays with the concept of the multiverse, not showing us entirely different versions of the characters we know, but playing around with what makes them tick across pretty much every realm. I was initially kind of opposed to the idea of having all of these major characters show up throughout the season, because I wanted the franchise to evolve out of needing them to tell stories. But I think exploring these different looks into their lives are insightful not only for themselves as individuals, but for the scope of the world as a whole.

This episode’s little staff tidbit comes from Derek Ballard, who whipped up some concept designs for vampires and Marceline’s second outfit in this episode, which can be seen here . Ballard boarded a few episodes during the run of the original series ( Breezy and Nemesis ) and also created some of my favorite title cards in the entire show for Betty , Wake Up , Breezy , and Nemesis . It’s great to see another alum back, and even greater that one of his designs did make it into the episode! Sorry I was dissing on the anime dresses earlier!

Favorite line: “How could you bring a child into this world?”

“the winter king”.

Original Airdate: September 14, 2023

Written & storyboarded by: jim campbell, lucyola langi, iggy craig, graham falk & nicole rodriguez.

Of all the Fionna and Cake episodes, The Winter King is probably the most popular of the bunch. For good reasons – it’s a ton of fun! Almost deceptively fun because there’s a ton going on beneath the surface. It’s always interesting when we get to see the perspective of someone else under the crown’s influence along with the additional information we can gather about its power. Despite that sounding like a mostly bleak concept, The Winter King makes for a thoroughly entertaining exploration while still proving that there’s really no “good” relationship with the crown.

This one has a subplot that takes up the other half of it, so I’ll go ahead and cover all the Winter King stuff and then talk about the Gary and Marshall Lee stuff. The Winter King returns after his brief dream debut in Fionna Campbell , and I wonder if his presence accounts for the fact that Fionna and Cake naturally have more of a connection to the multiverse in their subconscious because they are Prismo’s creation. The connection between the Winter King can be made because they are stored in Simon’s brain, but the way that the Winter King is able to present himself, even without Simon being able to perceive his presence, is because of their thinly veiled ties to the macrocosm. But it’s also interesting because the Winter King scene in Fionna’s dream is clearly a different design and voice entirely, making me wonder if there is indeed another Winter King lurking in the multiverse or if it’s a result of Fionna’s own projections of what she personally wants to see from him. Generally, those projections seem to be true at first, as the Winter King presents himself as a noble hero figure that is not plagued by the powers of the crown. At first, this seemed like a cool way to explore the possibility that the crown may not be limited to only causing suffering to its host. This contradicts the already established idea that magic users inherently struggle with levels of madness and sadness, and when it derives from one of the most magical items in the universe, it’s hard to believe that the crown’s power could be subverted in such a drastic way. One that, of course, makes Simon feel instantly inferior. It’s difficult to watch him struggle with the idea that his suffering with the crown is the fault of his own, but hard to not get swept up by the charisma of Winter King’s character at the same time. Brian David Gilbert does such a great job at instilling an immediate charm into the character that feels both convincing while simultaneously being cartoonishly over-the-top.

Even in the midst of his glamour, there’s clear signs that Winter King may not be the generous hero that he paints himself to be. For starters, he never really offers direct answers as to how he overcame the debilitating powers of the crown, only alluding to overly-simplified non-answers that really don’t enlighten Simon to the possibility of solutions. Most notably, of course, is Winter King’s deflection when it comes to discussing Betty. Despite WK’s life mirroring Simon’s up until the point he gained independence from the crown’s power, he barely acknowledges Betty’s presence, referring to her only as “the dead one.” I do wonder if this is part of WK’s method of deflecting his pain and sorrows outward instead of stomaching those emotions on a conscious level or if this additionally can be factored into Simon’s later inflections about his own relationship (spoilers for future episodes, so skip ahead to the next paragraph if you need). Simon later has to confront the idea that he may have been putting his relationship on a pedestal in way that made him avoidant to the possibility of self-reflection. It seems that Winter King may have taken what is generally a reasonable level of self-centeredness and has let that engulf him to the point where he isn’t interested in even exploring parts of his past self. That is, with the exception of Marceline, who now has an ice version of her child likeness. Considering it is a more childlike interpretation, I’d guess that Marceline must have rebelled or abandoned Simon at some point and he created an ice version companion that wouldn’t/couldn’t betray him, especially because if she does, she’s ice. It’s fucked up, and even more fucked up that she ends up MELTING by the end of it.

But Winter King does offer a chance to explain himself to Simon… through song! A guest animated song sequence, no less! The Smallbu Animation team returns to the show once more, this time boasting their most impressive effort. I really enjoy their contributions for Beyond the Grotto and Ketchup , but they were either permitted a lot more freedom, were compensated more graciously, or simply have evolved as a studio over time, because MAN is this whole sequence gorgeous. It boasts the usual Smallbu hallmark of having jittery, pencil thin line art, but it’s the colors and the choreography that really elevate it to masterful levels. The painterly, Christmas-like backdrops look especially gorgeous, incorporating these really lush textures and beautiful details, like the reflections of house lights and character outlines off the icy lake. It’s worth giving additional kudos to Nicole Rodriguez who boarded the entire sequence; there’s so many great camera angles that Rodriguez incorporates in, such as the entire sled segment or Winter King’s skate tricks. The whole thing feels conscientiously planned out, with SmallBu’s animation complementing the boards to the best of their abilities. The song sequence is additionally phenomenal, written by Pat McHale and performed elegantly by Brian David Gilbert. Had no idea we’d be getting more than one McHale song this season, let alone two in the same episode! In an interview, Adam Muto referred to this episode as being similar in tone to a Rankin-Bass special, and I think that really checks out – the overly hammy characters, the expositional musical numbers, and the sparkly Christmas imagery. Could see it being factored in as a pseudo-Christmas special for the franchise as a whole.

But a Rankin-Bass special isn’t complete without a comical villain, and that’s where the Candy Queen comes into play. I don’t know if I’ve seen ANY Adventure Time character blow up as quickly as she has in terms of popularity. I guess you could throw Huntress Wizard as well, though she had multiple appearances to help build on her underground popularity. As far as one-off characters go, Candy Queen is easily one of the most of the franchise’s most beloved, though we’ll see if that popularity lasts the test of time. As for me, I quite like her as well! It should be a given, but I often kind of forget just how impressive Hynden Walch is as a voice actor. Up until Candy Queen starts singing, I truly was not sure if it was Walch performing or if they got someone else for the part. Walch clearly has a blast with the role, mirroring Tom Kenny’s performance as Ice King to a seamless degree while still making it her own thing. I know she played Harley Quinn in some Batman animated iteration years ago, and I figured her performance in that would be very similar to what she brought to the table here. But when I looked it up, I think she even channels something pretty different for Harley Quinn as well! This was really a defining moment in recognizing how much her energy can really take on a life of its own without even changing her voice that drastically.

The Candy Queen’s character is equally a blast. I love the persona flip, along with the added bonus that PB possessing the powers of the crown perhaps makes her even more crazy than Simon was. PB’s character already has an established struggle with harming others under the guise of authority or for scientific research, and her counterpart has that same mad-brain that allows her to conduct schemes and machinery that Ice King could never even fathom to complete. It is interesting to see the slight differences between how their crazy operates; I wonder if it’s part of the crown’s nature to anchor onto the negative aspects of the individual wearer and cause them to flare severely. Like, we’ve seen what Simon’s like when he’s under stress – dude just drinks beer and sloshes around in a self-pitying stupor. It’s really not that different than how Ice King operates on a day-to-day basis, outside of the sheer madness element. It seems Candy Queen as a character is still continuously desperate for the need to control others and have her kingdom thriving, as it seemingly is. Though, it does make me wonder one thing – I kinda figured that the crown didn’t MAKE Ice King desperately horny for women, but rather that he somehow misinterpreted down the lines that he needed to rescue his “princess.” Candy Queen seems similarly obsessed with IK in the way IK was for her, but would this mean that the crown inherently causes this type of desperation in its user? I guess you could argue that Winter King projected his individual madness onto PB as opposed to the crown’s magic itself. Also, maybe Winter King is just that hot. Also, also, I totally believe that Winter King is willingly kidnapped by Candy Queen all the time because he’s a sick narcissistic fuck. He probably loves all the attention and getting rescued every single week.

McHale’s second song for the episode Baked with Love is additionally superb. Might honestly be the better song over Winter Wonder World ? It lacks the gorgeous supporting animation, but once again, Hynden kills it on the vocal front and adds so much energy that makes the already catchy melody really pop. I additionally love the unsettling inclusion of the wide-mouthed Banana Guards and all of the additions to the dilapidated Candy Kingdom. In general, this is another great episode from a visual perspective, but that’s almost redundant to say at this point in the season. I love all of the unique new designs for inhabitants of both the Ice and Candy Kingdoms like the Ice Clops and the monstrous versions of candy citizens. From the Ice Kingdom’s perspective, they didn’t really need to reinvent the wheel with its inhabitants since the kingdom is really only relegated to animal life and the occasional cryptid, so it’s nice to see all of these luxurified citizens added to the equation. I thought for sure the Ice Scouts were supposed to be some riff on the rollerblading characters we saw iterations of in the first two episodes, but I’m not sure that’s the case. They’re very cute, regardless! There’s also that really fucked up looking hairless penguin that I want to know more about.

Fionna and Cake also get some fun stuff to do. Well, Fionna mostly – there’s a bit of Cake’s resentment towards her continuing to build which eventually comes to a boiling point in the eighth episode, but we’ll get to that when the time comes. I like Fionna’s little journey in this one, getting really into the thrills of taking on a hero role, but being forced to confront her own actions when she realizes that it’s not all just a simulation. It’s a good exploration of putting her own selfishness in place and letting her naturally begin to make more decisions that are conscious to the feelings of others from this point on. But really, it is just fun watching her act in a way that is very similar to how Finn perceives adventuring to be in his own life. A lot of what goes on here is very much like a Dungeon Train scenario, in how much Fionna is enthralled by battling miscellaneous bosses in an effort to quell her own suffering. And like that episode, it’s also got great loot (so nice seeing a new sword, the ice sword design is sleek!) and is just funny to watch Fionna get so enmeshed in murdering Candy People. Love when she gets wide-eyed about “action stuff,” it’s probably the most she feels like Finn’s counterpart all season.

Of course, her fun takes a turn when she inadvertently removes the magic from the Winter King’s crown, similar to how Cake did this with a Hot Dog Knight back in Cake the Cat . It’s probably the most morbid onscreen death we’ve seen so far from the franchise (though not all that different from Old Man Prismo’s death) and it makes me wonder why the same thing didn’t happen when the crown’s power was removed from Simon back in Betty . I think the obvious answer is that it’s just for dramatic effect, and really not any particular way I can personally theorize around it. But it works, and as I mentioned earlier, the shot of the melted Marcy child is wild. The twist that reveals PB was under the Winter King’s spell the entire time was certainly a surprise, and I love Simon feeling vindicated that he isn’t simply weak for falling under the control of the crown. There’s really no way out of it unless that energy is projected onto another person – at least, that’s what we know for now. Didn’t mention it earlier but I also love Simon’s general affection and support for Candy Queen despite her insanity, it’s so sweet that he empathizes with her.

Alright, so we got all that out of the way, now it’s GaryLee (I think that’s the name of their ship?) time babies!! In a nutshell, I think that they’re very charming together. I don’t think any of the stuff with Fionna and Cake has been bad so far this season, but I’ve struggled to find a focal point in really caring about the human world that they’re leaving behind. That is until this episode – I think Gary and Marshall Lee hitting it off not only helps bring to light Fionna’s selfishness in wanting the world to be altered in her vision, but is also just very genuinely endearing on its own. So much of the original series, and even Distant Lands , has focused on the somewhat tumultuous aspects of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship. It’s nice to have a glimpse into their relationship that is fully committed to showing what makes them work. That’s not to say that the series has never emphasized these elements, because I think Obsidian and even episodes like Varmints or Broke His Crown do just that, but The Winter King breaks it down into very simplistic terms. At the beginning, it plays into their polar opposite personalities, being Gary’s by-the-book attitude and Marshall Lee’s laidback, often anarchistic nature. But soon, this blossoms into a mutually beneficial sharing of worldviews. Marshall values Gary’s commitment to bringing his own dreams to life while Marshall’s spontaneity helps Gary get out of his own desire for monotony. I especially like how the conflict that comes from this, being Marshall calling the Lemoncarbs without letting Gary know, doesn’t instigate drama between the two and instead is used for a quiet moment of open communication. I also really love how their part in the episode wraps up with Gary conceiving of Slumber Party Panic ‘s plot through a vision of his pastry menschen. The continued sprinkled bits of ideas that aspects of the multiverse exist merely as ideas in the minds of “lower” beings is really cool to me, I would love to see that expanded on with the other cosmic characters at some point in a future series.

The episode caps off with a baby world version of Ooo, which seems like the team picked the gimmickiest idea they could think of for an alternate universe and decided to tack it onto an episode just for fun. It’s cute, though it somewhat bothers me that there’s a baby version of the Lich just hanging out in the open. I kinda like that idea that the Lich would exist as just himself in every single universe that he’s in and is not impacted by the conditions of said universe, but I guess that a whole baby universe wouldn’t really be able to exist in that case! Might’ve just made more sense to leave him out of the equation. The episode caps off with Simon comforting Fionna over all the fucked up things they just witnessed as the two continue to develop their friendship. I mentioned that I’m still getting a feel for the newer board artists, but Lucyola Langi has the most immediately recognizable style in my eyes. She boards the last six or so minutes of the episode and those massive pupils are what really make her touch identifiable and definitely instills a lot of inherent cuteness in the characters. Also, noticed a classic Falk monobrow when Gary throws a shirt on the bed around the 7 minute mark.

The Winter King is easily one of the strongest of the season; it’s fun, has an interesting exploration of the crown’s power, great character moments, beautiful animation, terrific songs, and great voice work to boot. Like I said before, it’s easy to see why this one caught everyone’s eye, and I think the joy of the experience can’t be understated. It’s been a while since Adventure Time has been able to let its silliness unfold properly, either because its wrapped up in more serious stories or has struggled to recapture the weirdness of the past. The Winter King doesn’t lean too, too far on the odd spectrum, but it shows that both the fun and intrigue of the series can coexist in one outing, which is balance that AT has become so recognized for. And in general, I commend the season for managing to have a continuing story while still allowing each episode to have its own self-contained feel. It’s something that I feel serialized shows have really struggled with, and even AT did to an extent towards its original run. It’s part of why I think Fionna and Cake works so well, because each episode is able to be looked at and remembered for its own unique attributes.

Another Steve Wolfhard tidbit! Wolfhard created an outline for characters that would appear in the baby universe, mainly basing them off season one characters, which can be seen here . Some of them made it in, like the baby Jiggler, baby Ricardio, baby Magic Man and other recurring and major characters (baby Lady is especially cute!). Though it would’ve been cool to see some of the rarely seen denizens of Ooo make it in, like baby Gut Grinder or baby Head Marauder. Side note: Wolfhard was the supervising director for this episode, and I love whenever you can tell that he chimed in with a drawing. The shot where the main Lemoncarb cracks her knuckles has Wolfhard written all over it, wrinkles and all.

Favorite line: “Nonsense! You looked ugly.”

“destiny” review.

Written & Storyboarded by: Jacob Winkler, Sonja von Marensdorff, Hanna K. Nyström & Anna Syvertsson

One of the promises of Fionna and Cake that I was perhaps the most skeptical about was the incorporation of multiverse elements. The multiverse has become a staple of pop culture in recent years and it’s growing a bit tiresome seeing every genre of content trying to adopt it for storytelling opportunities. It’s easy to see the appeal of the concept, because it does allow for generally limitless storytelling that doesn’t have to be grounded in any sense of logic or reality. But in most examples, it’s utilized for gimmicks more than anything. Even in stuff I like, such as the Spider-Verse movies, it’s a concept that very easily defaults to cameo opportunities from other parts of the franchise or absurdist additions that don’t really add anything outside of being comical. I didn’t want Fionna and Cake to default to hopping from one world to next, visiting a Steven Universe world or meeting a Lego version of Finn. However, it isn’t entirely fair to harp on Adventure Time for necessarily jumping on the bandwagon when the multiverse was apart of its lore far before it became a hot topic – they even beat Rick & Morty to the punch! It’s additionally very reassuring that they incorporate it into Fionna and Cake in a way that feels very meaningful and is actually one of the stronger elements of the season as a whole.

The cold open for Destiny is pretty cool. I like how much Farmworld Finn’s presence is set up in this one. Farmworld prior to the ruling of “The Snowman” felt like an early modern countryside of simple folk that didn’t interact with supernatural elements at all. This beginning paints a similar reality, with the implication that the citizens remained skeptical and on the opposing side of magic, only now it’s evolved into a dystopian, anarchistic landscape. More on that in a bit.

Jumping right into where last episode left off, Simon reveals his plans to help make Fionna and Cake’s world magic again by finding the crown and performing the GOLB ritual once more. It’s clear to see that the events of last episode have put Simon in a state of rejection of his own self, as he seems no longer willing to accept his current place in life. Once again channeling into the themes of addiction, Simon craves his previous life being under the power of the crown, even if it means that he’ll be out of his mind. At least he’ll be numb to whatever pain he’s currently experiencing and won’t have to deal with his issues on a conscious level. Simon justifying using the crown to save Fionna and Cake also isn’t that different from how he used the crown to save Marceline. I have a feeling that, more than just Simon’s own nobility, the power of the crown is tempting enough for Simon that he’s able to make those justifications. Of course, he would never use it if it meant Marceline would be in any real danger, hence him leaving her at the beginning of Everything Stays , but he’s willing to take those chances most of the time because he’s allured to its magic abilities. The same can be said here – with how much he feels purposeless in his own skin, it’s not hard to reel him back in. Even though he knows it’s bad for him and that it will completely change him as a person, it’s a reality he’s willing to accept because at least it will benefit the lives of others. It’s a noble act in theory, but does have a layer of self-centeredness behind it. Simon’s not really thinking about the lives he may hurt if he does start using the crown again, including Marceline, who would end up being left in the dark to a decision being made behind the scenes. Nor is he really thinking about the other lives it would impact in Fionna and Cake’s world, something that Fionna herself is guilty of.

I like all the continued banter between Fionna, Cake and Simon. I mentioned before, but I’m a sucker for all of the cat gags this season has churned out, and Cake bringing Fionna the dead mouse thinking that she loves it is right up my alley. Fionna and Simon’s relationship becomes a lot more fun with Destiny as well. They didn’t really get a ton of time to work off of each other last episode because so much was being thrown at the viewer, so seeing them both work off of each other was nice. I like how she kinda treats Simon like a cringey stepdad that doesn’t understand social cues. Like when he won’t shut the fuck up about Greek mythology at a stranger’s dinner table and Fionna comes back at him with, “dude, what are you talking about?” Simon gets his own bit of sass in though, when Fionna mistakes him for a doctor. He’s an antiquarian, dammit! It’s all fun stuff, and appreciate any time the episode takes to slow it down a bit. There’s some nice moments where Fionna and Cake also banter around at the beginning while looking for loot to steal. The slow pacing of the season up to this point has kind of felt drawn out, but I like that we do get these small moments to breathe in the midst of the ball rolling. Helps it stay with that Adventure Time feel. Oh yeah, also, Scarab’s back again! He does some stuff in this one, but it’s mostly not noteworthy. A bunch of people online were all horned up over his human design, which was fine. He also tinkers around with Prismo’s Time Room and I like the oozing, pink plasma that seems to control synthetic channels to the multiverse. That’s pretty much all I have to say about Scarab in this episode.

The exploration of the Mad Max evolved Farmworld is a blast. I love the designs of the citizens, mostly based on concept art by Michael DeForge, Steve Wolfhard and Delfina Pérez Adán, who previously provided animation work for Distant Lands . I also like all the bits of absurdity sprinkled in; the longshot of the boy on stilts stealing the tire for the car that merges with a much larger vehicle was great, and I like how there’s bits like the chicken man that don’t even make sense in-universe. Like, what got him into this position? Also, this is the first time I’m realizing that the human who notices Cake’s powers is a Farmworld version of Chet! That’s gotta be the most casually sprinkled in cameo of the season. Though, with every episode, I feel like there’s another one that I missed, so we’ll see if I’m still saying that by the end of it. We’re soon reintroduced into The Destiny Gang, whom I was delighted to see again! They really don’t get too much to do that’s funny or interesting and mostly just drive forward the conflict of the episode, though they get a few funny lines in, namely, “he died doing what he loved – trying to ride alligator like horse!”

Most of the episode is more focused on Big Destiny’s kin, introducing us to Little Destiny, who probably has the only design I don’t like out of these gaggle of characters. I dunno, whenever Adventure Time constructs characters using more realistic anatomy and detailed facial features it doesn’t really work a whole lot for me. It kinda reminds me of that lamp from Friends Forever – I think it’s the pronounced lips more than anything. In general, I’m not too captivated by Little Destiny’s role in the episode and her connection to a certain blonde boy, who we’re introduced to shortly after this season’s umpteenth Choose Goose appearance thus far. We’re also treated to a weird little jab from Big Destiny’s other child about wanting to cut Fionna’s nose off, but somebody beating him to the punch. Is this factoring in that dumb theory Pen Ward himself had early on in the series about Ooo’s humans being mutated by having no nose and beaded eyes?? Adam was a pretty vocal critic of this theory back on the commentary of the early seasons, so it might have been a nod to that little debacle. Or even just implying that Farmworld citizens have big ass noses in general.

The aforementioned blonde boy leads our crew to what is believed to be Farmworld Simon, but we get something so much more beautiful: Repressed Adult Farmer Finn™!! This is where my inner fanboy is able to come out and thrive – I LOVE this version of Finn. Going back to my first statement about how the season utilizes the multiverse to the best of its abilities, I like how much ongoing commitment there is to showing that these versions of the main characters essentially are the main characters, just under a different set of circumstances. It’s kind of playing off of what the original series did with Fern, who was just a carbon copy of Finn that was launched in an entirely different direction because of situational experiences. Only this seems to play around with the idea that the nature of our characters is relatively the same throughout each universe, but the nurturing differs almost entirely. Farmworld Finn was given a second chance by Prismo at the end of Crossover , but it’s clear that this wasn’t necessarily a happy ending for him. The impact of the crown left him with psychological scars, as the Finn we see here is far from the almost cluelessly joyful Finn we saw only episodes earlier.

Even outside of a psychological perspective, Farmworld Finn has appears to have chosen (or fallen into) a more traditional path by having lots of children and playing the role of a strong, stoic provider. Lots of people have noted that the 12 or so year time skip would mean that Finn had to have gotten someone pregnant when he was 16 or 17. I don’t think this is that crazy for a world that seems riddled in early modern culture and on top of that, we already know Finn is a horny devil. This is true across every part of the multiverse, especially when he has a dose of trauma under his belt. But yeah, I love his design and all his dialogue is crafted so perfectly. He gets to throw out great antiquated lines like, “I don’t truck with magic,” and, “be gone at first light.” It also can’t be understated how great Jeremy Shada’s performance is – I almost didn’t recognize him at first! Having Shada deepen his voice to sound gruffer is something that could easily feel forced but I think he pulls it off tremendously. He’s old enough at this point that he can channel more baritone inflections without it feeling beyond his scope. When he snaps at Simon for wanting to seek out the crown, the anger in his voice is really felt. And even beyond a speaking role, FW Finn has some really great silent moments where you truly get to experience his life in a nutshell; I love the way he notices how concerned his children are after he lashes out and quickly collects himself to not upset them further, and later when he quietly stares into the fireplace, troubled by the insanity of his past. It’s both a great way to help explore his trauma while also tying back into the delusions that Simon is convincing himself of. Though Ice King probably never brought a level of damage akin to what “The Snowman” did, the impact of the crown and the general madness that it causes is played with a level of absoluteness here, in a way the season would continue to support.

Speaking of Finn’s kids, the names “Jay” and “Bonnie” return after being introduced in Puhoy ! This was a nice little detail that may even build on the concept that the Pillow World was, indeed, part of the multiverse. It makes me wonder just how many instances there are in the series where the potential of a wormhole opening is implied – I think Puhoy is a key-in for the most notable example. Farmworld Bonnie is especially cute, which also makes me wonder if there is a Farmworld equivalent to Bubblegum. I like to think that there may not be, or if there is, Finn may have never even crossed paths with her. Finn just named his child that because somewhere in his being he knew he liked that name, which is a concept I think is neat. He also has a gaggle of additional unnamed children, some of which possess features similar to Huntress Wizard’s human forms seen throughout the season (green eyes, red hair). I don’t know how down I am with the continued exploration of Finn and HW’s relationship to the point where she is his soulmate across multiple universes. I liked how the show ended not really focusing on who Finn “ended up” with, because having him settle down at 17 always felt a lil weird. I guess if I really want to tie up the continuity I established with FW Finn getting a girl pregnant at an early age, maybe he met up with her in a similar way to their Ooo counterparts’ meeting in Flute Spell , only they actually consummated it. I guess her role as Finn’s wife is still up in the air because she seemingly passed away in Farmworld, but I think the hints speak for themselves. Even with how much Farmworld Finn has lost, it’s sweet that FW Jake is still kicking. I have no idea how this ancient pooch has lasted so long – it’s possible that Finn got him later on in his childhood as opposed to having him early on, so he’d be around 15 or so now. I think he probably just lives a chill ass countryside life and gets fed well with lots of pets, which is enough to make my god damn heart melt.

Jay is the most prominent of the Mertens family in this episode, and I’m mostly lukewarm on his presence. He’s involved in this star-crossed lovers’ romance with Little Destiny, which I guess adds a level of stakes for the episode? I dunno, I feel like they already had a decent amount of tension going with the fact that they have the Destiny Gang wanting to abolish magic and Scarab after them at the same time. I’m not really sure how their relationship adds to the episode or the season as a whole – I guess they claim their own destiny (no pun intended) in a way that supports what Fionna, Cake, and Simon are also striving for. Still, I don’t find them super engaging as characters and their bits are pretty standard Romeo & Juliet fodder. They even have Cake working off of them by kind of making fun of their whole shtick, but it’s played pretty straight otherwise. Still, it was all worth it to see Farmworld Finn break out a fuckin’ flamethrower arm and set Destiny Gang members on fire. Man does not fuck around! The breakneck pace of the last few minutes are solid: Cake trying to stretch out but still struggling to use her powers is fun; I love Big Destiny’s lashy, perfect eyes when he has his glasses broken; the final confrontation between Scarab and Farmworld Finn is greatly executed, with an impactful curb stomp that had plenty of people questioning whether FW Finn was killed. I don’t really think that’s what they’re going for, but who knows. I feel like the way the rest of the season pans out leaves me believing this probably isn’t the case and it’d be lame as hell if Finn in ANY universe was taken out in such an unceremonious way. This farm boy needs to go down in flames! Also, I didn’t know where else to add this in, but does anyone have any thoughts about Simon mentioning that the crown smells like freshly cut grass? I guess it could just be a throwaway line, but it felt too random to be that. Haven’t seen any theories otherwise, though.

That blabbering aside, I dig Destiny . It works with the multiverse concept to the best of its ability by helping expand the show’s characters beyond just the conditions of Ooo. A looong time ago in my review of Finn the Human , I criticized the episode for not really capturing the spirit of Finn to the best of its abilities, but Destiny makes it pretty clear that… that’s the point. Finn, and all of these characters, are subject to change based on their surrounding environments, leaving us with fragments of the same characters that have their own unique perspective on life. It’s still the soul-shape of Finn in his Farmworld counterpart’s body (that hilariously hushed “math” proves it), but with a lifetime full of different experiences that allowed him to grow in his own unique way. I also enjoy the idea of focusing on one universe per episode as opposed to having them hop from world to world – it allows for the art direction to really thrive when the environment is able to commit to one core theme. And sprinkled in are some solid bits from Simon, Fionna, and Cake, but did you really expect me not to make this entire review centered around Finn at this point? I never claimed to be nonpartisan.

Fionna and Cake brought back a lot of AT veterans for some freelance work, including Charmaine Verhagen! Verhagen co-boarded Wheels and worked on the series as a storyboard revisionist starting around season 8. Verhagen did some concept art for Destiny character designs, but they didn’t end up making it into the actual episode. A shame, because I really like the withered Jakes she whipped up! You can check out her concept art here .

Favorite line: “Now you two should kiss.”

“prismo the wishmaster” review.

Original Airdate: September 7, 2023

Written & storyboarded by: iggy craig, graham falk, jim campbell & lucyola langi.

I’m glad I took some time to let these episodes sit a bit before jumping in to review them, because there’s A LOT that Prismo the Wishmaster dishes out. The entirety of this episode essentially acts as an answer to one of Adventure Time ‘s most unusual questions after the events of the episode Fionna and Cake and Fionna . I previously lambasted that episode as the worst in the series, because it seemed like it was just throwing shit at the fan to try to mystify Fionna and Cake at a point in the series where it felt like they really had no place anymore. Turns out, Fionna and Cake and Fionna was actually setting up an idea that the crew played around with for a while but never really had the time or place to explain it in full detail. According to Adam Muto in an interview with Inverse , Prismo’s introduction in season five naturally came with the idea that he would be the true creator of Fionna & Cake. I do admire the current place AT is at where they can just come back later on and address unopened doors in the past, while continuing to plant seeds for the future. And Prismo the Wishmaster is just that – AT at perhaps its most convoluted, chock full of answers to questions and questions raised from those answers. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.

The episode begins with a neat little cold opening taking place in The Drift from BMO , which also doubles down on this season’s personal goal of having as many Cheers references as they can possibly squeeze in. This one’s mostly just for gag purposes, though it may show that even a cosmic being like Kheirosiphon craves the mundane and simplistic life that Simon and Fionna so vehemently reject. Or maybe it was just to feature an alien version of Norm, which I’m also okay with. This is also the moment we’re introduced to Scarab – the main antagonist for the season. He’s a character that I have pretty lukewarm views on overall; I think Scarab at the very least boasts a cool design and presence in the general worldbuilding of the series. I like his crystal scythe and his little Tamagotchi-esque captor eggs, and I think it’s cool to have some kind of understanding of how cosmic crimes (or what seems to be cosmic misdemeanors in this case) are addressed from an authoritative level. As a character, Scarab’s not really anything to write home about. AT in general has been kind of struggling with villains since the last season of the OG series and I think it just boils down to them never being funny or intimidating enough. Aside from The Lich and rare instances of genuinely threatening baddies (Ricardio’s presence in Lady & Peebles comes to mind or Hierophant in May I Come In? ), Adventure Time villains are kind of supposed to be lame. The idea is always taking a concept that should make for a terrifying villain in any other fantasy series but making them super humanized and pretty mundane. Like, Kee-Oth is a demon that belongs to this super distorted underworld-type dimension but he also takes Pilates classes. Or Hunson Abadeer, the literal ruler of the Nightosphere, who uses karate moves when he’s pissed off at his daughter and vocalizes those exact karate moves when he uses them. There are other villains, such as Lemongrab or Dr. Gross, that have interesting pieces of psychological baggage that make them more engaging, on top of being funny as well. But Scarab just doesn’t really get any committed character depth and isn’t given anything particularly funny to say or do, so he just kind of ends up being a foil. I don’t really totally fault the crew for not taking the time to flesh out this character when there is already so much else going on, but I also wonder why they chose to include him in the first place. I like how his role further explores the presence of cosmic beings in the universe, but any other time he shows up is just kind of a reminder of the stakes of the situation at hand.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself – after the detour in The Drift, we once again see a depressed Prismo shirking his duties in the Time Room. Similar to Choose Goose, it is really funny how committed the staff is to including Wyatt across multiple different iterations. Though, unlike CG, I think Wyatt’s inclusion is much less overdone and it is funny to also see those parallels painted as to how he ended up (and stayed) within the First Dead World (who knows what type of cosmic crimes he committed on his own to get there??) It’s also pretty clear that Prismo gave up caring about the consequences that came with making wishes a long time ago, and honestly, why should he? Wyatt probably would’ve wished for Tree Trunks to rub his shoulders for all of eternity or something, it’s not really the type of wishes that require him to be extra careful and caution. And also, you get the clear idea that not really any other person who has entered that Time Room in years has had any kind of concern or interest in Prismo’s life. Honestly, Jake might’ve been the only non-cosmic being to ever show interest or compassion for Prismo, so it really adds to how much he’s sunk into desolation. Also worth noting is that Prismo has a new voice actor as of this episode, making for another point where I’m just going to divulge into production notes that all of y’all have probably heard already! Prismo’s original voice actor, Kumail Nanjiani, did not return to the role because of a representative of his passing on Nanjiani’s behalf without his knowledge. It is sad because Nanjiani’s reaction on social media shows how legitimately bummed he was by this and how even with how big he’s become, he has a special place for Prismo in his heart. Nanjiani brought so much natural charisma to the character, it’s a performance that will be truly missed. Though it’s not all in vain, because Sean Rohani, who voices Prismo in Fionna and Cake , does a pretty great job taking over! It definitely took some getting used to – I thin even if you sound very much like the actor that you’re replacing, there’s still an adjustment period to the new performance and inflections that impacted my immersion slightly on a first watch. However, watching it again and having seen the whole season by this point, it’s much less noticeable and easier to appreciate what Rohani brings to the table. Also, as many people have mentioned, Prismo being depressed definitely supports Rohani being a bit raspier than Nanjiani was in the role.

I love the little black-and-white sequence that results from Wyatt’s wish. I like that the design of it didn’t immediately jump to rubberhose as a main inspiration point and instead just uses weird, more stylistic interpretations of 20’s designs. Graham Falk boarded the entire sequence, which really gives him a chance to shine with his more expressive style. The animation for the scene was done by Nick Cross, who seems to have been the main source for in-house animation during the entirety of Fionna and Cake . Cross animated the intro for F&C as well and it’s delightful to see energy that he instills to knock an already well-boarded segment out of the park. This is the man who animated the entirety of the Highway Man scene in Over the Garden Wall , after all! It’s also cool because Cross’s work with Falk dates all the way back to when Cross was a storyboard artist on The Untalkative Bunny , so things have really come full circle here.

I mentioned that Cake the Cat felt like it was plodding a bit and held on certain bits that felt like they could’ve been used for other space. Prismo the Wishmaster is definitely an episode the earns its 24 minute runtime and not even because every second is jam-packed with knowledge overload. It does have some little moments of Prismo interacting with Fionna, Cake, and Simon, while still managing to sprinkle in some dialogue that establishes Prismo as the true creator of F&C (more on that in a bit!) We get a few good glimpses as well into what Ooo’s inhabitants are currently up to, though it’s not especially juicy. Kind of odd that Finn has had extensive changes since we last saw him while Huntress Wizard looks exactly the same as she did 10+ years ago in-universe (they even use her pre- Flute Spell model sheet). In fact, everyone in these clips looks like they could use a little time gap update. You mean to tell me Susan is still wearing her same pre-memory jog outfit? I can’t imagine that smells even remotely decently, but good to see her and Frieda are still traveling together. One clear change is that Pep appears to be advancing through wizard school with his pal Blaine. The most jarring change of all, however, is when we see a brief clip of Lemongrab later on, with a… very noticeable voice actor replacement. Justin Roiland has been outed as a big ol’ creep since F&C went into production, but my guess is this news didn’t break until the scene was fully animated or at the very least in the process of final animation taking place. Jinx Monsoon, who provides the voice for genderbent Lemongrab 1, does her best imitation of LG but it REALLY falls flat. Can’t really blame her or the staff for this as it was clearly a last minute decision that had to be made, but man, if Prismo’s voice change altered my immersion slightly, this nuked it on a first watch.

As the episode moves along and we get into Prismo’s introduction to Fionna and Cake, the puzzle pieces start to come together about his connection with the two, along with Simon. Prismo being the true creator of Fionna and Cake is something I’m still kind of grappling with. I think I was much more negative to the idea off the bat, grew a bit more positive to it, and now I’m kind of in neutral territory. I think the main reason it put me off to begin with is that it doesn’t really fully mesh with the timeline that Adventure Time has set up. Fionna and Cake , the episode, takes place two full seasons before Prismo is introduced in Finn the Human , and I wasn’t really satisfied with the theories to combat this, such as how Prismo is omnipresent and seems to exist outside of time. We know that the Time Room itself exists outside of time, but the way that Prismo interacts with Ooo, along with Finn and Jake, seems to at least exist in a linear way with how Ooo perceives time. Even Prismo himself seems to be mourning Jake’s death in a process that meshes with Ooo’s general timeline, so it wasn’t a theory I was willing to roll with. I think the easiest justification for this is that Adventure Time episodes, outside of clear continuity points, don’t really need to be seen as entirely linear storytelling. They’ve even broken this on occasions, with BMO Noire and Princess Potluck occurring on the same day but being a full season apart, or the flashback in Joshua and Margaret Investigations happening without a clear framing device. So, I’m pretty much fine with accepting that this as part of Adventure Time ‘s lore and don’t believe it truly accounts to discontinuity. However, I feel generally mixed about Prismo’s role as the true author. This kind of feels similar to a development like Orgalorg, where the execution of the concept is fun, but the concept itself sort of overly mystifies a relatively simple idea. I liked that Fionna and Cake stories were something that came from Ice King’s obsession for Finn and Jake and that it was actually something he was good at! Ice King couldn’t really constructively do anything worthwhile in his condition, but it was cool to see that Fionna and Cake was the one thing that he actually seemed to pour his heart into and that he gradually accrued a fanbase over time. It’s somewhat of a bummer to me that this small accomplishment was taken away from him, though it depends on how you view creative ideas a whole anyway. I do love the construct that creativity comes from a magic source and is channeled further by peons in an almost spiritual experience, so I don’t reject the mysticism of it entirely. There’s also the implication with how the stories are told that Ice King DOES have some control over the direction on how they are told and that he’s adding his own unique spin to them. It is additionally confusing that Fionna is the central protagonist in all of these stories – wouldn’t it make more sense for Prismo to center them around Jake? Maybe he’s taking their relationship, and Ooo as a whole, and looking at it at a glance, but it’s just strange because Prismo and Finn have never had a very developed relationship. There’s even that dumb line that they included in Hoots where Prismo doesn’t even immediately remember who Finn is – this is the kid you based an entire fanfiction off of?? Though I guess it’s more the fault of that episode than this, so generally speaking, I’m still a bit polarized with my sentiments for this development, though not totally opposed to how it presents itself in the series mythos.

Additionally, some of the lore about wishes being made is cool, namely that wishes only occasionally add to the multiverse and create entirely new dimensions, which supports that Shelby wishing for his GF to have a pony did not in fact create an entire alternate wish universe (a damn shame). Also, this is where we get the hilarious Flapjack cameo, which at this point, I’m all for. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m pretty opposed to any Adventure Time crossover opportunities and I wouldn’t be into the idea of this explored further (as Adam Muto mentioned was an original episode idea), but fuck it, if the multiverse is being explored in detail, I’m fine with a cute little cameo homage to Adventure Time ‘s granddaddy. Also super sweet that they chose an episode and clip that was boarded by Pen Ward himself. We also get the neat little tidbit that Beyond the Grotto ‘s dimension hopping was created by a wish (possibly the Sea Lard’s?) It really only opens up for the possibilities that other instances of guest animation and unique reality jumps, like Pillow World, also factored in multiverse theorem.

It does seem like Ice King’s individual achievements are slowly whittling away from him, though again, I’m kind of fine with this in how it plays into this specific series. Ice King and the crown have been used for a number of different allegories throughout the franchise’s run, and while I’m bummed that the events of Skyhooks II never really further elaborated on Ice King’s existence as an independent being, Fionna and Cake is clearly going for a different take on it. Addiction is a theme that Simon & Marcy briefly toyed around with when dealing with the crown, and it’s the main thematic push that Fionna and Cake often deals with. Simon being left to look at old memories of himself while everyone in the room praises how funny and cool he used to be when he wore the crown feels like an alcoholic being knocked at for becoming sober. Simon knows that the crown was something that completely disconnected him from his humanity, but you really can’t blame him for becoming increasingly pro-magic as the episode continues when everyone around him is making him feel like he doesn’t have worth in his current state. They’re harsh sentiments from Fionna and Cake, though you can’t really blame them entirely either. Simon spends most of the episode at his absolute worst, defaulting to self-blame and general apathy to everything and everyone around him. Almost to the point where you think, yeah, maybe he would be better off as Ice King! He was out of it and often tortured by the powers of the crown, but at least he was often aided by a clueless joy that took away from any of the pain he is currently experiencing. Of course, this is only looking at one side of it, and only further aids the addiction comparison.

The general interactions between the four central characters of this episode are lots of fun. I like Prismo’s growing understanding of Fionna and Cake’s ability to comprehend things outside of the traits he has already given them, such as Fionna’s difficulty wearing shorts and her opinionated responses to the information being divulged to her. I also love Cake’s experimenting with different shapeshifting abilities that often feel like a child’s wobbly sketches as opposed to fully articulated formations. As mentioned, Simon’s general “fuck this” attitude and him chugging beers with Prismo was quite funny, and I loved how unsentimental the foundation of Fionna and Simon’s relationship is. The implication that she’s going to level with him and then smacks him is great, though it does lead to a genuinely somber speech from Fionna. Again, Madeleine Martin (incorrectly referred to her as board artist “Madeleine Flores” in my Fionna Campbell review – my bad!) does a great job at breathing life into the character and makes her entire situation feel dire, as it is.

It’s always fun going on a little detour of the Time Room and its surroundings, as Is That You? established. I like all the added bits of worldbuilding, like the clock titans that help to communicate the construct of time across the multiverse. This seems like an addition that would be important later on, but it ends up just being a cool little tidbit that helps expand the world – even maybe something that could be elaborated on later on! Speaking of which, Prismo’s boss is name-dropped once more after being mentioned in Crossover (didn’t even mention that “crossover” is the official term for overarching pieces of the multiverse, neat!) I won’t go into this now because there’s more little bits we get later on and I don’t want to spoil anything in case someone is reading these episode-by-episode, but I’ll share with y’all my own headcanon about the boss once we get to the end of the season. The whole exploration of the Time Room is a visual treat, expanding on the spiraling cyberspace-esque backgrounds that first appeared in Is That You? The original series didn’t really have the budget for especially rich backgrounds, so Prismo’s Time Room was limited to mainly flat colors and gradients, but we get some cool textural additions to these landscapes that really help it pop. The entire episode is just a treat from the color front – I love the black light colors that emerge when Prismo begins presenting F&C ‘s world to them. The whole episode in general is illuminated by great color choices, I implore you to check out the great color script from background paint supervisor Carolyn Ramirez here . Speaking of staff contributions, I’m starting to recognize new board artist styles a bit more with this episode! I believe Jim Campbell’s contributions chime in when Prismo begins to attempt to hide Fionna, Cake, and Simon from Scarab; his take on Prismo is especially notable, giving him a much rounder head that looks similar to Jesse Moynihan’s take on Prismo in Crossover . Lucyola Langi appears to take over once Fionna and Cake try to escape the Time Room entirely until the end of the episode – her style is notable in just how large the pupils are on each character, perhaps most apparent when Fionna pleads her case to Simon and when F&C ponder how the time remote must work. Kudos to Digamma-F-Wau in the comments for help bringing light to some of these production notes!

Other miscellaneous highlights from this episode include the introduction of Prismo’s Pickle Room; I like how Prismo’s special pickles started from just a one-time gag to now escalate where he has an entire section of his cosmic home dedicated to his pickle storage. I like all the small cameos of cosmic criminals on Scarab’s crystal, including Martin (who is pushing that TV-14 rating with the middle finger inclusion). Any mentions of primordial lore were rad, like the implication that Prismo was chosen to be Wishmaster instead of it just being conceived with his creation. And I think it was easily the funniest portion of the episode when a butt-naked Simon was beamed in, only slightly annoyed at the inconvenience of Prismo summoning him.

Like I mentioned, it’s still one that I’m grappling with from a revelation perspective, but the episode itself is tons of fun. It really gets the ball rolling and kicks the season into full gear, with this being the last bit of set up that moves things forward. Again, it’s always fun that Adventure Time can manage to provide clarity on certain arcs and plot points that feel like they’ve been lost to the wayside, while also committing to making things more convoluted and rich for interpretation in the process. For the most part, that’s kind of how the season operates – digging deeper into certain elements of expansion while also committing to leaving doors open by the end of it. It’s one of the hallmarks of the series that I truly love and I think Prismo the Wishmaster plays around with that in a great way that never bogs down the experience. It’s an episode that easily could’ve been weighed down with its heavy dosage of exposition, but in typical AT fashion, it has the most fun with it that it can.

I’ve kind of exhausted all the production notes I had for this one throughout the blog, so we’ll skip over the footer tidbit this time.

Favorite line: “This is the multiverse, a huge web of all the different realities elegantly connected like an anthill or a camp counselor relationship chart.”

“cake the cat” review.

Written & Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Jacob Winkler, Haewon Lee & Nicole Rodriguez

Cake the Cat follows in the previous two episodes’ method of developing characters that, up to this point, we really didn’t know too too much about. I’d argue that, of the three main characters, the necessity to flesh out Cake beyond what we already know about her from the original F&C episodes feels a bit frivolous. Cake is probably my favorite of the Fionna & Cake bunch up to this point because she was really the only character who immediately set herself apart from her male counterpart; she was sassy, more no-nonsense, and Roz Ryan’s terrific voice presence gave her an immediate sense of charisma. Of course, she also shared some elements of Jake’s personality, mainly that she doesn’t take anything too seriously and is often there to lighten up the mood when things get too heavy. In that sense, she already kind of established herself early on where the rest of the F&C cast of characters were kind of left with fragments of personality and depth that were most left unchecked. So, with that being said, I don’t think spending extra time on giving Cake her own arc in this story is entirely necessary. Of course, she has some nice moments of development throughout the season, but I think what really made her work in these ten episodes is just whenever she just offered moments of comedic relief.

Before gettin’ into Cake stuff, there’s a brief little precursor to the episode I’ll tackle. We see Prismo once more, only this time he’s very clearly depressed. I really like all the small moments of Prismo mourning Jake’s loss – it’s all very understated moments of grief that really paint how much of an impact Jake had on Prismo’s life. And it’s even sadder to wonder just how long this has been going on, though it’s still unclear of when exactly Jake kicked the bucket. The clip of Finn and Jake at the Bird Temple has questionable implications, namely that Finn got the tattoo of his brother before he died. I think that idea is pretty dumb, so my current headcanon is that this must be an alternate universe where Jake survives, but Finn ends up getting the tattoo anyway. I’ve seen the idea thrown around that the tattoo could’ve been the result of Finn losing a bet to Jake, which I think is relatively unsentimental, but I could get behind it if only Finn was super happy about losing said bet. Like, he doesn’t even care, because he’s like, “hey, I get to have my favorite person on my chest forever!” I think that would be pretty sweet. The little sequence itself of their adventure feels similar to the pretty surface-level quest we see at the beginning of Together Again , though it has some neat little additions. I like how the temple itself seems to be partially based on Ghostshrimp’s design for a Bird Temple from the scrapped season one episode The Helmet of Thorogon and the cockatykes on copter-trikes does feel like a very AT -specific concept. Seeing Jakesuit again is also fun, though I feel like it’s reaching the point of oversaturation after appearing pretty recently in Together Again . You can’t just throw the Jakesuit around willy-nilly, it’s for special occasions!

As mentioned, the rest of the episode mainly focuses on Cake exploring Ooo and discovering her own self. It’s a lot of moments that, in my opinion, mostly feel unnecessary to explore. Like, was the exposition of Cake trying different size-altering fruits and acknowledging that she enjoys shapeshifting something that we needed to see happen? Or even her feeling at home with the magic surrounding her, only to be ganged up against by the very beings that made her feel inspired? I feel like most of what is established here can be cooked into Cake obtaining her magical abilities in the following episode without much having been lost. AT often got flack for jamming too much into the span of 11 minute episodes during its original run. While there are definitely instances where that is the case, and there are ways that the added runtime in Fionna and Cake helps stories to flourish, there are instances where these 25 minute episodes tend to overexplain and spend a little too much time trying to set things up. This is of course most noticeable at the beginning of the season, and I really feel like moments from this episode could’ve been baked into the first one, which also was paced a bit awkwardly. Again though, this is coming from someone who was less enthralled by the Fionna and Cake world in general and was more interested in Simon’s plight and the exploration of different Ooo-like worlds. There arguments for keeping this episode the way it is, with how it establishes Cake and Fionna’s relationship and Cake’s feelings of wanting independence from Fionna. Though, I’d argue that this only really leads to incidental drama down the line, so again, I don’t really feel like I personally got much from trying to expand Cake’s character in this great of detail.

The rest of the episode is also pretty middling. I never expected the Marc Maron squirrel to appear again (I kinda just figured he’d be riding that frisbee through the air for all of eternity) but it was nice to see him once more. I think F&C , like Distant Lands , is still kind of struggling to capture the weirdness of the original series, and it’s probably most apparent here. The additional return of the Jim Cummings woodland critters feels like it’d be a prime opportunity for classic AT silliness to shine, but they mostly just show up, get fucked up by Cake (in one of the only instances from the season where I felt the use of blood was a bit gratuitous), and don’t really do anything funny. I’m always down for recapturing the light oddness of Adventure Time , though I feel like this is something the new team is struggling with the most. It’s not without moments that do feel spirituality-aligned; the Squirrel going on about how he involuntarily became an apple salesman one day was great and his boss being irrationally angry with everything she expresses was also fun.

And because I’ve already harped on this in a previous Distant Lands review, I’ll get my whining out of the way now so I don’t harp on it in the future: it still impacts my immersion slightly not having Tim Kiefer composing. Amanda Jones joined the series starting with Obsidian and I just feel like a lot of what she offers up doesn’t always mesh with the series/what Kiefer brought to it. There are so many bits of score in Fionna and Cake that feel kind of generic; the scene where Cake is trying fruits at the market is supplemented by a flute tune that just kind of sounds like typical medieval fare, while Kiefer would always experiment with different sounding instruments, like the dulcimer score heard at the market in Blade of Grass , to support Adventure Time ‘s unique and quirky tone. I don’t know if this is really a jab at Jones per se, I think Kiefer was just always so essential to the series in ways that I don’t really see discussed much. Again, I think Jones does an alright job from time to time at capturing the same energy that Kiefer did (I think the theme song for Fionna and Cake itself is particularly great) and I will commend her in the future for times that I think she did knock it out of the park, but I had to get it off my chest at least once so I don’t bitch every time I think the score is ill-fitting.

While on the subject of music, I actually do like Cake’s song in this one! I think it plays out a bit awkwardly in the episode itself, but it is a pretty catchy tune and is actually one of the tracks I find myself humming the most from this season. I quite like Roz Ryan’s singing voice and people may also forget that she was actually on Broadway before getting into film and television. It’s nice that she gets her own song outside of her part in Bad Little Boy , though she deserves just as much praise for that. Oh yeah, and Rainy’s back! She was one of the few recognizable characters from the batch of Ooo residents and apparently she hasn’t aged a day in 15 years or so. I did like how the civilians were all pretty much new designs based around commonplace species from Ooo. I really dig the one tree guy painting portraits that apparently got bored at one point and started painting a house instead. Or maybe that’s just what he sees, I guess.

On the other side of the episode, we see Fionna desperately searching for Cake while Simon continues to lose his mind and attempts once more to summon Betty. Again, it’s more so just moving things along before the ball gets dropped and everything starts moving, but there’s nothing going on that’s particularly of interest. Fionna drinking wine out of a paper bag with Marshall and Ellis P. was fun, but otherwise I didn’t find any of Fionna or Simon’s scenes particularly noteworthy up to her entering Ooo. And with how fast Fionna gets launched into a whole other world and quickly accepts it, I’m shocked that they decided to just kind of tack on this development on at the last minute! I don’t really mind it and I don’t think you have to spend an extended amount of time doing a fish out of water story with her, but with how much the episode takes its sweet time with other things, it’s kind of funny how much Fionna’s introduction is quickly glanced over. She gets some fun moments towards the end – I’ve never related to anything more than when she brushes off her clothes to provide a handful of Cake’s hair, and her just straight up murdering weird creatures around her sets up her longstanding arc of murdering other weird creatures around her throughout the season. It’s cut short when Fionna and Cake are beamed up to Prismo’s and Astrid is left without her hat. I was kind of convinced that Astrid would tag along in this journey and hold a role similar to the Distant Lands sidekick characters, but I’m kind of glad that didn’t end up happening. Astrid is cute, but I think it would probably just overcrowd an already jammed series.

Otherwise, this one is probably the most lukewarm I am for a Fionna and Cake episode. I’m usually fine with letting things breathe a bit, but with such a small amount of episodes for the season, I just feel like a lot of it is kind of padding out setup. Again, nothing against Cake as a character, but I think spending a decent amount of time developing her character in ways that could kind of just be implied feels like there could’ve been some tweaking in terms of how this episode slot is used. The stuff with the squirrel and gang is fine, but isn’t really fun enough either to justify its role in the episode. But generally speaking, it still isn’t bad, it’s just time I felt could’ve been used for something funnier, more insightful, or experiment a bit more with the themes they’re going for. As is, I still think Cake plays a great role in the season, just not from a stance of personal growth.

Also, Minerva gets a small cameo in the human city! There’s actually a full deleted scene from the episode where Minerva interacts a bit more with Cake, which you can see here . I think the additional scene is cute, but I think I’m more happy with the little glimpse/cameo that it was cut down to. The boards for this scene I believe were drawn by Hanna K. Nyström, though feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Favorite line: “Literally, some apple guy came up to me and said, ‘this will be your life now and it will be a life of loneliness.”

“simon petrikov” review.

Original Airdate: August 31, 2023

Hope y’all are diggin’ the new site updates! I went a bit manic last week with messing around with the layout and testing out different images and styles. Hopefully you weren’t too alarmed hopping around on the site at that point in time – everything should be squared away for the time being!

One thing I love about AT is the motif they’ve committed to over the years with naming episodes after main characters, and usually use that episode space to demonstrate how that particular character ticks. I kinda figured Fionna Campbell was just using it as an opportunity to showcase the more humanized world of F&C, but the rest of the season mostly commits to working hand-in-hand with this theme. Simon Petrikov , of course, delves into the psyche of Simon as he continues to try to get adjusted to his life after being Ice King for so long. And, in terms of how these episodes typically go, this one is particularly grim. Finn the Human showed that Finn is just generally a very selfless person no matter what his circumstances in life are like. Jake the Dog demonstrated how Jake typically goes with the flow even in the midst of certain disaster. Marceline the Vampire Queen depicted Marceline’s struggles with her own inability to change and her making a conscious effort to try to progress in a very stagnant world. Bonnibel Bubblegum got to the root of PB’s wildly naïve perspective gained from ruling over others in a less mature state of mind. Simon Petrikov is really just about how Simon doesn’t want to be alive. Sad!

A lot of the foundation for Simon’s arc throughout the season is laid out pretty early on in Simon Petrikov . The flashback scene with Simon and young Marcy pretty much sums up Simon’s fears of having to be comfortable in his own skin, and it makes sense. So much of what we know about him up to this point is that he had a deep connection with Marceline and a deep connection with Betty. Aside from his own interest in anomalies, his identity is really built around the idea of how much he cares for these two people, so it’s not really hard to believe that he was kind of dependent on them. Not to say that Simon’s not a good egg – he’s not some egomaniac who uses people for his own wellbeing. But so much of his identity has been built around his dedication to others that there’s never really been much flex time to develop himself beyond that. Which would probably be easier to stomach if that was the only problem he’s having, but add in the fact that he’s been out of his mind for 1,000 years and he has no one that he can actually relate to and you have a real recipe for a madman.

The Cheers theme song comes in once more to really hammer in those feelings of isolation that nag at Simon. His desires for escapism are all laid out in the lyrics themselves and I think Cheers in general is a show that Simon has some sort of sick relationship with. We see him watching it at the beginning, but I don’t even think he likes it! It’s the one piece of media that reminds him of his own humanity but makes him feel equally isolated through his inability to actually achieve even the mundanity of going to a bar and connecting with others (which, more on that later). It doesn’t help that he’s essentially an alien in the eyes of Ooo residents. His day consists of explaining what ironing is like to former Islanders and getting roasted by a little girl about how he used to be really cool when he wasn’t himself. It was cool seeing the newly established Human City after the events of Come Along With Me , and even cooler recognizing their expressions as a staple of Graham Falk’s boarding! Falk returned to the series as a board artist after being absent from Distant Lands . It’s a little bit more difficult this time around to pick up on the style of individual artists, but the expressions of the humans, the monobrows, and the way everyone will occasionally stand at a very titled angle have him written all over it. It was good to see that element of familiarity while I continue to get to understand the newer writers and board artists better.

Speaking of newer board artists, Iggy Craig has also returned to the series after working on the first three Distant Lands specials! His boarding begins after Simon breaks down and closes up shop. Craig’s drawings of Simon are really spectacular, nailing all of his pent up disdain in really expressive ways; Simon rubbing his face in frustration, longingly staring at the statue of GOLB, and all of the wonderful close-ups of Simon’s discomfort in the bar are courtesy of Craig. Hopping into the bar scene, this whole section of the episode is really great. Part of the fun of the series being rated TV-14 is that they can have Simon be a straight-up alcoholic! But it’s not the escapist fantasy that the Cheers theme song promised – Simon’s not able to take a break from all of his worries at Dirt Beer Guy’s Tavern. Instead, he’s once again faced with a community of people he can’t relate to, constantly reminded by those around him of his troubled past, and left to get drunk off of poorly mixed cocktails. Of course, that’s not to say that everything facing Simon is purely antagonistic. Those around him aren’t trying to make him feel bad, but they really only know one side of him and I don’t really get the feeling that Simon really has a grasp on who he is outside of the fact that he used to be Ice King. And that he’s an antiquarian, but I don’t know how much of a use that position has in an area like Ooo. So the reminders from his past by the likes of Dirt Beer Guy aren’t exactly compassionate, but DBG’s at least trying to connect with Simon on some level that he thinks might make him feel important. Also, holy shit, adult Finn!!!!!!!!

I knew we were going to get a little bit of a glimpse into his ventures based on the Fionna and Cake trailers, but I assumed it would all be limited to multiverse stuff. I didn’t expect for him to just hop in and be featured in a majority of this episode, but honestly, I loved it. The glimpses we get from adult Finn’s life are almost exactly what I would expect his late 20s/early 30s to be like: still selfless and affable, still very repressed emotionally after losing Jake, and a bit of a himbo. His interactions with Simon hit on the same missteps that Dirt Beer Guy covered; Finn’s not trying to be malicious or make Simon feel bad, but wants him to lighten up a bit. It’s just not what Simon wants to hear. Of course, it also makes sense why Finn wouldn’t be able to relate to this issue either. Despite his humanity, he’s grown up surrounded by magic his entire life, so he’s not exactly the key person to necessarily relate to his problems either. I think of all Simon’s turmoil, the moment that hits the most for me is when he discusses dressing up like Ice King in order to cope. What started out as a silly gag in Obsidian is painted as a moment of true baggage for him. The way Simon looks at Finn when he mentions it, probably assuming that Finn would probably be horrified when he heard that, shows how deeply ashamed he is of it. Of course, this gets a bit too heavy for everyone involved, so Finn counteracts it the only way he knows how – by taking Simon on an adventure.

I did just mention that Finn was selfless and I think that dedicating his entire day to making Simon feel better is a clear indicator of that. But it’s also clear that this is something that would cheer Finn up, not necessarily Simon. In a lot of ways, I think Finn has become more similar to Jake in his adult life. Jake was never too savvy when it came to dealing with emotional turmoil and would usually resort to mostly surface-level modes of cheering Finn up, like taking him on a quest in Dungeon Train to help him deal with his break-up or providing him with a shit-ton of waffles in The Music Hole . It’s not because Jake is careless, he just only really knows what would personally make him feel better based on his own life experiences. Finn seems to be operating in the same way, with the added factor that he is likely carrying his own heavy baggage of moving through life without Jake, and has found his own ways to distract himself so he doesn’t spiral. Also, really sweet how he’s hanging out with TV in this episode after being seen traveling with Bronwyn in Obsidian . He’s a great uncle! Also nice to see that he still kicks ass and slays beasts as an adult. Come Along With Me left me a bit perplexed with how it left off Finn’s character, in that he kind of followed the Steven Universe route of pacifism that just didn’t necessarily seem fully true to the sensibilities of the character. In hindsight, it seems clear that this move was a life lesson for him that not all of his problems can be solved by fighting, but he’s still open to fucking shit up every now and then. I also love the added bonus of him quietly thanking the beast for its sacrifice. Man is totally picking up all of that woo-woo stuff from hanging out with Huntress Wizard and I love it. HW gets a few mentions in passing and I think it’s pretty apparent that the two still are romantically involved, or at the very least still very connected. I like to think that they have a relationship similar to Jake and Lady’s in the early days, where Finn and HW mostly live their own lives but are still very connected and understanding of each other’s boundaries. Also, they definitely have passionate forest sex in the brink of the night. This I’m certain of.

The quest with Simon goes about as well as one would expect it to go. Simon clearly isn’t into it and is generally mortified by the array of (very cool looking) beasts. That’s not to say that the trip is devoid of pleasures, as Simon and Finn have a very sweet moment by a campfire. I really love the little sentiments of Simon sharing some old outdoorsy stories with Finn, and (I’m going to be saying this a lot in these reviews) Tom Kenny does a terrific job at delivering these lines with a full sense of sincerity. It seems like Simon is actually starting to find connection through sharing these stories, but is once again bogged down when recounting Betty’s presence. This is probably where Finn could’ve been more supportive in letting Simon vent his frustrations, but again, he’s operating from a stance of survival from falling down an emotional rabbit hole. Of course, this backfires and their trip is cut short. It’s cool to see that, despite Finn’s adversity towards emotion, he does seem to embrace the wisdom he learned in his developmental stages. Namely, he blindfolds himself to find a way out of the forest, akin to The Hall of Egress ! Really missing Tom Herpich having a vital role in the series, so this was as good a homage as ever. The two part ways (the way Finn flaps his hand as he’s talking offscreen kills me) as Finn exclaims, “I love fixing people!” What a sweet lil traumatized boy.

We get the return of Rebecca Sugar in song form, as “Part of the Madness” plays over Simon aimlessly walking through a disconnected landscape. I’m basic, but this is probably my favorite song from the season. It’s always really nice to have Sugar show up in any capacity and I just think there is something evergreen about her singing voice and the tunes she plays. There’s just something so relaxing yet somber in everything she produces, I truly think she can do no wrong when it comes to music. Looking forward to her upcoming solo album as well! And speaking of Sugar staples, we get an instance of Simon finally attempting to reach out and connect with Marceline, to no avail. She’s too preoccupied having fun with PB, in what is probably the worst timing ever. I think Simon talking to her is something that Marceline would totally be open to, but having her seem totally enmeshed with her own life wasn’t really motivation for him to open up any further. I’ve seen a lot of people annoyed at Marceline’s behavior in this instance, but I think it simply can just be chalked up to the relationship between a parent and their adult child. I think as a child you kind of just automatically assume that your parents are always doing fine because they don’t generally keep their struggles hidden, and it’s difficult for a parent to open up because they don’t want to weigh down someone that they’re supposed to be taking care of. I think it was all done as a way of playing out their dynamic as they continued to become reacquainted following Simon’s revival.

The way I really knew Adventure Time was back in full force was seeing the reveal that Evil Choose Goose is now being kept captive in Simon’s apartment. What is more AT than setting up a big cliffhanger for what’s to come only to unceremoniously reintroduce it in a very underwhelming way?? Of course, I don’t really mean that as a legitimate criticism. I don’t think I really wanted a series that featured Choose Goose as the main antagonist, so this was a fun little twist to wrap up that previous teaser. Also, I will never understand what the fucking obsession is with Choose Goose all of a sudden. Dude appeared like, 5 times total in the original series and currently he shows up every 10 minutes in every Adventure Time iteration now. It’s almost like they got rid of the snail but couldn’t cope with the idea of not having any reoccurring character show up in every episode. Speaking of the snail, that dude is dead now apparently! It felt like this was a final attempt from the crew to distance themselves from him after he re-appeared in Together Again . Though I guess that didn’t work too well either because he appears a few other times in Fionna and Cake . They just can’t get rid of the lil guy. The final scene with Simon attempting to make contact with GOLBetty is a great, tense conclusion. Come Along With Me definitely made me a bit more hungry for more content dedicated to GOLB, and jumping into that with a dark, ritualistic spell was enough to get me sucked back in. The episode wraps up with Cake exiting Simon’s mind and a brief transition into Prismo’s timeroom, showing that he’ll be more involved in what’s to come. I wonder what will happen, I say having seen every episode of this season already.

But in all seriousness, this was just what I needed to get me back into Adventure Time . Of course, I think a lot of that is incentivized by the great moments with adult Finn, but I also genuinely love all that we get from Simon too. The events of Come Along With Me left me a bit polarized, mainly because I felt like it was a bit of a copout to have Simon AND Ice King both have a happy ending. By that point in the series, I had appreciated what the show was doing with displaying Ice King as his own functioning, developed person, so it bummed me out that they gave Simon what seemed like the happier ending and just tacked on that, “oh yeah, Ice King is here and fine too I guess.” But Simon Petrikov , and the rest of the season, prove that this wasn’t necessarily a happy ending for Simon. The episode does a great job at painting just how miserable his life is and doesn’t just limit it to him missing Betty. I’m often reminded of those terrible Simon & Marcy comics from a few years ago that just dialed back on all of the sacrifices made in Come Along With Me and provided Simon with an almost unequivocal happy ending by rescuing Betty. Simon Petrikov throws those stories aside by showing very candidly how much Simon is struggling in his body, even beyond just his connection to Betty. But again, my clear bias towards adult Finn has probably bled through this entire review. We eating good with this stuff, AT fans!

My little production tidbit is that, according to a tweet by Brian A. Miller , “Part of the Madness” was a homage to the former internal tagline used at CN Studios. Of course, this might just be speculative on his part, but it’s really sweet to think about. Sugar adds a bit of a personal touch to each of her songs, so it’s not a stretch to consider that the song revolves around her considering her life outside of CN. And, with CN Studios shutting down not too long ago, it’s especially bittersweet to entertain.

Favorite line: “Why isn’t it a phone?”

“fionna campbell” review.

Written & Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Haewon Lee & Jacob Winkler

Well, just when I think I’m done, they reel me back in!

I didn’t think I’d be reviewing Fionna & Cake . After Wizard City , I was left a bit fatigued from AT in general and having ANOTHER series announced soon exacerbated that fatigue. I love AT more than any other show, but I really didn’t want to see it going in the Star Wars route of continuing to churn out new content all the time through methods that felt particularly fanservice-y. And if you’ve followed this blog up to this point, you’d know I’m not huge on Fionna & Cake stories in general. I thought the first and (to a lesser extent) second stories were lots of fun but beyond that, the characters and world kind of felt like a chore as time went on because the team knew how popular they were and didn’t want to leave them in the dark completely. Those feelings of disinterest peaked with the episode Fionna and Cake and Fionna , which took what I thought was a totally nonsensical turn in order to maintain interest in their world (which, all things considered, it’s probably not my choice for worst AT episode anymore. But it still ain’t hot). So, with that said, I was left disheartened feeling like the staff was grasping at straws to continue the series in some capacity with a concept that fans, including myself, had already lost interest in years ago. I was pretty prepared to watch F&C but also let go of my love for the series, as I felt Distant Lands was already kind of a departure from what I personally loved about AT . To my surprise, Fionna & Cake actually reignited my interest in Adventure Time , to the point where I went from having no plans of reviewing it, to deciding to have one big write up for it, to deciding to go episode-by-episode as I would in the past. Having seen up to episode 8 by this point, I’ll add that I don’t think it’s perfect, and I’m probably more critical about it than most of the fandom seems to be. But I can’t deny the level of love that went into a lot of it and some of interesting choices made that grabbed me back in. So yeah, we’re doing it! I’ve said it before, but I’m gonna be 50 fuckin’ years old reviewing this series because I can’t get rid of it! Hopefully people are still connecting with and enjoying these write-ups, but I’ll probably be here regardless! Strap in!!

Before we get started, I also just wanted to do some housekeeping – feel free to skip this paragraph and hop into the review. I’ve been getting a lot of comments about how I messed up the season ordering and a lot of people watching for the first time and reading along were impacted by it. Truly apologize for this! As I mentioned before, the seasons were picked up and communicated to the staff in a different way than Cartoon Network would later decide to re-order them. At the time, I was kind of under the impression that this would be sorted out/fans would have their own understanding of the true season orders, but that was kind of a stupid assumption for all of new viewers joining the fanbase. Even though the season reviews I have up would still be a bit out of place, I’m open to suggestions if y’all think I should correct the order on my archives, or even just include a disclaimer at the top. Interested in suggestions, though there’s plenty of other anachronistic elements of this blog (such as how casually I would include spoilers for the future in early reviews) that I’m not sure are worth fixing or just leaving as is. Feel free to let me know – onto the review!

The introduction of the episode did immediately suck me in – the anime-esque chase scene boosted the animation bump that AT has experienced since jumping to Max (probably also benefits it that they don’t have 100 episodes to work on at once) and the art direction, mainly helmed by Jenny Yu, looks beautiful. I love the de-saturated colors and the pastel looking backgrounds. It’s pretty apparent from the start that this is going to be a dream sequence, kind of in the same sense of how the beginning of Bad Little Boy was clearly a façade to lean into the main concept of the episode. And the premise is basically all about how Fionna Campbell (it took me embarrassingly long to understand why her name wasn’t still “Mertens” in this universe) hates her life!

The transition between Adventure Time being a children’s show to Fionna & Cake being for “young adults” was one of the promises that most intrigued me about the new series. I didn’t know if this just simply meant that the characters would be able to more casually swear now (which they do) or that the scope of the series would be generally more adult in its content in dealing with serious topics. I kinda grappled with how that would even differentiate itself from the original series, because Adventure Time was really no stranger to tackling taboo subjects in the most roundabout ways. I mean, I can’t really think of any other animated series aimed at children, or adults for that matter, that so blatantly had an entire episode centered around a teenage boy having wet dreams. In execution, however, I was kind of surprised at how this change in audience came into play. Granted, there are scenes far darker than what they probably could do in the OG (with blood now!) but the worldbuilding in Fionna Campbell really sets up a universe that is supposed to connect more with with the current generation/young Millennials’ complicated view of the world around them. This feels like a natural progression – AT started out as a wacky children’s show that encapsulated the energy internet humor that was prevalent at the time. While remaining a children’s show, it did challenge its identity by maturing as it went on and dealt with the evolving reality of a child moving into young adulthood. Fionna Campbell drives home those sentiments of young adulthood by having its characters grapple with the increasingly intolerable elements of the working world and the frustrations of being comfortable in an adult body.

Fionna’s arc is very much defined by these struggles, but in a way that doesn’t necessarily paint her strictly as a victim. Something that is made clear very early on and supported by the rest of the episode is that Fionna is pretty selfish, for the most part. She doesn’t really have consideration for the people around her and kind of prioritizes her own feelings over everything. I think this could’ve easily been distorted into out-of-touch writers using Fionna as a means to project a moralistic conclusion to the current generation, but the team really seems to use it as a point of personal identification rather than judgement. Especially from a team of writers in the animation industry, where they’re essentially paid scraps to produce a high quality project that may or may not even survive the course of a year, resulting in poor job security. Living the dream! Those sentiments definitely connect to Adventure Time ‘s overarching goal of having the viewer connect to its central character in the midst of an absurdist world. And even without the magic, that’s kind of what real life is! Find relatability and connection in a world that doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, so it was a cool way of painting the world of AT in a way that felt more grounded but still exhibited a layer of weirdness to it.

That being said, I didn’t really walk away from this episode loving Fionna’s newly established character. Fionna herself was always pretty incidental in my eyes to the F&C stories (as pretty much every character was) so it’s not really that they changed her in any way that I didn’t enjoy, I just didn’t find myself super invested in her after this episode and that pretty much remains throughout the season. Her arc just feels kind of… spelled out to me? Like, those elements of her being selfish and needing to take responsibility for her own feelings are established here and then really never explored in a very interesting way beyond this point. There are some nice parts of her journey and I think Madeleine Flores does a really exceptional job at making the character naturally charismatic, but her journey throughout this season always felt secondary to me in the grand scheme of things and especially in comparison to Simon’s journey, even if they are supposed to be parallel to each other. At this point, we’re only up to eight episodes, so my feelings could change about her role in the series as it concludes. But as of right now, Fionna herself is definitely one of the lower parts of interest for me personally.

Again, that’s not to say she doesn’t have her moments. I generally think her selfish and often anarchistic behavior is pretty funny at times throughout the episode. I like the newly established dynamics between her and Marshall Lee and Gary, Prince Gumball’s human stand-in. It’s kind of interesting how Fionna’s differences from Finn also make her lean more towards the support of Marshall and less towards Gary, who is kind of a wet blanket in this world. Finn’s righteous selflessness draw him more into the direction of PB’s need for law and order, while Fionna’s interest in finding excitement is what draws her more to Marshall’s lifestyle. And in general, Gary and Marshall are great! Marshall Lee is still a lot of fun and it’s great to have Donald Glover back as the character. Glover has gotten a lot bigger in the past 10 years, so it’s really cool that he stuck with the series this long. Gary has his third voice actor in the span of his character (I don’t think ANY character has ever had that many?) Andrew Rannells portrays him now, whose credits I don’t really recognize, but he sounds strikingly similar to Keith Ferguson’s performance from Five Short Tables , so I didn’t even notice the difference at first. Marshall Lee’s short song was also a nice addition, written by Pat McHale and Somvilay Xayaphone. It’s great to have both of those boys back in some capacity!

As for the rest of the cast of characters, I wasn’t really to keen on going through the various different character cameos. There were some fun additions, like “Ellis P.” as a homeless animal whisperer and the return of relatively obscure F&C characters, like Butterscotch Butler (or Beatrice, in this version). I just feel like we kinda already went through the schtick of showing alternate versions of Ooo denizens to the point where it just isn’t really that engaging anymore. Adventure Time has always been a series that embraces hiding Easter eggs and referencing past episodes and characters, but there’s points when I think Fionna & Cake uses these hallmarks a bit too frequently. Having alternate versions of recognizable Ooo residents in every universe makes the scope feel a bit too small at times and having the crux of Fionna Campbell feature character cameos large and small leaves the story itself feeling a bit thin. In general, I felt the hop from the franchise mainly consisting of 11 minute episodes to now nearly 30 minute episodes was perhaps most noticeable early on. A lot of Fionna Campbell feels like it’s just kind of beating around the bush for most of its runtime in a way that didn’t always grab me. I know they wanted to take their time and make the new world feel lived in and real, but there were some sequences that just lingered on a bit too long for me, most notably the bus scene.

There were plenty of other small bits I enjoyed. I liked all the hints at the world connecting to Simon, such as the Betty statue and Cheers playing on every channel (is this the first time we see real life media portrayed in AT ? I love how Pen is the voice of Norm as well). Cake as a normal cat was suuuuper cute, I’m a sucker for all of the cat gags the season has to offer. I also really like the beginning song by Zuzu and Kurran Karbal; I know this show has a few songs that have already become really beloved, though this one is definitely up there for me.

But yeah, I think it’s a decent start to the season. It really isn’t the first point of investment for me personally. It was nice to have AT back once more and I was certainly a bit more intrigued with how everything would go down, but it took the second episode to really get me into it, and then even another few to REALLY suck me in. A lot of the beginning of Fionna & Cake is primarily setting up what’s to come, but I do think Simon Petrikov is essentially also doing that and just has more points of interest and stuff that I’m into. As is, Fionna Campbell is a fine way to kick it off, but definitely could’ve trimmed off points of excess.

I’ll be posting reviews every week until we reach the 10th episode! As a tagline to this review, wanted to include a cool crew fact in each write-up, since I’m following them all pretty closely on social media. Michael DeForge designed the title card for Fionna Campbell , including every other title in the season. I’ve been reading DeForge’s comics for the past year and they’re really terrific. He’s worked on Adventure Time as a character designer for over a decade now, and I think he’s a key artist from the series that doesn’t get enough recognition. Check out his site and buy one of his comics – you won’t regret it!

Favorite line: “Open your miiiiind.”

“wizard city” review.

Original Airdate: September 2, 2021

Written & storyboarded by: hanna k. nyström, anna syvertsson, maya petersen, aleks sennwald & haewon lee.

Wizard City was the one special that fans seemed somewhat indifferent to when it was announced. I can see why, as Peppermint Butler is perhaps the most obscure choice for the main focus out of the four. I was, however, cautiously optimistic, firstly because Pepbut is my favorite secondary character in the series and I’m a sucker for anything relating to AT ‘s wiz-biz. So I gave it the benefit of the doubt, but unfortunately, Wizard City ended up being the weakest of the Distant Lands specials.

A lot of the issues within Wizard City stem from the fact that a good portion of it is just tackling hackneyed tropes and plot points we’ve seen hundreds of times in other media with little to no distinction of that AT goodness. If you’ve seen any magical school or secret society story prior, there’s really nothing here that makes an effort to standout beyond that. Even Adventure Time ‘s sister show OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes did this exact story only a few years earlier that played on the exact twists and turns that Wizard City tackles. Part of the fun of Adventure Time is watching it take on relatively common plot devices at times with an added sense of uniqueness. Is That You? is essentially an Adventure Time clip show, but incorporates this element into the actual story of the episode which makes for both a trip and fun endeavor. All the Little People takes the average “king for a day” story and connects it to Finn’s budding sexuality and his hidden desires to manipulate others. And even Fern’s entire arc, which can be boiled down to the traditional evil clone and “there can only be one” story takes a psychological horror turn and showcases Finn if everything went wrong for him. Many of the Distant Lands episodes have featured characters or situations that have had obvious beats from the very beginning: I think we all knew what the purpose of Y-5 and Glassboy’s characters were from the first five seconds they were on-screen. Wizard City is exactly the same with its story and characters, feeling like it’s simply going through the motions of its plot without offering anything remotely challenging.

I don’t mean to act pretentious in this either, though I’m probably coming off that way. Wizard City isn’t devoid of surprises – there is the twist at the end with all of the Wizard School teachers turning out the be evil, but again, in my personal experience absorbing these stories, I feel as if this type of twist could be seen from a mile away. I think especially in the era where twist villains are so commonplace in animation, especially in Disney films, I could see through the Caledonius façade pretty quickly. And even if it was surprising, I think that’s fine, but I really just don’t see how this episode works outside of a surface level beyond that. Aside from the cool allusions to the Second Age of Terror that was first referenced in The Mountain and Coconteppi taking the appearance of one of the ancient monsters from Gold Stars , there’s really nothing compelling or analytical lore-wise.

As for general entertainment, I find the special equally meandering. There are some humorous moments sprinkled throughout, such as the various gags done with Larry’s rock form and a lot of decent visual gags with Cadebra in particular. But I find them to be few and far in between, with many gags lacking the usual Adventure Time spunk that the other Distant Lands specials similarly struggled with. A lot of the special is mainly just focused on Pep navigating through the struggles of Wizard School and regaining his magical prowess, along with dealing with bullies and his frustrations towards Cadebra, which again, feel incredibly formulaic. I’ve been seeing a lot of people obsess over the bully trio from Wizard City , but outside of Blaine’s undying obsession with Spader, I also found them pretty run-of-the-mill. It was also cool to see Blaine being referred to as “they” so casually – probably the first time I’ve seen LGBTQA+ representation in a series where I really didn’t actively think about it on a first watch.

So I’ve dunked on this one a lot, but there are quite a few things I do like about it. Even though Pep’s journey leaves me quite uninterested, I do think there are parts of it that I admire. I think the idea of Peppermint Butler coming back to haunt Pep is certainly an aspect that puts him in a negative light, but I don’t think its main purpose is to demonize Peppermint Butler himself. The curse was merely a representation of everything that Pepbut wanted to accomplish as a dark lord, and operated more as internal pressure rather than an actual venue for Peppermint Butler to act antagonistic. The pressure Pep puts on himself is something that I can personally identify with – I think it’s easy to look at a past version of yourself and resent where you are in the present. Hell, there was a point where I was writing reviews for this blog four days a week, and now I torment myself on why I can’t even churn out a written post once a month. So Pep coming the conclusion that he still wants to succeed, but doesn’t want to let his past dictate his entire journey, is a resolution I find quite satisfying. Even if the story beats that he goes through are quite predictable, as I had mentioned. I don’t really love Pep as a character that much, but I think he has his moments outside of story purposes, mostly in the area of humor. I think his whininess over wanting to be a dark lord can certainly be funny at times, along with his goofy shrug when Cadebra discovers his true nature. Cadebra is another character I enjoy. Again, her journey is mostly uninteresting to me because of how cookie cutter it is, as well as the fact that you know what the special is trying to communicate with her character very, very early on, but she has her share of cute/funny moments, mostly because of the way she is illustrated along with her exaggerated expressions.

Other highlights were seeing some of the classic wizards from the original series (Bill Hader as Bufo was a nice touch), some of the background characters were cool, and the incredibly dark joke that Spader was killed in such a merciless way was kind of wild. I’ve seen a lot of people who were pissed off by this, but I dunno, I actually kind of respect the commitment. Yes, Spader was a character that didn’t really deserve this morbid fate, but in a series where characters so rarely die permanently, it’s kind of hilarious that the writing staff decided to just straight up murder a relatively smug character and not bring him back at the end. Kudos for that.

But still, Wizard City leaves me pretty underwhelmed. This honestly might be one of the AT entries that has the least rewatch value for me personally. Yes, there are far worse Adventure Time episodes out there, but most are only 11 minutes and barely make a dent in my day. Wizard City is a whopping 44 minutes that mostly leaves me just bored – and the humor certainly isn’t strong enough to have me coming back frequently. A lot of people wish that Together Again was the special that concluded Distant Lands , and while I had my own issues with that special, it definitely would’ve ended the series with a bang, whereas Wizard City ends with a whimper. But, as the post credits scene with a dark Choose Goose proves, there’s probably going to be a dozen more AT projects in the next 10 years regardless. For better or for worse.

Favorite Line: “No! Original flavor Spader!”

“together again” review.

Original Airdate: May 20, 2021

Written & storyboard by: hanna k. nyström, anna syvertsson, iggy craig, maya petersen & serena wu.

Together Again was easily the most anticipated Distant Lands special for me personally. Come Alone With Me still stands as a decent cap for the original series, but it left me a bit unsatisfied with how Finn and Jake, the core of Adventure Time , were mainly sidelined for story purposes. That being said, I may have went into this one a little too hyped. The story that I thought I was going to get in Together Again was very different from what actually happened, and I couldn’t help leaving this episode a bit disappointed. I was mainly expecting it to be about Finn’s life during the timeline of Obsidian, his grief over the loss of his brother, and his eventual acceptance of his passing after a shared epiphany. That being said, I’ve watched this special several times since my first viewing with a different perspective – it’s unfair to view it through the eyes of my own personal bias, so I wanted to give myself a chance to appreciate it for what it is. And, lo-and-behold, I got that chance. Together Again really is the solid conclusion to Finn and Jake’s brotherhood that I was still truly craving even after all was said and done. That being said, I think some of the initial criticisms I left with after a first viewing haven’t completely dissipated, but I’m still feeling mostly optimistic.

I know it’s only been like, two years, but seeing that classic Adventure Time opening, along with the traditional title cards, was a bit too nostalgic to resist. I think it’s all the more fitting that the remainder of the opening is set up like a classic Finn and Jake entry. I will say that the entire beginning of the episode is a little underwhelming for me in terms of capturing that classic AT spirit. I know that it’s all just a hallucination, but I felt as if there wasn’t enough dedication to truly making it feel like Season One Adventure Time . It’s a little bit too low energy and the characterization of Finn and Ice King just doesn’t really seem on par with what you would expect from the time period it’s supposed to take place in. Ice King’s a little overly sinister and Finn doesn’t really capture his youthful energy. I feel as though it would’ve been a stronger tribute if some of these beginning elements have been fine-tuned. That being said, it’s a fine opening that makes it pretty clear early on that it isn’t actually from that time period; there are snowmen that look very similar to Gumbald and Peacemaster, and Finn’s voice is very clearly… pubescent. What it boils down to is Finn’s continuous attempts to keep the light adventuring going so that Jake doesn’t have to leave. Probably the biggest emotional takeaway from Together Again comes when Finn has to once again deal with the idea of Jake “dying” in a very disturbing way. The panic that Finn begins to experience is genuinely heartbreaking, and as much as I emphasized that I originally wanted this episode to be about Finn accepting Jake’s passing, the episode makes it very clear early on that Finn really never did. Or if he accepted it, it still tore him up a lot. And honestly, I do feel like that’s much more appropriate than what I wanted. As sad as it is, the idea that Finn was really never the same after Jake passed away just feels… right. It would make me personally more comfortable to see Finn acknowledge and accept his brother’s passing because I want to believe the lil guy would be okay even after such a tragic event. But this special emphasizes again and again and again – it fucking hurts , and even if he lived a life where he had things that brought him fulfillment, he still never was able to feel full after Jake passed. Damn, man.

The longer I think about it, the sadder I get, so let’s keep this sucker goin’. Seeing Finn as a withered old man is a decision that I really didn’t expect the team to take, but because his scenes are left so vague, it really doesn’t give much info into Finn’s life. It’s both a blessing and a curse, because while this episode continues AT ‘s trend of keeping things mysterious, it also slightly hurts the realism of the episode in the process. Or confuses it, at the very least. For the entirety of the episode, Finn is actually an elderly man, but takes the appearance of his 17-year-old self. It’s weird in that sense because, in his 70+ years of living, we don’t really see anything indicative of major changes in Finn’s behavior or what he’s been up to, so his developmental state comfortably sticks with what is recognizable for viewers. Finn even alludes to this when choosing his appearance. You could argue that Finn being reconnected to Jake brought back his youthful sense of self, but I dunno, it’s super difficult to keep this mystery up when literal decades have passed by and outside of a few throwaway lines, Finn doesn’t exhibit any signs of growth outside of what we are already familiar with. I don’t necessarily see this as a major flaw – I don’t really think it would be particularly fun to see Finn acting like an old, whimsical coot for the entirety of the episode. I still can’t help but feel like it’s slightly gimmicky in its presentation regardless.

As much as Together Again presents itself as a climax of Finn and Jake’s journeys together, it also weirdly offers closure for some very random Ooo inhabitants. Mr. Fox and Tiffany are both given conclusions to their individual “arcs,” per se, and it’s kind of awesome, actually. I peruse through old reviews sometimes to see how my perception has changed overtime, and I kind of have no idea why I was so passive to Tiffany in the past. At this point, I think it’s hilarious that this intended one-off character became a fully realized, Shakespearean anti-hero who only ever wanted the love of a momma and poppa. I was a bit miffed that all of these other characters were coming in to mooch off of Finn and Jake’s time, but I really think these additions, such as Tiffany’s arc as mentioned above, help add a layer of fun to the special in general. He’s finally gets to be blood-brothers with Finn and Jake! As I also mentioned, Mr. Fox gets his big day in the limelight. I especially like how far Mr. Fox has come, because he’s pretty much the least notable side character in the series for any casual viewer. But here he is in Together Again , in all his glory, as he’s now the official ruler of the Land of the Dead, even after all he wanted was a cushion-y pillow. As always, M.F. would be nothing without Tom Herpich’s terrific performance. Something that never quite gets old to me is how it feels like Herpich isn’t really even voice acting, but just stumbled into the booth and started reading a script. That sounds incredibly harsh, but I promise you all that I mean it in the most flattering way necessary. Because there are too many to mention in their entirety, here’s my personal favorite callbacks and cameos throughout the special:

• Jake’s clap from James Baxter the Horse ! Kinda wish they didn’t call extra attention to it, because I feel like it was instantly recognizable otherwise.
• I like that Mr. Fox, after all these years, is seemingly still carrying a torch for Boobafina. It’s time to move on, man.
• I believe this is the first time in the series/any form of AT media where Jake is confirmed to be a reincarnation of Shoko’s tiger. Always was assumed, but cool to have that additional confirmation.
• It was super sweet to see Finn interact with Joshua and Margaret as his adult self, but I think the icing on the cake is that he could care less about seeing Jermaine. Nobody cares about poor Jerm.
• Peppermint Butler being the new princess is both very interesting and cryptic. I doubt this implies Princess Bubblegum’s death, assuming that the disguised figure in Come Along With Me ‘s opening was her. It is interesting to see all of the additions to the castle in general, adopting many elements of wizardry and dark magic. Wondering if this will be touched on at all in Wizard City , though I’d think likely not.
• Choose Goose appearing AGAIN! Considering that the trailer for the next special also includes his voice, it’s amazing to me that nearly half his appearances in the entire series will derive from Distant Lands . Is this spin-off bait just waiting to happen?
• Clarence and Ghost Princess living it up big time in 50th Dead World.
• Tree Trunks living it up big time with all of her man slaves in 30th Dead World. Also featuring Polly Lou Livingston’s last performance before her death. Rest in peace, you lovely gem.
• Wyatt NOT living it up in 1st Dead World. He really is the worst.

In general, the exploration of the Dead Worlds is super gnarly to me. This worldbuilding in general feels like something that Adventure Time has wanted to do for years but for whatever reason it never got past the conceptual stage. A portion of this story was actually adapted from an outline Jesse Moynihan worked on back in season three that was initially going to be Ghost Princess , but it was revised to have a smaller story. I really thought the gorgeous backgrounds in Together Again were works of ghostshrimp, but it was actually two other designers that did a fantastic job: Udo Jung and Julian De Perio, who both worked on BMO. I really love how each Dead World, even the unnamed realms, have a unique and abstract feel to them that you really can’t decipher if it’s peaceful or threatening. It also kind of makes you wonder how each works on an ethical standpoint – clearly the 1st Dead World is equivalent to Hell and the 50th is comparative to Heaven, but is there any true “ranking” that goes into the other Dead Worlds? If I had to guess, I’d say placement in a prospective Dead World connects to the values of the deceased. 37th Dead World feels like Tree Trunks’ meadow residence with added luxuries, while 45th Dead World appears to just be a very Homeworld-esque suburbia for loving families. Or, at least in this case, the Dog family. That being said, it kind of makes you wonder how some folks ended up where they did. You can’t tell me that my boy Choose Goose deserves to be rotting with Maja.

We’re introduced to the offspring of Life and Death in this episode, simply named New Death. New Death is a bit of a pain in the ass throughout the run of this one. His rebellious teenager personality is amusing at first, but quickly tires out after a period of time. He really doesn’t take up a ton of time in the special itself, but any time he shows up, his presence really doesn’t add much, outside of a killer design by Iggy Craig. The one bit I did find genuinely intriguing from him was the moment at his demise when he solemnly mentions his mother’s name. Feel like it was surprisingly a bit ballsy to give him one moment of humanity before he is legitimately destroyed. Of course, the late Miguel Ferrer sadly could not reprise his role as Death, but it is cool seeing more into Life’s perspective. Life is another aspect of the special that feels like she was always meant to have a larger role in the series, but it just never was able to come into fruition. Her realm is similarly gorgeous, with lush ocean colors permeating throughout. I find Life’s personality as a sweet but relentless ruler that you do not want to mess with a lot of fun – it gives you a pretty good idea of why she had married Death in the first place.

I’ve been batting around with a lot of the less major stuff up to this point, so let’s get into the meat of this episode: Finn and Jake’s connection. I do feel like everything that is portrayed with Finn and Jake’s relationship in this episode gets the emotions right, but not always the characterization. Let me elaborate: nothing in this episode feels out of character or unlikable for the boys, but it also feels like there’s something slightly off or different about their individual roles. I think I could honestly just say this about Distant Lands in general, however. Considering that the writing staff is completely different, with the exception of Hanna K. Nyström, it’s really no wonder that this feeling arises, though I can’t entirely put my finger on it. There’s something a bit less goofy about it and slightly more straightforward when it comes to the humor and dialogue of Distant Lands that just feels lacking of a certain spunk and identity the original series had. Even certain lines, such as Finn’s “because it’s no jerks allowed!” felt especially corny for him to exclaim. It still captures the heart of Adventure Time , but I think any media franchise that runs for a period of time and changes teams majorly is going to run into this problem. Hell, comparing season 8 of Adventure Time with season 1 is literally comparing two radically different shows with radically different teams. Even the lack of Tim Kiefer is very apparent. Amanda Jones does an okay job at composing the score for the special, but there’s really nothing about it that connects to the essence of what Kiefer was doing. I really hate to complain, because nothing Distant Lands has done so far has been anywhere close to bad or disrespectful to the original series, but I think it’s one step at showing how much one team over the course of a few years really defined the series (Jesse, Tom, Pen, Steve, Ako, Rebecca, Somvilay, Seo, Adam, Graham, etc.) and how, as more spin-offs and reboots come into fruition down the line, it’s likely that the magic of the original will never truly be replicated.

But my bullshitting aside, I do think that the team behind Together Again did their damnedest to really paint a beautiful story among AT ‘s baby boys. This is probably the most emotional we ever see Finn in the series, and I think it pays off super well. Finn and Jake’s brotherhood has always been the heart of the show, but Together Again really stresses how much Finn was never able to fully live the same again after Jake’s passing, and I think it makes total sense. Finn probably wasn’t that old when Joshua and Margaret passed, so Jake essentially doubled as both a brother and parent to Finn for so many years. That grief of losing someone is something that really never fades, and Together Again is genuinely relentless in showing that. It was especially devastating to see that Jake doesn’t initially recognize Finn, as he continues to fall into breakdown category. That poor boy just needs a squoze from his brother. Despite it being quite difficult to stomach, I do think that it ultimately makes sense that Jake would let go of all earthly possessions, as alluded to throughout the years in his desires to fulfill his croak dream. I’m sure it wasn’t something that he was consciously okay with from the start, but he let go as a means to find his inner peace and allow for his destiny to truly unfold. Finn, however, has never really been the destiny or holistic type; his true meaning in life comes from his dedication to others. It does make me wonder what Finn’s connection to the 37th Dead World is, considering that it was left mainly ambiguous in Sons of Mars . Since Jake initially ended up there, I wonder if it has something to do with selflessness. Jake chose to stay alive rather than fulfill his destiny on Mars because Finn needed him, and Finn likewise died on some sort of rescue mission it seems. That, or it’s where original Death would send people that he was tight with.

Although only about half the special focuses on their brotherly bond, there are tons of highlights throughout: Jake letting loose a toot while they try to be incognito, Jake offering caring advice when Finn feels at fault for New Death’s scheming, Finn’s admiration for Jake’s mermaid bod, the reunion of the Jakesuit, and many more. Even their overly aggressive fight is super endearing in their continued desire to protect and aide each other. And of course, one of their most cherished, shared activities is a good old-fashioned Lich fight! I gotta be honest y’all, I went from really not liking this shoe-horned inclusion to kind of digging it. I was pretty done with the Lich after his appearance in Whispers , where he was no longer intimidating and felt like he was about effective as any other villain in the series. Here… he’s still not very intimidating, but Ron Perlman’s voice acting is almost impossible to not be impressed by at all times. The Lich gets a few solid lines, namely “the spawn of life and death is a creature without purpose, fit only to be a pawn in my eternal quest to end all life.” Even though he is quickly disposed of, it seems apparent at this point that, like Life and Death, the Lich will always be around as an entity of destruction and death. And truthfully, I feel like the only appropriate way to cap off Finn and Jake’s role in the series is to have the Lich as the final big bad. The Lich was the first true trial in their journey as adventurers, and it feels appropriate that he would be their last as well. The ending is probably the highlight of the entire special. Once again emphasizing Finn’s need for Jake in his life, it’s super touching that Jake would give up a lifetime of enlightenment just to live with his bro again. Even before he joins, the tight hug Finn gives Jake shows that he’s probably not fully committed to letting go of his reincarnation dreams with Jake, and Jake has his own epiphany that the strength of his brotherhood outranks any type of Glob destiny that awaited him.

Together Again isn’t a perfect AT episode for me personally. Some of the character dialogue feels a little clunky, there’s maybe a bit too much fanservice, and it lacks that certain spunk of the original series that I had mentioned. But it’s so committed to being a love letter to everyone that cared so dearly about Finn and Jake that I really can’t have too much of an issue with it. Come Along With Me felt like a big jumbled mess that wanted to tie up any loose ends that it could in the span of an hour, while Together Again is very much committed to the heart of AT itself that it feels much more akin to a finale than the prior entry. So far, I think it’s probably the strongest of the DL specials, and a wonderful way to cap off the spin-off series as a whole.

… Oh yeah, we still have Wizard City . Huh.

Favorite line: “ All I ask is for permission to use your bones…for a spell. “

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Adventure Time: The Art of Ooo Hardcover – October 14, 2014

• Print length 352 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date October 14, 2014
• Dimensions 14 x 1 x 10 inches
• ISBN-10 1419704508
• ISBN-13 978-1419704505
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams (October 14, 2014)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419704508
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419704505
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.8 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14 x 1 x 10 inches
• #178 in TV References
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Chris McDonnell has designed books on Ralph Bakshi, Bill Plympton, the Joker, Wonder Woman, and many more. He is a founding member of the Meathaus comics/art collective. McDonnell lives in Philadelphia.

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the art amazing, beautiful, and appealing. They also appreciate the content, saying it's comprehensive and provides great insights into how Pendleton Ward's whimsical drawings became. Readers say the book is worth the money, a great investment for anyone of any age, and interesting to read. They mention it'll be great for animators, artists, and cartoonists.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the art in the book amazing, beautiful, and visually engaging. They also appreciate the sketches and rejected drawings. Readers mention the cover and layout are appealing. They mention the book contains an enormous amount of pre-production artwork.

"...is heavy, but it's overflowing with excellent information and amazing artwork . Out of my entire collection, this art book is my favorite...." Read more

"...I especially liked all of the sketches and how it included the rejected drawings and the accepted ones...." Read more

"...expect it to be such a large book, and it's filled with pages upon pages of amazing art , and is a great investment for anyone of any age...." Read more

"... Quality images , binding, etc. I've been a fan of the series for the past few years...." Read more

Customers find the book's content comprehensive, detailed, and colorful. They say it provides great insights into how Pendleton Ward's whimsical drawings became. Readers also mention the book is one of the most extensive and beautiful "Art of" books they own.

"...The book is heavy, but it's overflowing with excellent information and amazing artwork. Out of my entire collection, this art book is my favorite...." Read more

"...It. Is. Worth. IT. Love this book, deeply ." Read more

"...just because the book itself is HUGE, but because it is a pretty comprehensive review of what went into the making of Adventure Time...." Read more

"...and huge fan of Adventure Time, I loved this book it and found it very inspiring . The cover and lay out is very appealing...." Read more

Customers find the book worth the money. They say it's one of the best purchases they've made in a long while. Readers also mention the book is a great investment for anyone of any age.

"...filled with pages upon pages of amazing art, and is a great investment for anyone of any age ...." Read more

"...items and get expectations up, but this book really is one of the best purchases I've made in a long while...." Read more

"...I saw this book in a local brick and mortar and the price wasn't too steep , but even more affordable on Amazon with Prime shipping...." Read more

"...Great book and definitely worth the money if you like adventure time." Read more

Customers find the book excellent for lovers of Adventure Time. They say it's fun, interesting, and easy to follow. Readers also mention the book is inviting and perfect for fans of the show.

"... Lots of fun . There's a lot of art that you just never see in the show...." Read more

"...It a wonderful and inviting book that anyone would be ecstatic to own." Read more

"... So fun for creatives , artists, animation enthusiasts, and accountants (my husband is a CPA, bought it for me)!" Read more

"... Perfect for any adventure time fan , but it's more geared toward teens and adults." Read more

Customers find the book's pacing great. They mention it's great for animators, artists, and cartoonists. Readers also mention the book is comprehensive on the creative process.

"... Comprehensive on the creative process , other characters that Pendleton has created. Tons of artwork. Literally, nearly 5 pounds of art for your face...." Read more

"An amazing art book. Probably really great for animators and artist . I just really like looking at it...." Read more

"...A great book for animation students as well, as it shows insights into how the show was pitched, as well as what makes Mr. Wards drawings so unique...." Read more

"... Great for cartoonist and people looking to start a comic book no seeing how it's done." Read more

Customers find the character design in the book great. They appreciate the behind-the-scenes photos, character references, doodles, and style guides.

"...Beautiful full color picture, awesome interviews and character concepts , and personal art from the different artists...." Read more

"...with interviews, napkin sketches, behind the scenes photos, character references , doodles, style guides, and so much more...." Read more

"Has a greater area of character designs and pretty much is the best artbook that I have." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's damage. Some mention it arrived with no damage to the book or book sleeve, while others say the front of the cover was torn at the bottom.

"The product was shipped fast and well protected ...." Read more

"Very well packaged, no damage to the book or book sleeve. Came at the actual designated delivery time. Great gift for any Adventure Time lover." Read more

"My book was damaged. The front of the cover was torn at the bottom. The packaging was intact. Lame. The book is great though...." Read more

" Physical damage , but great content...." Read more

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Adventure time.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 169 Reviews
• Kids Say 655 Reviews

Parents Say

Based on 169 parent reviews

Parent Reviews

Unfair reviews.

This title has:

• Great messages
• Great role models

Report this review

• Too much violence
• Too much sex
• Too much swearing

Surprisingly deep show for all ages

A memory that will not be forgotten, funny to watch, think about when you were that age., dumb and rude, this show is garbage, really for gen-x parents who still wish it was 1994., too much attitude, what to watch next.

Steven Universe

Regular Show

The Powerpuff Girls (2016)

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.