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Adventure Time / Regular Show #1

By Sheena McNeil
September 18, 2017

Title: Adventure Time / Regular Show #1
Publisher: Kaboom!
Writer: Conor McCreery
Illustrator: Mattia Di Meo
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Warren Montgomery
Cover: Phil Murphy

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I've enjoyed watching the cartoons for both Adventure Time and Regular Show, and I've read some Adventure Time comics. AT is definitely all-ages friendly. Regular Show is also all-ages, but the humor and situations speak to an older audience, especially as the characters themselves are all adults and dealing with real-life adult things like work and relationships. Its humor is also a mixed bag when considering an all-ages audience. So, I was curious how a crossover series would work, in general and for the target audience.

This first issue (of six) opens with Adventure Time -- the Land of Ooo is under attack, and Princess Bubblegum and Marceline have constructed a portal to another world to escape it, with Marceline going first to test things; Finn, Jake, LSP, and the Ice King also slip through. In the world of Regular Show Mordecai agrees to help at a daycare without realizing it's a daycare for kid versions of famous tyrants, who run amok when they don't get their way. Rigby tries to help his friend. Those from AT fall out of the sky, and the characters from the two worlds start fighting after one of the child-tyrants steals Marceline's power-reading tool. The fight gets real goofy ... until Marceline gets fed up.

I was pleasantly surprised that Regular Show stayed a bit more all-ages accessible than normal. However, younger readers won't recognize most (if any) of the young-tyrants -- that's humor meant for older (at least teen) readers. Even the bratty kid aspect, regardless of who they are, is meant for older readers -- readers old enough to be counsellors or babysitters. Still, it relies heavily on physical humor, so it's still accessible to younger readers. I'm sure these kids will be used elsewhere in the plot, but it's not as obvious as the forces attacking in Ooo.

Finn and Jake getting cursed to want to hurt the other adds an intriguing layer of inner conflict. Even with them aware and struggling against it, it disrupts their normally cohesive battling. To top it off, Jake's powers don't work as well in this new world, though he seems to be the only one affected in such a way (arguably because he's a dog and not human-ish like Ice King and Marceline). I love that the enemy that caused it is the "Master of Division" -- it's all one big mathematical pun.

The battle between characters from both worlds is entertaining. It includes some page-time for everyone, plays up certain personality traits, and keeps switching up who's fighting who to keep things interesting. Marceline is the "responsible adult" here, but she also has a short fuse. Her losing her temper makes for a great cliff-hanger as she transforms!

If you're a fan of both shows, this crossover will be a fun read. If you're only familiar with or a fan of one, your mileage may vary, but it does a good job in this first issue of being an all-ages friendly read.