Chapel Hill Comics presents: Adventure Time with Finn and Jake

In a dusty enclave at the end of the month, surrounded by stacks of comic book-filled cardboard boxes, Andrew Neal was sifting through forms and ticking boxes, readying the next order for Chapel Hill Comics on Franklin Street.

What’s this? Neal must have stopped dead, mid-tick. BOOM! Studios is publishing a comic based off the viral video-turned-Cartoon Network series, Adventure Time?

Comics like this don’t come often, Neal said. He knew the publisher, he had heard of book stores doing alternative covers before — a few emails later and Neal established a deal for a 500-run cover exclusive to Chapel Hill Comics.

“My initial intent wasn’t to draw the cover myself,” Neal said. “I was hoping they had something floating around that I could use, but they didn’t.”

The publisher suggested Neal find a local artist who could come up with the cover art. Neal had just a few weeks — who could do it? He raced through his options.

“That guy’s fast, but maybe not suited to this type of art,” Neal said. “This guy would be great, but he has three kids and a full-time job — I doubt he could turn anything around quickly.”

It was time for Neal to dust off his old art degree. He took charge of the project, sent in his idea of a cover and the publisher responded.

“Here’s something,” Neal said. “‘No, we can’t use those characters,’” said the publisher. “Alright, here’s a bunch of sketches, now that you’ve seen how I draw, pick one of those — ‘Do that one and flip it’ — Okay, here it is.”

And the 500 copies shipped.

Adventures on the Internet:

It might seem dubious that a largely unknown artist would get the chance to come up with his own cover for the first issue of a new comic series.

But Ryan North, creator of Dinosaur Comics and writer for the Adventure Time comic, says the show thrives on the proliferation of fan-generated fiction, art and even mythology.

“The fans are insane, in the best sense of the word,” North said. “You go on Tumblr and you search for the tag ‘Adventure Time’ and you see all this awesome stuff popping up — people so into the show and the characters.”

One of the show’s artists took the loopy, iconic characters and created her own gender-swapped versions of them and posted them online. After thousands of reblogs, the alternative characters eventually made their way into the Cartoon Network show, complete with new voice actors and a self-referential plot involving an evil genius and his own fan fiction.

North says the comic itself is a reflection of the Internet community that helped facilitate Adventure Time’s development into a large-scale cartoon. The first half of the book is a continuation of the show, written by North.

“The second part is different indie cartoonists doing the cartoon in their own style,” North said.
“You get both the complete story in the book, but also part of a longer story. Best of both worlds. If you hate my story, you’ll probably like the backup one.”

Enter: The fan

Jacob Day, a sophomore biology major and medical anthropology minor, has been shopping at Chapel Hill Comics about once a week since he first came to campus.

“I first went there back in 2007, and I was able to find a comic that I had been looking for at like every comic book store that I had been in around my home and everything,” Day said. “Nowhere had it, but they had the last printed issue of it.

“Since I’ve been going there, all the people are friendly and super nice. I feel like they’re my friends — they even know me by name.”

While Day said he primarily collects Wolverine comics, he was excited to hear about the plans for an Adventure Time comic. Like other cartoons with cult followings, Day said he likes the fact that the show’s jokes work on different levels for different ages.

“It’s the delivery of the joke,” Day said. “In any window, it could pass as kids’ stuff, but it’s like Ren & Stimpy. They work in hidden things and bonus references that you’d only get if you were old enough to.”

Day said he had come across fan art of Adventure Time online before seeing the show itself.

“It really just builds on the world that the creators themselves made. It’s like elaborating and allowing you to make Adventure Time even bigger than it already is.”

Party Time

Armed with Adventure Time-themed treats, Neal and Chapel Hill Comics are hosting a party Saturday for the release of their exclusive cover. For $15, you can pick up one of the 500 copies.
Among the festivities will be a costume contest.

“People who want to cosplay, which is the dressing up as cartoon characters or whatever, seem to be really attracted to this show,” Neal said.

Day is one of those people.

“It’s real cool to have a special edition coming out by someone that you get to see and actually get to talk to on a weekly basis,” Day said. “As soon as I got the email about it, I was like, ‘I have to be at this party.’”

Day said he plans to come in costume as Jake the Dog, a character based on Bill Murray’s laid-back, occasionally helpful camp counselor character from the movie “Meatballs.”

“When I was at the store last week, I got a copy and got them to hold it for me,” Day said. “I could have went ahead and bought it, but there’s just something special about it. I’m waiting to get it at the party itself and waiting to actually read it until they give it its actual release party.”