Book Review: Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards

Are you a fan of the superbly fun Adventure Time? Though it’s currently airing its sixth season and a seventh in the works, you might be dreading the unfortunate wait in between, that awful hiatus that feels like an eternity. Worry not, because there is simply nothing better to fill the void in your life than this absolutely stunning art-book, consisting of the lavish masterpieces that precede each episode in the first two seasons of the eccentric and quirky show.

The collection features the works of a multitude of artists who worked on the title cards for each episode across 112 pages, whilst also containing detailed commentaries from each of them that reflect upon the inspirations for each design. On the hard copy, it’s important to note how grand the book itself feels with the Adventure Time logo embossed on the front of an already raised piece of parchment. A few pages in, you’ll find a list of the talented artists that collaborated to create each impressive card, including show creator Pendleton Ward, Art Director Nick Jennings, Emmy-winner Andy Ristaino, Lead Character and Prop Designer Phil Rynda (whose face is hidden in the background of several episodes!) and Paul Linsley, who contributed to the painting of the first season title cards.

If you don’t get this book simply for the benefit of having beauteous reminders of your favourite episodes as you see them adapted from sketch to screen, do it for the alarmingly satisfying cultural awareness. It contains title cards that pay homage to genres old and new, such as 40’s pulp in ‘Tree Trunks‘ (S1, E4), the romantic ‘Slow Love‘ (S2, E32) and ‘Go With Me‘ (S2, E46), or the martial art-esque ‘The Chamber Of Frozen Blades’ (S2, E37). In a similar manner, there are plenty of homages to the artist’s own favourite artists, such as Thomas Kinkade in ‘Donny‘ (S1, E22) or Frank Frazzetta in ‘His Hero‘ (S1, E25). There are even those that reference classic and recognisable films. ‘Henchman‘ (S1, E19) is somewhat reminiscent of BASIC INSTINCT, for example. ‘It Came From The Nightosphere‘ (S2, E27) is visually similar to E.T, ‘Blood Under The Skin‘ (S2, E30) is inspired by PSYCHO and ‘Pods’ (S2, E39) is heavily based on REPO MEN.

On the other hand, the creative team behind the cult hit  extend their cultural references across multiple mediums, wandering into the realm of video and tabletop gaming. Considering a large part of Adventure Time is all the fun Jake and Finn have dungeoneering – a notion made popular by Dungeons and Dragons, and on which many elements of various episodes are based on – it’s no surprise that such extravagant elements can be identified within the title cards themselves, whether they be fantastical or fearsome.

It’s noteworthy that this is the first of two volumes currently planned, the second presumably being significantly larger to accommodate for the other four to five series and perhaps even more. Regardless, it’s obvious from first impressions that being showered in the abundance of eccentricity and raw talent that consists this book is actually rather heartwarming and induces quite a significant sense of nostalgia towards the episodes that you may have forgotten. It comes naturally to say that this is one of the best tie-in art-books about to hit the market. It would make for a great gift, whether it be a surprise or that of self-indulgence for any Adventure Time fans. Simply put, it’s awesome.

This review is written based on the US version, the UK version does not include the following episodes: ‘Donny’, ‘It Came From The Nightosphere’, ‘Death In Bloom’ and ‘Mortal Recoil.’

 (5 /5) Adventure Time – The Original Cartoon Title Cards Vol. 1 is published by Titan Books and is released on the 26th September, 2014 for £11.99. You can pre-order it here.