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A review by leaflibrary
Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens by Yuko Ota, Meredith Gran, Ananth Panagariya, Liz Prince, Polly Guo, Jen Wang, Kate Leth, Faith Erin Hicks
4.0
Bubbline is my OTP, so any comic that has Marceline and Bubblegum on an adventure together gets a high score from me.
The Scream Queens are on an Ooo-wide tour, with Princess Bubblegum as their band manager. PB has a vision board full of science equations, photos of Finn and Jake, and post-it notes with messages like, "ask Guy what werewolves eat (and remind him you're TOTES COOL with this!!"; "Remind Marceline to get her butt to that photo shoot (and change her own underwear, and blink...)"; and my personal favorite, "Do something about this pesky, creeping sense of DOOM" - surrounded by flower doodles. As usual, Bubblegum has overextended herself attempting to control everything, solve countless problems, and serve as a support for every member of the band - in particular, Marceline and Guy. She's keeping everything together, barely, while also struggling with homesickness for the Candy Kingdom - especially after she learns King Jake has transformed the dungeon into a "fungeon" and is hosting a rule burning ceremony.
But PB's plight is nothing compared to the rabid insecurity Marceline begins to feel as the tour progresses. After a music critic begins to pan her performances, Marceline's anxiety and paranoia escalate to monstrous proportions. She starts having meltdowns during concerts, stops talking to Bubblegum, threatens to quit the band, and contemplates moving back to the Night-o-Sphere. "No one who stays here becomes a star," her hometown bff warns when she confides in him. Marceline shrugs. "I like that about it." Despite her growing conviction that her fans secretly hate her, Marcy agrees to one last show. But when the audience starts chanting "Marceline socks," after a pair of particularly popular and unique band merchandise, Marceline hears "Marceline sucks" and freaks out, going full-on fire-breathing dragon. Thankfully, her best friend Peebles knows just what to do to tame the beast.
This straightforward story is broken up into chapters, which are in turn punctuated by short stories illustrated by various artists. They're only a couple pages each, but vary in quality, and some make it hard to focus on the main story. Still, this is a fun journey through Ooo, and through the ever-complicated - but extremely close - relationship between Marceline and Bubblegum. There are several little hints that their bond is more than platonic for those who are looking for ship fodder. Most notably, Marceline seems slightly jealous of Bubblegum's quasi-relationship with Guy, and Marcy's dad is WAY more excited to meet the Princess than his daughter's bandmates. "I've heard so much about you!" he gushes. Marceline immediately jumps up, stuttering, "W-we really gotta go, Dad!" and pushes her friends out the door - even though Tree Trunks (another of my favorite characters, and sadly underused here) was just about to serve one of her delicious steaming pies.
Whether or not you ship Bubbline, this is a fun and heartfelt look into their characters - both together and separately - and a colorful, musical tour through some lesser-seen spots in the land of Ooo.
The Scream Queens are on an Ooo-wide tour, with Princess Bubblegum as their band manager. PB has a vision board full of science equations, photos of Finn and Jake, and post-it notes with messages like, "ask Guy what werewolves eat (and remind him you're TOTES COOL with this!!"; "Remind Marceline to get her butt to that photo shoot (and change her own underwear, and blink...)"; and my personal favorite, "Do something about this pesky, creeping sense of DOOM" - surrounded by flower doodles. As usual, Bubblegum has overextended herself attempting to control everything, solve countless problems, and serve as a support for every member of the band - in particular, Marceline and Guy. She's keeping everything together, barely, while also struggling with homesickness for the Candy Kingdom - especially after she learns King Jake has transformed the dungeon into a "fungeon" and is hosting a rule burning ceremony.
But PB's plight is nothing compared to the rabid insecurity Marceline begins to feel as the tour progresses. After a music critic begins to pan her performances, Marceline's anxiety and paranoia escalate to monstrous proportions. She starts having meltdowns during concerts, stops talking to Bubblegum, threatens to quit the band, and contemplates moving back to the Night-o-Sphere. "No one who stays here becomes a star," her hometown bff warns when she confides in him. Marceline shrugs. "I like that about it." Despite her growing conviction that her fans secretly hate her, Marcy agrees to one last show. But when the audience starts chanting "Marceline socks," after a pair of particularly popular and unique band merchandise, Marceline hears "Marceline sucks" and freaks out, going full-on fire-breathing dragon. Thankfully, her best friend Peebles knows just what to do to tame the beast.
This straightforward story is broken up into chapters, which are in turn punctuated by short stories illustrated by various artists. They're only a couple pages each, but vary in quality, and some make it hard to focus on the main story. Still, this is a fun journey through Ooo, and through the ever-complicated - but extremely close - relationship between Marceline and Bubblegum. There are several little hints that their bond is more than platonic for those who are looking for ship fodder. Most notably, Marceline seems slightly jealous of Bubblegum's quasi-relationship with Guy, and Marcy's dad is WAY more excited to meet the Princess than his daughter's bandmates. "I've heard so much about you!" he gushes. Marceline immediately jumps up, stuttering, "W-we really gotta go, Dad!" and pushes her friends out the door - even though Tree Trunks (another of my favorite characters, and sadly underused here) was just about to serve one of her delicious steaming pies.
Whether or not you ship Bubbline, this is a fun and heartfelt look into their characters - both together and separately - and a colorful, musical tour through some lesser-seen spots in the land of Ooo.