Adventure Time #12 is every bit as zany, delightful, and subtly melancholy as the show on which it is based and writer Ryan North does an expert job of making this title all-ages in the truest sense of the term. The book is most certainly young reader friendly, while providing enough nuanced humor to appeal to an older, wiser crowd. There is a maturity to North’s story, seamlessly melded with layers of wacky hijinks, that will bring a smile to the faces of adult fans while sharpening the wit of a younger audience.

The book opens with everyone’s favorite amorphous ball of purple goo, Lumpy Space Princess, lamenting her loneliness. LSP must decide between stewing in her own juices and making her own fun and, in true LSP fashion, she chooses the latter option, while being sure to swipe some food from Finn’s fridge on the way. Cinnamon Bun and Manfried the Pinata provide an interlude of comic relief combined with body horror (Manfried’s insides become his outsides), the likes of which one can only find in the post-apocalyptic Candy Land that is Adventure Time.Somewhat less compelling is Marceline, Finn, and Jake’s continued quest to find the wizard Ewlbo, whose dastardly deeds have infected BMO with a nasty virus. Their segment feels just a touch overextended, even if the trio make a hell of a good team.The art, by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, is a perfect fit for the AT universe. Lisa Moore provides additional coloring for the issue and the end result is a saccharine sweet Technicolor dream. The back-up story, written by Alexis Frederick-Frost and illustrated by Andrew Arnold, is a cute meditation on the power of comics. Embedded within it is a handy instructional guide to making one’s own comics with household supplies and an important life lesson for readers, young and old: Comics are a powerful thing and one has to decide if they’re to use their creative powers for good, a la Finn and Jake, or evil, like the Ice King. It’s a no brainer, really. Don’t be the Ice King. No one likes that guy.

Melissa Grey is a lover of all things cats, comics, and tech nerditry. She can be found on MyIGN at MelissaGrey or lurking on Twitter @meligrey