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Adventure Time Comics Reading Order

The world of Adventure Time is still expanding on television with the spin-off Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake on HBO Max, and more spin-offs to come. The popular franchise started with a short film created by Pendleton Ward that aired on Nicktoons in 2007, which led to the long-running series on Cartoon Network (10 seasons, 283 episodes).

Set in the Land of Ooo, a fantastical world shaped by the remnants of a long-past catastrophe known as the Mushroom War, the fantasy series follows the adventures of Finn, a human boy, and his close companion Jake, a magical dog with the ability to stretch and change shape, as they navigate a landscape populated by candy people, wizards, monsters, and ancient entities.

Adventure Time‘s influence extends beyond television into comics (obviously), but also video games, and other media, expanding the world of Ooo through original stories, alternate continuities, and explorations of secondary characters. The first comic book series came from Boom! Studios and was launched with Ryan North as a writer, with art by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb. It was a success and led to its own spin-offs. 

Today, however, Boom! Studios have lost the license to produce new comics, and it’s Oni Press that publishes new ones. But there’s a lot to read for fans.

Adventure Time Comics in Order: The Boom! Studios Era

Launched in 2012 under Boom!’s Kaboom! Imprint, The Adventure Time comics function as standalone stories and thematic explorations set in the Land of Ooo. Across multiple ongoing series and limited runs, they revisit familiar characters such as Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, and the Ice King, while also experimenting with alternate viewpoints, genre pastiches, and self-contained narratives.

The Ryan North-written comics, with art by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, are mostly set during seasons 2 and 3 of the TV show, even if those comics are non-canon. However, they were written in a way to avoid contradicting anything from the show. This first run lasted 35 issues.

Starting with issue #36, writer Chris Hastings and artist Zachary Sterling (before Ian McGinty took over completely with issue #50) became the creative team for the second half of the Adventure Time main ongoing series, up until issue #61, then Mariko Tamaki, Delilah S. Dawson, and Kevin Cannon wrote story arcs. Issue #75 was written by North, Hastings, and Tamaki with art by Lamb, Sterling, and McGinty.

Adventure Time: Compendium Collection

Boom! Studios doesn’t hold the license anymore and cannot reprint the comics. However, Oni Press is doing it with a compendium collection. It’s the easiest and cheapest way to get the 75 issues of the original ongoing series. 

Adventure Time: The (old) Trade Paperback Collection

What follows is the complete collection published by Boom! Studios. Not all of these books are still available as new on paper, and if Oni Press does not reprint them, they will become even harder to find.

Adventure Time Ongoing Series (2012)

Harder to find now, the “Mathematical Editions” are a series of deluxe hardcover collections that compile issues of the main Adventure Time comic series into larger, premium volumes. 

The “Sugary Shorts” were backstories published in the main Adventure Time comics from the start (up until issue #49). They were more experimental and made by various writers and artists less familiar with the lore of AT, which made the short stories often very inconsistent with the canon. There were also special issues and annuals.

The Adventure Time Miniseries (2012)

Starting in 2012, Boom! Studios extended the line with miniseries. There were two a year, 6 issues each. Like with the rest of the Adventure Time comics, they were made by indie cartoonists. The miniseries focused on side characters. Once again, they were not made to be canon, but stay close enough to it. And they were not connected to the main ongoing series and can be read separately. 

The Adventure Time Original Graphic Novels

Even if the ongoing Adventure Time series came to an end, Boom! Studios still had its line of Original Graphic Novels going (15 were published in total), written by Danielle Corsetto, Josh Trujillo, Kate Leth, Jeremy Sorese, Ashly Burch, and Pendleton Ward even wrote one alongside Leah Williams. Zachary Sterling was the main artist on the books, but others contributed too. 

The “Adventure Time Comics” to the End

In 2016, Boom! Studios launched “Adventure Time Comics,” a 25-issue anthology book done like before, with indie artists writing and drawing one-shot stories. Once the end of the show was announced, the miniseries Adventure Time: Beginning of the End was published, and later, once”season 10″ concluded, the short-lived comic book series Adventure Time Season 11 became a sequel, a direct continuation of the show (but didn’t follow the original plan announced for season 11 of the TV Show). After that came Adventure Time: Marcy & Simon, written by Olivia Olson, Marceline’s voice actor, which worked as an epilogue to the character’s story.

In 2020, Boom Studios! lost the license to the Adventure Time and other Cartoon Network properties. In 2025, Oni Press became the official home to the AT comics.

Adventure Time Comics in Order: The Oni Press Era

In 2025, Oni Press launched its first original Adventure Time ongoing series, written and drawn by Nick Winn, with backstories from Derek Ballard.

More adventures to come!

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