Ian McGinty

One of the great thing about the Adventure Time comics -- and there are a lot of great things about the Adventure Time comics -- is how great they are for telling stories with the familiar Cartoon Network characters that you could only really tell in comics. The best example might have been the fantastic Choose-Your-Own-Adventure issue, but next week, writer Ryan North and artists Kat Philbin, Missy Pena, Becca Tobin, Liz Prince, Carey Pietsch, Jesse Tise, Ian McGinty, T. Zysk, David Cutler, Yumi Sakugawa, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb (phew) are doing it again with a special issue that's all about the cast making their own zines. That's right, everyone: If you've ever wanted to know what a zine would look like if it was made by BMO, now is your chance to find out. It's about a bear named Cool Bear, and it is amazing.

The greater population of ComicsAlliance are already huge fans of Pendleton Ward's Bravest Warriors series for Cartoon Hangover and its BOOM! Studios spinoff, but I confess that the project was stuck in my "to-do" pile while Caleb Goellner blogged about it with the expertise and enthusiasm you've come to expect from this site. Fortunately for me, Caleb's exit from CA syncs up with the arrival of Kate Leth, who takes over as the new writer of Bravest Warriors beginning with next week's issue #25. Joined by artist Ian McGinty, Leth's first issue, as it turns out, is a good entry point for new readers curious to check out just what all the fuss is about.

Pen Ward's surprisingly well-adjusted teens from the year 3085 look like they'll be cutting loose on October 23 in Bravest Warriors #13. Writer Eric M. Esquivel, artist Mike Holmes, colorist Lisa Moore, and letterer Steve Wands pit the team against the fierce "Periodic Table of Evil" on page one, and don't let up from there with a plot that involves Danny experimenting with insect poison

Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun's detective adventure continues this week in Adventure Time: Candy Capers #2, by Yuko Ota, Ananth Panagariya and Ian McGinty. This time, though? Marceline the Vampire Queen and Treetrunks are on the case. With Finn and Jake missing, PB appoints the odd couple the new heroes of the Land of Ooo. Both heroines have proven themselves capable on other adventures, but

Between the talents of writer Joey Comeau, artist Mike Holmes and cover artists Tyson Hesse, Kory Bing, Ian McGinty and Jongmee Kim, Boom! Studios is hardly has to twist anyone's arm to read its ongoing all-ages Bravest Warriors comic. Still, if they want to promise more Catbug in Bravest Warriors #13, well, that should suit everyone with a heart just fine. Boom! has provided CA with a first look at the upcoming October issue, along with the promise of more page time for perhaps the cutest new character from the year 3085.

There've been a number of Adventure Time spinoffs care of Boom! Studios over the past two years, but Yuko Ota, Ananth Panagariya and Ian McGinty's six-issue miniseries following Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun is perhaps (literally) the sweetest yet. Set to debut on July 17, Adventure Time: Candy Capers will see Princess Bubblegum's most competent servant and... most well meaning citizen set out on a hunt to find a kidnapped Finn and Jake. Boom! won't make you wait to see art from a little deeper in the series, however, and has sent CA an early look at the covers for Adventure Time: Candy Capers #4 by Mia Schwartz, Yasmin Liang, Eva Eskelinen and Michael Dialynas.

Hello Kitty, the pervasive merchandising phenomenon created by Yuko Shimizu in 1974, is easily one of the most recognized characters on the planet. For whatever reason, however, HK hasn't ever starred in a proper American comic book series...