Adventure Time: Marcy & Simon No. 3 review: A sad song sung again

Adventure Time’s Marcy and Simon tour the Nightosphere, while Marcy’s dad tours Simon’s memories.

Adventure Time Presents Marcy & Simon No.3 Cover by Danielle Chuatico (Courtesy Cartoon Network, published by Kaboom!)

You knew it would come to this. When your surrogate dad escapes the possession of a cursed crown and regains his sanity, but then starts losing his memory, you just know you’re going to have to journey to Hell and beg the ruler of the dead for help.

In the world of Adventure Time, that means visiting your actual father, who has never been much of a parent. It also means hoping the King of the Nightosphere–that same absent parent–will not intentionally screw you over.
As Adventure Time Presents Marcy & Simon issue three opens, Simon Petrikov’s memories have been downloaded from his old Ice King crown. With the help of young Peppermint Butler, the Lord of Evil speed-watches the history of his daughter’s friendship with Simon, growing ever more jealous as he witnesses their bond. Hunson Abadeer is a cryptic character. He’s Evil with a capital E, but he’s also evil in the same way an egomaniac is: incapable of seeing anything outside of his own frame of mind, or how it relates to him. Instead of feeling bad for missing Marceline’s childhood, or happy that she had a caring guardian, he’s resentful of their bond and plots to sabotage the restoration of Simon’s memory.

Adventure Time Presents Marcy & Simon No.3 art by Slimm Fabert (Courtesy Cartoon Network, published by Kaboom!)

Meanwhile, Marcy shows Simon around her childhood hometown and, over drinks, she attempts to explain the complexities of parent-child relationships to him. But Simon can’t help but be drawn in by Hunson Abadeer’s superficial charms. Olivia Olson continues to be great at writing in the Adventure Time characters’ voices. Marcy sounds rightly frustrated trying to explain her worries while at the same time trying to gently navigate the mental problems of her friend. Simon’s naiveté is charming and sad all at once. Baby necromancer Peppermint Butler fawns over Hunson Abadeer; in his eagerness to please the Dark Lord, he agrees to help sabotage Simon’s memory restoration. Even Finn and Jake, who do next to nothing this issue, are given a comically appropriate excuse for their sidekick status.

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Slimm Fabert’s art really shines in this chapter. I’ve noted in my previous reviews that his work, while excellent, hasn’t had a lot of flash to it. With an excuse to explore visions of Marcy’s past and show the current adult version playing a heartfelt song, Fabert is aces. The pages that show Hunson ‘flashbacking’ Marcy’s life via immersive VR goggles are clever and allow the story to cover lots of years quickly. As that scene shifts to Marceline playing at a Nightosphere open mic, the concept of the flashback doesn’t go away, but it evolves. We start seeing things from her point of view, with an emphasis that contrasts Simon’s devotion against her father’s narcissism.

Adventure Time Presents Marcy & Simon No.3 art by Slimm Fabert (Courtesy Cartoon Network, published by Kaboom!)

The three pages devoted to Marcy’s song have the lyrics to her tune float over them. Olson has sung songs as the Vampire Queen many times throughout Adventure Time’s run. You can hear her poignant voice as you read the pages. The tune is reminiscent of Babeo Baggins’ great love song “Slow Dance” from the episode “Marcy & Hunson” in season 9. It may not be as polished, but it’s still bittersweet and poetic.

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At the end of this issue, Marceline’s father serves his self-interest, because that’s who he is, and we’re left on another cliffhanger. There are still three issues to go, and if the writing and art stay on point, they’ll all be worth reading.

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