‘Adventure Time’ Gets A New Spin From Award-Winning Cartoonist Caroline Cash

Detail from Cover of Adventure Time: The Bubbline College Special from Oni Press, October, 2025.

Art by Caroline Cash/Oni Press

Fans of the classic 2010s-era Cartoon Network animated series Adventure Time are in for a treat when the standalone 56-page Adventure Time: The Bubbline College Special #1 (Oni Press) hits stores on October 1, but no fan is more excited to see it come out than Caroline Cash, the award-winning independent comics creator who wrote and drew the story.

“I’ve been a fan of the show since it came out,” said Cash in a phone interview. “As a gay teenager, I was obsessed with the show because I thought it was so clever and funny, and I still do. Since the show ended, I didn’t think I would ever have a chance to work on anything Adventure Time related, so this has been a bit of a dream come true.”

The one shot story takes place in an alternate universe (part of the Adventure Time canon) and tells the backstory of Princess Bubblegum and Merceline, two characters from the show whose contentious relationship suggested some lingering romantic tension that stoked fan enthusiasm until it eventually paid off in the series finale.

Cash says that watching the show as a teenager, the dynamic captivated her. “There was so much censorship at the time. This might have been before gay marriage was even legal,” she said. “It’s not necessarily an easy thing to get that approved on a children’s animated series. So I wanted to play on that fan-fiction trope: characters in the TV show, but back when they were in college together, instead of being set in the established world of the series. The plot is that they meet in college, sparks fly, and what can you say? It’s a little rom-com.”

For Cash, 29, whose humorous semi-autobiographical series PeePee PooPoo (Silver Sprocket) won an Eisner Award for best limited series in 2024, taking on Adventure Time brings her career full circle. She says her interest in the show led her to comics created by members of the creative team including Michael Deforge (Ant Colony), Jilian Tamaki (Roaming) and Steve Wolfhard, and from there to the fertile 2000s-era indie scene whose influence is everywhere in the “Cal Arts” style that has dominated kids animation for the past 15 years. She said she also read the comics that came out at the time, which featured work by prominent creators like Kate Beaton (Ducks) and Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie).

“When I saw that Oni Press had picked up the Adventure Time license from Boom! Studios a few years ago, I sent them a note saying I would be interested in pitching some ideas,” she said. Eventually, editor Megan Brown responded and Cash got to work on the book.

“For years, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline have been the Couple of All Time (yes, capitalization required),” said Brown. “We’re so incredibly excited to explore a fun, alternate universe romp with these, dare I say, utterly iconic sapphic soulmates, created by the deft and talented hand of writer/artist Caroline Cash. This comic is unapologetically queer, and we are very excited to get to answer the age old question: what would Bubblegum and Marceline be like in college…?”

Even though doing an Adventure Time story is an “achievement unlocked” moment for Cash, she has been busy on a variety of other fronts. Last month, it was announced that she is taking over the long-running, iconic newspaper strip Nancy when (pseudonymous) cartoonist Olivia James decided to move on.

“Nancy is more visual humor, almost slapstick,” said Cash. “Also it’s a daily strip. I can land the same kind of gags I do in my longer form work, but I have to be much more efficient.”

Like Adventure Time, Nancy has a devoted fan base. “It’s divided between older gentlemen, who see [longtime classic Nancy cartoonist] Ernie Bushmiller as a god, and young, heavily tattooed punks,” she said. “I’ve won one of those groups over, you know? But anytime someone takes over a strip, it becomes a new thing. I just hope people give it a chance.”

Cash also found time for work on another licensed IP, Godzilla. She admits the giant kaiju superstar holds less of a place in her heart than Adventure Time, but she was happy to get a call from IDW editor Jake Williams, an old friend from the indie scene in Chicago. “He saw the stuff I was self-publishing and he liked it. When he was in charge of this project called Godzilla vs. Chicago, he invited me to do a story.”

In earlier eras of the comics industry, independent creators like Cash who aspired to greater visibility and bigger paychecks would gradually climb the ladder to work on established IPs. The difference is that now, the established publishers are seeking out creators who forged their own path, their own voice and their own following as a way to add authenticity to corporate-owned licenses.

Cash is comfortable with that model to the extend that the IPs fit her interests and style. “If I were to draw Spider-Man, that would be weird, because I don’t have any connection to that character. I’ve never read the comics. But stuff like Nancy and Adventure Time, I’ve read and loved forever. It connects to and has influenced by larger body of work so much.”

In addition to her forays into the world of commercial periodical comics, Cash says she’s hard at work on her first original long form graphic novel for Canadian prestige publisher Drawn & Quarterly. “We don’t have a title yet, but it’s going to be something like 160 pages, original fiction. These other projects put a roof over my head and tie into my creative process, but I’m still highly committed to my own projects.”