Follow TV Tropes

Following

Comic Book / Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cc6e99bcc7da9f9356cdd72c1f2e76d9-d55whor-2_9008.jpg
Left to right: Paul, Peter, Ace and Gene. Oh wait...note 

A six-issue spin-off to the Adventure Time comic book series, starring Marceline and Princess Bubblegum. It's written by Meredith Gran.

Marceline starts her own rock band, the titular Marceline and the Scream Queens, which includes bandmates Keila (a fellow vampire and lead guitarist), Bongo (a ghost and drummer), and Guy (a mysterious, rather human-looking individual and keyboardist), with Marcie being the lead singer, bassist and composer.

Bubblegum at first dismisses her band's music as "brainless mind goo". But upon seeing the band play in her music festival, PB changes her mind, seeing that the group does have a passion for it and is not just all about image as she first thought. However, Marcie isn't convinced the band is going to take their tour seriously and frets on how to keep them focused. PB offers to come with them to be their manager and help them out, which Marceline accepts. PB puts Jake in charge as temporary king of the Candy Kingdom (bringing BMO along for some reason) before setting off with Marcie on her tour.


Marceline and the Scream Queens has the following tropes:

  • Alternate Continuity: Like its parent comic series. The most notably divergence is showing another vampire, while the cartoon would later show Marceline to be the only one left.
  • And the Adventure Continues: Though PB has to go back to looking after her kingdom, she parts with the Scream Queens on good terms and the band head out to do another world tour.
  • Beehive Hairdo: Keila
  • Berserk Button: Marcie has a number of them here that it nearly slides into Hair-Trigger Temper:
    • Being told she's not punk enough
    • Someone mispronouncing the band's name
    • Getting any kind of negative reviews of her band.
  • Canon Foreigner: Marcie's bandmates.
  • Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: In issue two, during a meeting with Slicko. Marcie keeps focusing on his enormous red-lips, not helped that she hadn't eaten anything yet. It takes much willpower to keep her from attacking him. Not so much during the concert.
  • A Day in the Limelight: The backup short story "Fruit Salad Days" features Lemongrab, and "The Bootlegger" features the Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun duo that would be the subject of the subsequent spin-off Candy Capers.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Bubblegum has a dream at the beginning of the third issue of Marceline and the band being attacked on stage by a giant monster. It gets fulfilled at the climax, but the monster is actually an insane Marceline.
  • Flat Character: Keila and Bongo who get very little screen time in comic. Meredith just seems to have trouble trying to find something for them to do through the whole series.
  • G-Rated Drug: The beginning of the second issue has Bubblegum being disgusted to find the rest of the band's campsite trashed after Marcie and Keila went on a "red bender". It's played very much as an analogy to less kid-appropriate rock star behaviour.
  • Gag Lips: Slicko in the second issue.
  • Glad I Thought of It: After PB makes the suggestion to go with them and be their manager. Marcie mulls it over.
    Marceline: Lump yeah, great idea, me!
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Marceline gets jealous over PB and Guy's increasing closeness.
  • Heel Realization: Bubblegum in the 1st issue; after hearing the band play for the first time, she realizes she's been wrong about Marcie's band being nothing more than image.
    • Marcie in Issue #6 when she realizes she, quite literally, becomes a monster because she can't take criticism. She vows to learn not let it get to her in the future.
  • Hulking Out: Marceline's neuroses finally drive her to turn into a huge dragon and try to incinerate the audience at the band's final show. After Bubblegum talks her down, the audience take it as All Part of the Show.
  • Hypocritical Humor: In Issue #5, when the band head to where their gig takes place and pick their acoustic instruments. Bongo picks up some...bongos.
    Bongo: (Looking it over) What's this thing suppose to be?
  • Lead Bassist: Marceline's role.
  • Misblamed: Marcie perceives one bad review to interpret what her entire fanbase thinks of her music. She's wrong of course but doesn't seem to realize it.
    • Issue 6 reveals it was Lumpy Space Princess who wrote it, though only as a twisted way of expressing her love for the band.
  • Nobody Loves the Bassist: Averted. The bassist is Marceline, after all!
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Guy.
    • Turns out this is a lie, issue 5 reveals he's actually just a shapeshifter who can't remember his original form.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: A minor example.
    Bubblegum: I know tons about rock music...
    Marceline: Uh huh. Remember when you thought Iggy Pop was a soda?
    Bubblegum: That was ages ago!
  • Poorly Disguised Pilot: The backup short "The Bootlegger", featuring Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun as detectives, would later be developed into the comic miniseries Candy Capers, which has the same set-up and is written by the writer and the artist of the short.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Bubblegum gives a deliberately vicious one of these to Marceline at the end, after kindly attempts to talk her down have failed. Marceline is so angry at Bubblegum's insults that she realises that her own fears along the same lines are just depression talking.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Judging by the front cover of the first issue...
  • Shapeshifter Identity Crisis: Guy's actual dark secret is that he's a shapeshifter who can't remember what his "true" form was.
  • Shout-Out: Some of the comic covers are parodies of famous album covers, including the eponymous album by The Ramones and Parallel Lines by Blondie. And also Jaime Hernandez's famous punk rock show cover for Love and Rockets issue 24.
  • Ship Tease: Holy crap there's so much between Bubblegum and Marceline. There's more subtext in this comic alone than in five seasons of the show.
  • Spin-Off: A rather curious example as the comic book was only four issues in when it was announced.
  • Take That, Critics!: A In-Universe example in issue three where, after reading a bad review given to her band, Marice makes a rather somber song which more or less disses the audience. They don't seem to notice and cheer for her after it's finished.
  • Tempting Fate: At the end of the second issue, the audience chants "Red Fury" which is basically wanting Marcie to vamp out. Slicko, a record producer, encourages this and nudges her on. So she does...by biting into his rather enormous red lip.
  • Vetinari Job Security: Yeah what do you expect when you put Jake in charge of a kingdom? Answer: Lots and lots of chaos.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: If you've seen the TV show and seen Bubblegum and Marcie together, you know where this is going.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: As in the show, Marcie does this on occasion.
    • It's revealed that Guy did this so much, he can't remember his original form.

Top