Licensed Comics

What are some actually good comics based on cartoons that do a genuine service to the property? I think the original Marvel Rocko comics were good from what I remember, but then you also have the Boom comics.

Licenseshit work period if they satisfy the following

Is there an active fanbase for this IP let alone that would read comics?

Does this licensed comic remind or even accentuates to the reader why they love the IP to begin with?

Is there something in this comic that the reader can't get anywhere else from the IP?

If canon to the source material, do the stories not feel like filler?

Is there a sizable talent pool willing and eager to work on this IP as a licensed comic?

Otherwise they come across as well, filler
Glorified cheaply made accessories
Lower than direct to DVD movies

The best licensed cartoon comics in my experience are

DC's Cartoon Network stuff

Especially KND since Warburton wrote almost if not all of them) but special shout-out to Block Party

SpongeBob Comics

They were a passion project by Hillenburg himself and they got all sorts of industry talent (ranging from notable small press figures to the likes of Ramona Fradon doing Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stories) and show talent on board.
Barnacle Boy's original incarnation (Barnacle Bill) in the first show bible even makes an appearance in issues years before we even knew he was in said show bible IIRC

Bongo's Simpsons and Futurama comics

I haven't read all of them but what I've read of them were pretty good
I think they also got all sorts of talent like what SpongeBob had which checks out since they helped distribute them

OP here, I was going to loosely compare them to licensed video games, describing that whereas those are often just bad games, bad comics can spit in the face of the characters and be an insulting representation of the series by the usual people who shouldn't be allowed to touch the property, like with Rocko's Modern Afterlife. Your comparison is apt as well.
Regular Show also got tumblred by Boom to some degree, and generally struggled to keep the tone of the show by people who'd probably be better off writing Adventure Time or Steven Universe characters. Just these two cases already led me to avoid Boom's output completely. Just seemed like the writers/artists pool were the typical people yanked from social media.

I vaguely know about DC's CN releases but never got to checking them out. Glad to hear a positive reaction to them. That's awesome Warbuton was involved with KND's. Same with Spongebob's talent, I only read a couple of those as a kid, I'll check them out too. Never tried Bongo's yet either so I'll keep that noted. I only knew Futurama had comics because of the panel floating around of nude Leela (which is at least a good sign they weren't too afraid to do humor like that.)

Thanks for the rundown, anon. I get a hunch older comics are usually a more natural and appropriate extension of the IP than modern attempts, which isn't surprising.

Also regarding magazines, Nickelodeon Magazine didn't cover as many cartoons in their comics section as you'd think.
I thought the Avatar comics that came with them were neat growing up but they lean more heavily on the comedic side for obvious reasons.
But what was also there (Jimmy Neutron, Danny Phantom, at least one MLAATR comic, etc) was still enjoyable even if it can't be at the length of a full issue.
I loved growing up with these magazines as a kid and while a full re-release isn't available there is a fan project meant to archive them proper (but it's been on hiatus).
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15mB33aiMoQU8_UCZlXoebF3X8SeqmbW_kyAz7VU2zkU
If you like the direct market's SpongeBob comics, odds are you'll enjoy what Nickelodeon Magazine has (including the non-licensed comics they featured).
As for Disney Adventures, Fantagraphics released a compilation of comics from the magazine with the full list seen here.
ducktalks.com/2023/07/06/fantagraphics-disney-one-saturday-morning-adventures-review/
Frankly a bunch of these shows came out before my time so I can't comment (or if they're even available period on the Internet Archive) if they do the shows justice or not.
I also forgot to mention this but I've heard good things about the Rugrats comic strips and there were Rugrats comics but most of it is at risk of being lost media (they were published by Marvel UK and Simon Furman even wrote them).
Compared to the later Boom Studios published comics, the art is far more show accurate if deviations are a deal-breaker to you.
If you enjoy the comics from this sort of pool of talent, I strongly recommend trying out their original works.
Jacob Chabot's Mighty Skull Boy Army got storytimed last week and Scott Roberts' Patty Cake series was storytimed last year.

Oh yeah, heads up the SpongeBob comics haven't been fully scanned yet and there's no sign of a re-release collecting every story published in both Nickelodeon Magazine and the direct market ongoing series.
Honestly I'm just rather surprised given the efforts people go through to investigate lost media and you know, it's fucking SpongeBob.
I should also mention the three issue Family Guy miniseries published by Devil's Due
Is the art good?
Not really
Is it funny?
Personally, it got me chuckling more than the show has in ages
The writer did write for the show but it's only two episodes

Some people argue Jim Zub's Samurai Jack run had a better ending than the actual finale but I think they're just bitter over it
It's fun for what it's worth (and I think Genndy complimented it even though it wasn't his vision), even has a Rule 63 issue with Jack and the Scotsman

I think Mark Russell's Flintstones deserves a mention
It's not at all accurate to the show but Anon Babble fucking loved it when it was coming out

ngl i'm oddly fond of the garfield comics due to davis' willingness to let other artists draw in their styles rather than his

Not a cartoon, but IDW's Back To The Future comics are pretty damn good.

Pat McHale wrote the first Over the Garden Wall miniseries published by Boom and it takes place in between episodes

Gravity Falls Lost Legends had every story written by Alex Hirsch himself with pretty strong talent on the art

I have a couple Nick Mags, yeah I remember being surprised hearing they did some like Angry Beavers at least once (I think the creator of that did the strip. Not one I own but saw around.) I've never seen the Jimmy, Danny, and MLAATR ones though. Thanks for sharing what's available, I'll definitely look into them. Maybe both were non-licensed but I remember Scene but Not Heard and the girl and grandpa on a boat, those were neat. I think Scene but Not Heard eventually got a book?

I forgot Disney made those. Glad they got a comp, sounds pretty cool. Not sure I've seen old Rugrats comics so I'm not surprised they're hard to find. I know someone posted Boom's one time here and it had the parents obsessed with modern technology and something something internet drones not unlike Rocko's Afterlife. I guess it was at least argued the parents relying on the internet was an extension of them believing crackpot books. Still too obsessively modern for me iirc. I do prefer more grounded (or accurate) styles. Regular Show's and Rocko's Afterlife's were exaggeratedly ugly way too often, pic related. Boom Rugrats' art was off to me too but in the opposite direction. Like it felt like cutesy tumblr fanart or something.

If you enjoy the comics from this sort of pool of talent, I strongly recommend trying out their original works. Jacob Chabot's Mighty Skull Boy Army got storytimed last week and Scott Roberts' Patty Cake series was storytimed last year

Nice, keeping that noted. Thanks for such an extensive overview man.

Damn I forgot about that. Someone storytimed it awhile back I think. It's insanely stock art tier like a website comic creator game but I do remember it being entertaining. Having a show writer of any degree involved made it a pretty good example that sometimes stuff like that can still be of value. I never would've remembered that if it wasn't mentioned.

Maybe both were non-licensed but I remember Scene but Not Heard and the girl and grandpa on a boat, those were neat. I think Scene but Not Heard eventually got a book?

Had a release in 2013 published by Top Shelf
Same deal as Shark Hunters in 2004 (I think there were stories released in the magazine that came after this though) which had a pilot for a cartoon in 2006
youtube.com/watch?v=R58HIMG5iFI
Jay Stephens' comics he did for Nickelodeon Magazine (Jetcat and Bug Patrol) got collected in a crowdfunder along side every Jetcat related comic published sans the comics strips, Oddville and Welcome to Oddville, which have their own collected releases.
Jetcat & Friends is out of stock physically, hasn't been scanned/ripped, but is still available digitally on his site if you're curious.
There was a storytime of at least most of Jetcat comics recently but the image quality wasn't the best since most of it hasn't been properly scanned (aside from the Jetcat Clubhouse solo issues).
desuarchive.org/co/thread/148349803/
Patty Cake unfortunately hasn't had a full re-release yet (only a few out of print trades that don't cover everything) and it's a shame given it has a shockingly robust history and there's actual lost media since Roberts uploaded some stuff on a now defunct webcomics site that wasn't saved properly on the Internet Archive.

Nice, keeping that noted. Thanks for such an extensive overview man.

You can find the Mighty Skullboy Army storytime still on the catalog
It's only Volume 1 but Volume 2 is available to rent off of the internet archive
Patty Cake storytimes can be found here
desuarchive.org/co/thread/143997720/
desuarchive.org/co/thread/146138368/#146139071
I'd like to talk about more if possible but I've got to sleep

I mainly know of those from that finale scene people would bring up back then. Definitely wouldn't mind checking them out. Probably saw the R63 issue posted at some point knowing anons.

Similarly I only know that for the "we participated in a genocide, Barney" panel if it's the same thing. I have no idea what the hell happens in the rest but I guess I wouldn't mind looking into it at least. I remember there being a weird trend of Hanna Barbera series getting edgy realistic comics. Scooby had some shitty looking apocalypse one and I remember seeing anons talk about a Snagglepuss one where he was definitively gay. I wouldn't mind figuring out what the Flintstones one was like if nothing else.

That'd be interesting, even if I assume some artstyles wouldn't always appeal to me. Most of the value of Garfield to people now is seeing how he's interpreted through others. As long as it's not obnoxiously subversive like gorefield (which, I wouldn't imagine) or has shitty modern writing (which I can imagine, like with Jon being a loser and dropping "beta male" lingo since even Rocko's Afterlife did that) then I'd think it'd be neat. It would be nice to see simple, nice Garfield content again.

Never heard of those, I enjoyed the movies and wouldn't mind checking them out. Nice to hear the solid praise.

I remember really wanting to check those out awhile back but never did and forgot, probably because I got stuck deciding if I wanted to buy and read them physically first or read them online then buy them if I liked them. Thanks a lot for the reminder.

I did read that. I don't recall disliking anything in it or anything dumb being slipped in which was a miracle since it was post-show when Alex was already going off the deep end on Twitter. I remember it being fun. Also iirc it tried to redeem Mabel in some way which meant admitting they mishandled her.

Had a release in 2013 published by Top Shelf. Same deal as Shark Hunters in 2004

Sweet, and I haven't seen that pilot.

bimbo becky

bleached-blonde becky

lmao. Also an obscure role by Hynden Walch, awesome. Maybe the person who did Krumm in Real Monsters as Stephen? I wonder how they got Hoffman. Anyway that's cool about all the releases (and a shame for what wasn't.) Thanks for directing me to the storytimes as well.

I'd like to talk about more if possible but I've got to sleep

No sweat man, thanks a ton. Have a good one. Thread may or may not be around later since I also gotta rest but this has been a solid time.

This was very close to just being another negative thread on the catalog, since I was originally going to ask about more examples of comics like Rocko's Afterlife that feel like an insult to the IP, since I actually was curious about all the ways something like that has happened. If a negative topic was presented it had a higher chance of responses anyway. But at the last second I rewrote it to focus on my main curiosity which was simply finding good tie-in comics, expecting a couple responses. This has been a pleasant surprise, I appreciate everyone's replies. It's nice when things work out. Haven't engaged with anons like this in a long time.

Nickelodeon Magazine didn't cover as many cartoons in their comics section as you'd think.

They did make quite a lot, most of the Nicktoon-based ones can be found here (at the top of my head I know some Mighty B and SpongeBob ones are missing)
archive.org/details/NickMag-Comics-WebRip/

GI Joe and Transformers are still technically "licenseshit". There's so many great eras and Energon U is awesome.

The Hanna Barbera Beyond stuff done by DC a few years ago was a mixed bag but some of them were great: Future Quest and Ennis' Dastardly & Muttley and The Flintstones were great. The DC crossovers were fun. Jetsons was not bad/overlooked. Scooby Apocalypse is not "good" but fascinating.

Honestly the current WB comics from Dynamite are fun too: Space Ghost and Johnny Quest and Herculoids are all clearly labors of love from the writers. Same with Thundercats which is really trying to build up the lore.

Weisman is back to Gargoyles and I've been enjoying it.

The He-man crossovers/minis from DC now Dark Horse that are written by Tim Seeley and/or drawn by Freddie Williams III are fun.

Like said, there's actual comic professionals who seem genuinely interested in doing something with these franchises and arent just writing filler

Erik Burnham's Ghostbusters stuff from IDW was good up until they forced him to incorporate the 2016 women cast.

The new minis from DH are just filler slop tying into the new (bad) movies

simpsons ones.

This seems pretty lame

Family Guy style of humor doesn't really translate well into comics in my opinion

The comic was essentially a proper continuation of Mark Evanier's work from the Garfield & Friends cartoon, with some light updating where appropriate (Vito from the CGI cartoon is the primary Italian chef of the neighborhood, Jon and Liz are an official couple, etc.)

The book did its own version of the Garfield's Nine Lives special, with each story done up by different artists.

That's for true.

Teen Titans Go

What's he gonna do to her

her

Nermal's a boy

Ironic to hear this because I actually hated the later comics that did the different art styles of the comic book.

The Garfield comic books where great when the actual paws inc artists were working on it and the art was on model to the comic strip, so the first few comic issues or so. And having Mark Evanier as the head writer made them feel like a continuation to Garfield and Friends with Garfield Show references.

I actually meant how on an issue to issue basis most of the comics in a single issue weren't from an established Nickelodeon cartoon (at least from what I can remember/have re-read through the Internet Archive)
Granted that could just boil down to some shows lasting longer than others and these issues coming out months apart so a show like SpongeBob naturally gets way more stories than say, El Tigre.
I know Avatar had enough to warrant its own trade re-release (with FCBD stories as well)

i think the common cold plot bongo futurama comics they did was actually better than the common cold plot reboot futurama did.

If some British guy or Jonathan Hickman did this people would call it kino