by JJ Anderson

Ok, listen. I know there are probably endless articles on Adventure Time. I might repeat what's been said a bit. But it has to be said that Adventure Time is one of the most well developed shows around at the moment. Pendleton Ward and his staff of writers know how to weave Comedy and Drama throughout the seasons that their show has been running. First we get introduced to two of the main characters of the show Jake the dog, and Finn the human. Already, the people running the show present the audience with an intriguing premise. Why is "the human" added after his name? You come to find out Finn is an anomaly in this world and if anything, Jake the magic ability-to-stretch-and-form-himself-into-anything dog is much more normal in this world. Finn, while not magic at all, does possess the regular heroic traits that you find in classic tales. He has struggles and perseveres through them. Jake has his own problems in later seasons, when he becomes a dad and the writers show how he has to mature quickly.

These really are the base characters as you plainly see when you watch the show over time, but I assume Pendleton Ward wanted to show people how in-depth his fantasy world was. So, he starts introducing all these fascinating characters. Of all of these, probably my most favorite: the Ice King, such a tortured character. He comes off as a creep in the early parts, well actually, throughout the whole series, but there are episodes that give backstory on why he acts the way he does. What the crown on his head really means. Very hard-hitting stuff now that I think about it. To see what he and Marceline went through and the courage he had to save her, it's hard not to tear up a bit.

This really is what makes me love the show. The character development is so excellent. I really root for the characters and throughout it laugh at all the random jokes that are sprinkled throughout, jokes that in fact, seem a bit out of place on Cartoon Network. Adventure Time is now in it's own tier in my mind. Community used to be, but that's a whole different subject.