Summary
Finn and Jake’s legacy doesn’t end with their last canonical appearances inAdventure Time. Audiences will recall that the episode “Together Again” ofAdventure Time: Distant Landsreveals that Finn and Jake have both died in the distant future and that they reunite in the afterlife. Before passing on, Finn asks Death to be reincarnated — and fans can see Finn’s reincarnated form in a comic published seven years earlier.
Finn’s wish comes tofruition in theAdventure Timecomics througha new character named Penelope, a future version of Finn,who makes her on-panel debut inAdventure Time#25 by Ryan North, Dustin Nguyen, Jess Fink, Jeffrey Brown, Jim Rugg, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb.
Twenty-five issues later, it’s revealed that Penelope is actually a future, reincarnated version of Finn — which has major implications for not only the show itself and its canon, but the relevance of the comics that were released congruently alongsideAdventure Time.
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Finn and Jake’s Post-Adventure TimeReincarnations Have Been Revealed
Adventure Time#25 by Ryan North, Dustin Nguyen, Jess Fink, Jeffrey Brown, Jim Rugg, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb, Chris O’Neill, and Steve Wands
In the aforementioned episode ofAdventure Time: Distant Lands, when Finn and Jake meet again in the afterlife, they decide to be reincarnated together in hopes of returning to life in new forms for more adventures. However, canonically speaking,this episode is where fans last leave the duo, as there is no follow-up after. The episode came out in 2021, andwhile an older Finnwould appear in 2023’sFionna and Cake, Distant Landscanonically takes places several years deep into the future, deeper than eitherAdventure TimeorFionna and Cake.
Intentional or not, this is a major thread that connects the comics and the show to each other, highlighting what may have happened to Finn and Jake post-reincarnation.
Meanwhile, Penelope’s appearances in theAdventure Timecomics take place even further into the future, long after the events ofDistant Lands. The comics themselves were released in 2014, whereas the episode where Finn and Jake are dead first aired in 2021. Despite the fact that thecomics are not technically trueAdventure Timecanon, this is too strong of a connection to ignore. Intentional or not, this is a major thread that connects the comics and the show to each other,highlighting what may have happened to Finn and Jake post-reincarnation.
TheAdventure TimeComics Are Officially Must-Read
Available Now from BOOM! Studios
The validity of theAdventure Timecomic books has long been debated by fans, critics, and even creators. Each fan may have a different, conflicting opinion, as some say that they are not canon at all, while others say the comics are worth at least considering including in the canon. The status of Penelope and how perfectly she fits into the narrative following the ending ofAdventure Time: Distant Landsadds validity to that latter statement, but more than anything, it offers another reason why the comics are a must-read for fans ofAdventure Time,whether it deepens the lore or not.
Adventure Time
Cast
Adventure Time is a science fiction/fantasy animation from Cartoon Network. Adventure Time follows Finn (Jeremy Shada) and his dog Jake (John DiMaggio) as they go on adventures in the near future. The series was created by Pendleton Ward and ran for a total of 10 seasons on the network. Adventure Time was critically acclaimed while it was on the air and managed to pull in younger audiences, as well as adults.
