5 Best Video Game Comics Fans Must Read

By John Tibbetts / April 4, 2019

Adapting a video game into another medium has always been a chore, to say the very least. Video games are unlike any other storytelling medium that has been with us prior - fully interactive, with story, themes, and characters taking a backseat to simple fun.

It doesn't matter how good the story is, how compelling the characters, if a game isn't fun to play, that will be all that people care about, end of discussion. As such, some games are relatively thin in the narrative department, which can make adaptation into more story-driven mediums difficult.

But sometimes, it works. Sometimes it really, really works. Yes, despite what overplayed internet running gags have said, there have been plenty of times video games were adapted, specifically into comic books. You can also get away with a bit more silliness in a comic than a movie, so you don't need to worry about how well the mushrooms in Mario adapt to the silver screen.

Video game comic books have been around almost as long as video games themselves, and though not all have managed to capture the magic of the medium, some are genuinely great.

5. Nintendo Power Mario Comics

Nintendo Power had a bunch of comic books throughout its run, all the way up to its cancellation. While many were of decent to high quality, they paled in comparison to the comedic greatness of the Super Mario Bros. comics.

These comics didn't have much in the way of epic stories, in fact it's more similar to a really good, extended Looney Tunes short. Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool (because this was back when she was still called Toadstool) and Mario and Luigi have to go save her. Shenanigans, as they tend to, ensue.

The main appeal of this comic is, of course, the humor, as well as the highly expressive art by Charlie Nozawa. From Princess Toadstool breaking herself out of the prison Bowser throws her in, to the final battle being in a gigantic wedding cake, this comic is fourteen flavors of fun.