#megamind comic

I feel like I really hit a groove with this one! <3

FAN THEORY THURSDAY – Are the Megamind Comics Canon?

Special thanks to Big-Dick-Garfield for requesting this week’s topic. Thank you for being awesome!

And, just when you thought it was safe to scroll through your Tumblr feed, it happens again: SPOILER WARNING!

There are several comic books related to our favorite blue villain-turned-hero, but there is some debate among fans concerning whether or not these can really be considered canon. There are several reasons for this, ranging from the somewhat more juvenile tone to some of the content, but in the end fan’s opinions are just that: opinions. Is there any evidence to support the Megamind-verse validity, or lack thereof, of these graphic novels? Let’s take a look!

Let me begin by saying that there is a differentiation made between the four-edition comic series, Megamind: Bad Blue Brilliant, and the prequel comic, The Reign of Megamind. Fans generally accept the former as canon while there is far more debate surrounding the latter.

This is hardly surprising as The Reign of Megamind is closer in tone to the film and keeps much of the same snarky humor. Offering insight into Megamind's villainous past, it seems to keep the same balance of dangerous darkness and slightly sweet, almost goofy, energetic humor we've come to expect from the blue alien. Furthermore, according to IMDb, was originally released at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International as part of DreamWorks’ promotion for the movie. This alone lends it more legitimacy in the eyes of many.

It doesn’t stop there, however. On the title page, The Reign of Megamind specifically states that it was “prepared for DreamWorks” as well as featuring art by DreamWorks animators. Even the director of the film Megamind, Tom McGrath, receives special thanks. All of this combined leaves little room for doubt that this particular comic can be considered canon.

As far as Bad Blue Brilliant is concerned, the question remains more open. I reached out the DreamWorks Animation and to the original creators via Twitter, but as of yet have not received any feedback on whether these comics are considered canon, non-canon, or pseudo-canon. This leaves us to consider other evidence in search of an answer.

Unlike The Reign of Megamind, Bad Blue Brilliant sometimes comes across as more childish than the film. (I mean, the dance-off at high school prom is frankly just absurd.) However, some other aspects do seem far more in-character for Megamind, Minion, and even Roxanne. Depending on the particular episode--all of which were created by different people--fans can feel more or less inclined to accept the content as legitimate.

Beyond this, it contains no art by DreamWorks animators and offers no specific gratitudes to anyone associated with the film. It is, however, copyrighted to both DreamWorks and to Ape Entertainment, who created it. Furthermore, this is not the only title related to the animation company that Ape Entertainment produced during its existence. Comics based on Shrek and Madagascar, along with a three-edition series called DreamWorks Adventures, all appeared on the comic book publisher's catelogue.

Is this really enough to consider these short graphic novels fully canon, however? Many fans say no, and they may be right. According to a 2009 article on CBR, David Hedgecock, then an artist and co-publisher at Ape Entertainment, spoke about approaching DreamWorks and coming to an agreement.

“At the suggestion of a good friend, we approached DWA in February and had the majority of the agreement wrapped up by Comic-Con this past summer. Since then, we've just been working on making cool comics and waiting for the right time to announce… we put together a plan that was conservative, sensible, and easily executed, and then we presented it to DWA with… A little common sense and a lot of passion."

This seems to indicate that, while Ape Entertainment certainly had a deal with DreamWorks, the animation studio merely agreed to give the comic book publisher the rights to create short graphic novels based upon their films, and were not themselves involved in the content. If that’s true, it’s a major difference between Bad Blue Brilliant and The Reign of Megamind, and it calls the canonical value of the former into question. However, as DreamWorks did provide the rights to create the Ape Entertainment comics, it’s difficult to denounce them as entirely non-canon. It’s unclear how much veto power DreamWorks may have had over the content of Megamind: Bad Blue Brilliant. While the content of these graphic novels should be taken with a grain of salt, they may also provide much-needed insight into the blue man’s life after becoming a hero. And there are certainly some compelling fan theories based upon Bad Blue and Brilliant, making it hard to disregard completely. (This is why I occasionally use details from this comic series as support for suppositions, but typically draw from other sources as well and remind readers that these may not be entirely canon.)

I know, I know, that does little to alleviate the confusion. So what’s the answer, then? As best as I can deduce from the evidence, The Reign of Megamind is fully canon while Bad Blue Brilliant can only be considered pseudo-canon. While the former should definitely be treated as a legitimate part of the Megamind universe, the former can be accepted or ignored at fans’ discretion. That’s not a perfect answer, but until we hear something official from someone associated with DreamWorks, it’s the best we have.

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Megamind’s Apple - page 3

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At long last, the return of our valiant hero, Megamind! Though maybe next time he should take more time to analyze the situation before he goes barging in. Hey, we all make mistakes!

The brainbots Toil and Trouble are brought to you by the wonderful @true-blue-megamind, who named our little dynamic duo.