NMH Side Issues - Rugrats Comic Adventures
Welcome back to Nick Mag Highlights! And by extension: Welcome back to Nick Mag Highlights Side Issues, the series on this blog where I check out other magazines or comic books that are notably not Nickelodeon Magazine, but still scratch a similar itch. Today weāre taking a look at the very first issue of Rugrats Comic Adventures, based on the iconic Nickelodeon show.
But first, letās run down the history checklist. This series ran for about three years, from 1997 to 2000, spanning a total of thirty issues housed in three ten-issue volumes. That would put the release of this first issue around the time of the fourth season of the show. In that case, sorry to any Dil fans, as you wonāt be seeing him in this issue.
The history and creation of this series is a bit interesting, and although the information available to me disposal is a little scarce, this is my best understanding: you see, Rugrats Comic Adventures was released in America, but it seems like most if not all of its actual content was sourced from an official Rugrats comic book released exclusively for the UK in 1996 (a year earlier than Rugrats Comic Adventuresā release). Said comic was simply titled Rugrats and published by Marvel Comics (yes, that Marvel Comics).
The cover page of issue #1 of Rugrats, published in the UK by Marvel Comics. Credit to Boys Adventure Comics on Blogspot for the image and the information!
As youāll soon see, the first story in this issue Iām talking about today is the same as the one visible on this cover of UK Rugrats (do all UK comics print the first page on the front cover?) And according to the aforementioned Blogspot source, there were allegedly thirty issues released of this UK comic, which conveniently lines up with the thirty issues released of Rugrats Comic Adventures. A conspiracy? Maybeā¦Ā
The only problem is I donāt have a scan of any of the Rugrats UK comics at my disposal, so I canāt confirm if the contents between the issues of the UK and US series are the same, unfortunately. So hey, if weāre lucky, there may be content in store for us that was made specifically for Comic Adventures that those British-types just wish they could have gotten. Maybe.
But I digress. As some of you may know, this wouldnāt be the last time Rugrats would enter the world of comics. In 1998 a daily newspaper strip based on the show was launched, lasting until 2003 and outliving Comic Adventures by three years. The showās sequel series All Grown Up also had multiple comic outings made specially for Nickelodeon Magazine, and in 2017, Boom! Studios began publishing a new Rugrats comic series which totaled to eight issues and three longer special issues. But how did these characters fare in their first foray into comic stardom? Letās check it out!
Oh, and before we dive in, Iād like to make one thing clear: I am not a Rugrats superfan. Iāve seen my fair share of episodes of course (with how constantly Nickelodeon played it, how could I not?) But I'm just saying I may not catch specific references if there are any, or like if a comic here reuses a plot from an episode of the show, for instance. Though if anyone reading does catch a cool detail I miss, I'd love to hear about it!Ā
You can read the full issue here.
So it looks like itās five comics on the agenda today, along with two extra pages all about Chuckie and Angelica. Thatās not a bad deal! Itās more material than I bargained for, thatās for sure.
Iām pretty optimistic going into this one. I mean, check out that art! It looks just like the show. And while I can't find any credits in the book, Think some employees of Klasky Csupo had a hand in the material here?
So the story goes, Angelica sort of gets left in charge of the babies, thanks to Tommy's mom. And naturally Angelica's quick to abuse her miniscule ounce of power and starts running the backyard like a military academy. A fine premise, and a pretty low-stakes story befitting a quick comic (well, lower than the stakes a show about babies can usually have, anyway).
There are two details that kind of throw me off though, namely being: the dialogue and⦠Angelica, I guess?
Dialogue-wise, everybody's pretty talkative here and that's okay. Angelica's on point, barking orders in her usual bratty way. But all the babies are rather verbose today, aren't they? I think one of the most memorable details of Rugrats personally is the characters' loose grip on language. Pretty much every line from one of the babies in the show has at least one grammatical error or made-up word, and it's charming! Here though, all the dialogue is written in perfect English, and once you notice it, you canāt forget it.
You'd think Tommy's newfound eloquence would have Chuckie trust his plan a bit more.
Now, onto Angelica. Simply put: they made her look insane in this comic! I mean just take a look at the two pages I posted prior and see what I mean. Orrrr⦠I suppose you could look a this collage I made for the same result:
Yes, these are all from the same comic. Even Tommyās scared.
This may be my lack of Rugrats knowledge shining through again but I really donāt remember her being portrayed with a huge bulbous overbite like that. Or with that many teeth. Donāt get me wrong though, I can totally get behind some funny off-model art that I bet the artist had fun drawing. Thatās what they refer to in the industry as a āwin-winā.
But yeah, overall a pretty solid first story, which is either elevated or dishonored by taking certain artistic liberties. Depends on who you ask. Iām on Team Elevated.
Next up is a bio on Chuckie. I didnāt think there was much to share regarding the personal intricacies of a literal two-year-old, and apparently the writers here agreed, seeing as how they had to resort to doxxing the poor kid just to fill their fact quota for this page. 446 āBraintreeā Lane? Weird name, but I guess itās pretty befitting considering Chuckieās hair looks like his brain sprouted out of his head.Ā
Another cool thing of note here is that all the Chuckie facts listed here are actually references to episodes of the show. As a kid it was always an awesome feeling whenever I understood a reference. It simultaneously made me feel smart and seemingly validated my choice to engage in a piece of media. Thumbs ups all around! Thanks, Chuckie.
Second comic of the evening, and actually I found myself really enjoying this one! The gripes I had from the previous comic have been ironed out, and the setting of the story is pretty interesting and leads to a lot of fun and creative moments. The short and long of it is Tommy and the other babies accidentally end up riding on the baggage carousel of an airport and getting mixed up with all of the machinery. Naturally, instead of getting smushed and ripped apart by the gears and mechanisms like boring real babies would, the gang ends up having the time of their lives, all the while believing theyāre actually at a carnival.
Fun it is, indeed! As I said, my issues with the last comic have been effectively taken care of. All the characters are speaking as they should, dropping some funny misspellings for words like āskelitomā for skeleton and āloudsneakerā for loudspeaker. The art here is way less unhinged as well, probably because thereās no Angelica in it. Thereās still some funky shots though, like long-arm Tommy here:
A fine addition to the issue in my opinion, and it even comes with cameos from Tommyās maternal grandparents, Boris and Minka. Boris doesnāt speak a word, but he is sporting his original design that features small dot-eyes, which is a detail that would be dropped later on in the series.
I guess my only question is: why are Chuckie, Phil and Lil here? The obvious answer is because theyāre main characters, but theyāre not Stu and Didiās kids, and none of their parents are to be found. I guess the Pickles got stuck babysitting on top of having to pick up the grandparents from the airport. Poor saps.
Oh god, Angelicaās back. At least sheās seemingly sorted out her inflated lip issue from the first story. No, I won't let it go.
Todayās adventure follows the babies as theyāre getting their first ever professional photos done. Angelica is there too. These premises have been fine so far, lots of episodes of Rugrats feature the characters tackling normal everyday places theyāve never seen before and donāt understand. A large aspect about the show I also remember however is the extensive imagination sequences. Yāknow, where Tommy and the gang imagine the situation theyāre in as being way more fantastical than it really is, and their setting and outfits change accordingly? That was always my favorite part of the show and itās a little weird to see that concept not having made any appearance thus far. I know not every episode had those though, and maybe those imagination sequences were more common in later seasons of the show? Iām not sure. Regardless, that doesnāt degrade the quality of the material, of course. Itās just a thought that came to mind as I was reading.Ā
Like the others I found this comic to be a pretty good time, although the storyās a little all over the place. The artās nice as well. I actually found some of the art of the characters here to look somewhat cute, surprisingly. Thatās not exactly the kind of term Iād usually use to describe the showās visuals. Not sure what the artist here did differently specifically, but I did notice that Phil and Lilās gross crooked baby teeth donāt make an appearance, so that probably helps their easiness on the eyes.
One highlight of this comic is this small moment of divine intervention where Angelica gets attacked by a bird that comes in through an open window. She didnāt really do anything bad this time to deserve it but, eh.
And of course, the gang manages to pull themselves together to finally get that one perfect picture. I appreciate they saved two pages to make this ending shot so big. Itās a really nice way to end things. Another quality story done! Honestly at this point, the issueās fitted out a pretty positive track record. Iāll be surprised if we see any stinkers in the second half.
Oh and before we move on, I just want to bring up this small interaction from the beginning of the comic. It might be just me, but this moment just strikes me as odd. I probably wonāt be able to explain this properly, but just hear me out: Itās a little weird to see Tommy and Chuckie acknowledge theyāre not really talking, right? Like, yeah itās always been established in the show that the babies are not actually speaking real language ācause the parents never hear them, but itās not something you ever see them bring up and reference. Acknowledging that their form of communication is basically fake⦠Also the fact that they comprehend what speech is and are aware that what theyāre doing isnāt that? I dunno, I might just be overthinking this. Itās too meta!
And up next, itās what I think miiiiiiight be my favorite comic of the issue? Not entirely sure, itās a toss up between either this one or the airport one.Ā
The story is as follows: The Pickles are having their whole house repainted. As usual, the kids just canāt bear to keep their noses out whatever is currently going on in their immediate area. So, Tommy enlists the help of the gang to use all the excess paint cans to repaint his entire room with an extravagant picture.
Like the airport comic this one has lots of dialogue between the four kids, and everyone gets their fair share of good lines. Chuckie does kind of come across as a little more whiny than usual here if only for the fact he never actually helps at all, outside of helping Phil and Lil save Tommy from smashing his head on the floor with a blanket.
āWe- Weāve been⦠Greened!ā might be my favorite line of the whole issue.
And as one could expect, the group made up of 0-to-2-year olds donāt exactly succeed in professionally painting the entire room. However, they instead manage to mess up in just the perfect way to still achieve the result they wanted. Being serious, this is genuinely a pretty wholesome ending and Tommyās parents also being happy with the result is equally humorous and sweet.Ā
Yeah, now that I think about it, Iām pretty sure this is my favorite story of the issue. Tons of great lines and gags, a sweet ending, and a major appearance of my favorite character from the show, Grandpa Lou. A good show all around!
Well, after my high praise of the previous post, I guess that means this last comic has something to live up to. And yeah, under that lens, this comic isnāt going to be usurping my #1 favorite spot. Viewed on its own, however, and⦠eh, still doesnāt really do anything for me.
This one has Tommy accidentally getting stuck on top of his dadās new custom stunt kite as it gets blown away by a gust of wind, flying him through town. Already that plot is kinda off, to me at least. I know itās a show about talking babies and everything but the show never really got that cartoonish in its logic, at least to my recollection. Tommy must have to be basically hollow on the inside for the kite to get that kind of air with him sitting on top of it.
On the positive side of things: the art is really good! Each panel sports its own unique camera angle which gives the comic some nice visual variety. The coloring and details on all the backgrounds, likewise, are lovely to look at. Overall this presentation makes for a very extravagant ending for the comic, at least in the art department. And to top it all off, it's even got the return of long arm Tommy:
But again, in regards to the story⦠Even if youāre willing to accept the weird logic of it all, the actual plot isnāt super entertaining. Tommy flies around a bit, some people see him and are surprised, while Angelicaās down below using Stuās radio trying to order Tommy to land. Itās just a bit lacking in substance compared to the other stories weāve looked at. If youāre going to do a story like this, you might as well go all in. Like, have all the babies on the kite and pretend theyāre a flight crew. Y'know, some real Snoopy-type stuff.
And of course, Tommy makes it back down to the ground just in time before his Dad can notice a thing (although itās not like he really had control of the kite anyway, I think?)
But thatās about all Iāve got to say on this one. Not the great ending one would have hoped for, but it looks nice at least. Come to think of it, Stu could make a killing off that kite considering the amount of weight it can hold. If only he knewā¦
And last but⦠not least? Itās a guide from Angelica on how to play house. I was kind of hoping for another character bio like what Chuckie had, since then weād at least be able to learn her weaknesses and have a chance of vanquishing her evil once and for all. But alas, this is cool too, and it has a mention of her friend Susie, who had been a character in the show for a couple years now by this point but didnāt manage to make an actual physical appearance in the issue.
Bit of an odd way to end the issue, being honest, but eh, itās a little funny.
And before we wrap it up Iād like to bring up the little legal disclaimer here on the final page, confirming that all these comics were indeed sourced from the origins Marvel-published UK Rugrats issues.
Well, that was fun, wasnāt it? I was a little skeptical going into it, but I think this turned out to be a pretty good choice for another installment of Side Issues. It had a history lesson opportunity, some great art, and a lot to talk about. Everything you could want, at least if you write blog posts about old Nickelodeon-related publications in your spare time, anyway.Ā
And hey, thereās more to this series than what Iāve shown you today, too. Did you know the last issue featured a crossover between Rugrats and Rocket Power, another one of Klasky Csupoās shows?
Thatās pretty cool! And also a little odd ācause I thought Rocket Power took place in Hawaii. This also means the only Nickelodeon-owned Klasky Csupo show that Rugrats didnāt cross over with is As Told by Ginger, and to be fair Iām not sure how you couldāve made that work, so Iāll let it pass.
But yeah, if I check out this comic series again, I think Iāll take a look at this issue. Well, actually if I do check out this series again itāll have to be this issue, since itās the only other issue on the Internet Archive I could find. Thatās a bummer! Hopefully peopleāll find and scan more copies sooner rather than later. The internet will only be around for so long, after all.
This would be where I end things, but while I was working on this post, Nickelodeon announced a new Rugrats game of all things.
Itās a bit of a shock, but I think whatās more shocking is that it looks pretty good! The NES graphics mode does, anyway. The HD drawn graphics you can optionally switch to leave something to be desired. It seems fun! Iāll be keeping an eye on this one.Ā And apparently Nickelodeonās got a couple more retro-styled games in the works, so Iām excited to see where this goes.
That about does it for this episode of Nick Mag Highlights! Iāll see you all next time, where Iāll most certainly be checking out another issue of the actual magazine this blog is named after. Probably. See you later, and have a good one!













