#nmh side issue

But first, let’s 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 won’t 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 Adventures’ 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 you’ll soon see, the first story in this issue I’m 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? Maybe… 

The only problem is I don’t have a scan of any of the Rugrats UK comics at my disposal, so I can’t confirm if the contents between the issues of the UK and US series are the same, unfortunately. So hey, if we’re 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 wouldn’t 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 show’s 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? Let’s check it out!

Oh, and before we dive in, I’d like to make one thing clear: I am not a Rugrats superfan. I’ve 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! 

You can read the full issue here.

So it looks like it’s five comics on the agenda today, along with two extra pages all about Chuckie and Angelica. That’s not a bad deal! It’s more material than I bargained for, that’s for sure.

I’m 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 can’t 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 Tommy’s scared.

This may be my lack of Rugrats knowledge shining through again but I really don’t remember her being portrayed with a huge bulbous overbite like that. Or with that many teeth. Don’t get me wrong though, I can totally get behind some funny off-model art that I bet the artist had fun drawing. That’s what they refer to in the industry as a “win-win”.

But yeah, overall a pretty solid first story, which is either elevated or dishonored by taking certain artistic liberties. Depends on who you ask. I’m on Team Elevated.

Next up is a bio on Chuckie. I didn’t 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 “Braintree” Lane? Weird name, but I guess it’s pretty befitting considering Chuckie’s hair looks like his brain sprouted out of his head. 

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 they’re 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 “skelitom” for skeleton and “loudsneaker” for loudspeaker. The art here is way less unhinged as well, probably because there’s no Angelica in it. There’s 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 Tommy’s maternal grandparents, Boris and Minka. Boris doesn’t 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 they’re main characters, but they’re not Stu and Didi’s 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, Angelica’s back. At least she’s seemingly sorted out her inflated lip issue from the first story. No, I won't let it go.

Today’s adventure follows the babies as they’re 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 they’ve never seen before and don’t understand. A large aspect about the show I also remember however is the extensive imagination sequences. Y’know, where Tommy and the gang imagine the situation they’re 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 it’s 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? I’m not sure. Regardless, that doesn’t degrade the quality of the material, of course. It’s just a thought that came to mind as I was reading. 

Like the others I found this comic to be a pretty good time, although the story’s a little all over the place. The art’s nice as well. I actually found some of the art of the characters here to look somewhat cute, surprisingly. That’s not exactly the kind of term I’d usually use to describe the show’s visuals. Not sure what the artist here did differently specifically, but I did notice that Phil and Lil’s gross crooked baby teeth don’t 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 didn’t 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. It’s a really nice way to end things. Another quality story done! Honestly at this point, the issue’s fitted out a pretty positive track record. I’ll 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 won’t be able to explain this properly, but just hear me out: It’s a little weird to see Tommy and Chuckie acknowledge they’re not really talking, right? Like, yeah it’s always been established in the show that the babies are not actually speaking real language ‘cause the parents never hear them, but it’s 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 they’re doing isn’t that? I dunno, I might just be overthinking this. It’s too meta!

And up next, it’s what I think miiiiiiight be my favorite comic of the issue? Not entirely sure, it’s a toss up between either this one or the airport one. 

The story is as follows: The Pickles are having their whole house repainted. As usual, the kids just can’t 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.

”We- We’ve been… Greened!” might be my favorite line of the whole issue.

And as one could expect, the group made up of 0-to-2-year olds don’t 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 Tommy’s parents also being happy with the result is equally humorous and sweet. 

Yeah, now that I think about it, I’m 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 isn’t going to be usurping my #1 favorite spot. Viewed on its own, however, and… eh, still doesn’t really do anything for me.

This one has Tommy accidentally getting stuck on top of his dad’s 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 it’s 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 you’re willing to accept the weird logic of it all, the actual plot isn’t super entertaining. Tommy flies around a bit, some people see him and are surprised, while Angelica’s down below using Stu’s radio trying to order Tommy to land. It’s just a bit lacking in substance compared to the other stories we’ve looked at. If you’re going to do a story like this, you might as well go all in. Like, have all the babies on the kite and pretend they’re 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 it’s not like he really had control of the kite anyway, I think?)

But that’s about all I’ve 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 knew…

And last but… not least? It’s a guide from Angelica on how to play house. I was kind of hoping for another character bio like what Chuckie had, since then we’d 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 didn’t manage to make an actual physical appearance in the issue.

Bit of an odd way to end the issue, being honest, but eh, it’s a little funny.

And before we wrap it up I’d 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, wasn’t 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. 

And hey, there’s more to this series than what I’ve shown you today, too. Did you know the last issue featured a crossover between Rugrats and Rocket Power, another one of Klasky Csupo’s shows?

That’s pretty cool! And also a little odd ‘cause I thought Rocket Power took place in Hawaii. This also means the only Nickelodeon-owned Klasky Csupo show that Rugrats didn’t cross over with is As Told by Ginger, and to be fair I’m not sure how you could’ve made that work, so I’ll let it pass.

But yeah, if I check out this comic series again, I think I’ll take a look at this issue. Well, actually if I do check out this series again it’ll have to be this issue, since it’s the only other issue on the Internet Archive I could find. That’s a bummer! Hopefully people’ll 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.

It’s a bit of a shock, but I think what’s 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! I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.  And apparently Nickelodeon’s got a couple more retro-styled games in the works, so I’m excited to see where this goes.

That about does it for this episode of Nick Mag Highlights! I’ll see you all next time, where I’ll 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!

First off, I’d like to apologize for the slight delay in posting. I’m sure you know how life is. Besides, don’t think of it as me missing a week, think of it as two Nick Mag Highlights posts in one week! Be sure to check back this weekend to see if I follow through on that. Anyway, back to the topic at hand…

Now, don’t worry, I’m not changing channels on you. This bonus segment was one I had thought up as a fun way to break up the pace a bit. Nickelodeon Magazine will always be my one true calling of course, but I think it’s only fair to check out the other publications you could’ve been spending your hard-earned allowance on. 

But just what is Cartoon Network Magazine? Who made it? And how? All are deceptively simple questions, and I’m not the most certain on how to answer them myself! But here’s my best guess.

Think they had a favorite show?

From my research, Cartoon Network Magazine was published by Panini Comics, a former branch of Marvel Comics that’s now perfectly happy to work with anyone carrying the right license. Panini publishes content throughout Europe, and this ‘zine here is no exception. Indeed, eagle-eyed viewers might have already realized… This magazine is from the UK! Suppose that explains why my bright blue American eyes have never laid upon an issue of this in-person.

Cartoon Network Magazine seems to have had a pretty long lifespan, with the latest release I can find evidence for being dated to 2016! And that’s just from Panini, mind you. There’s been a few other publications bearing the Cartoon Network Magazine name, from all different countries and walks of life, but if you ask me they’re all fakers compared to what Panini’s got for us here. Why? … Well, it’s the only Cartoon Network magazine I can find on archive.org that’s not just a compilation of comics. Substance counts!

But what is all this work and no play we’ve got going on here? We’ve got a magazine to read! You can read along here.

A fairly promising start, if I do say so myself. I mean, did Nickelodeon Magazine ever have a pullout poster? Probably, but I bet it wasn’t an Ed, Edd, n Eddy poster!

Quite a lot to unpack here in the News section. Doesn’t help that it looks like Eddy rudely barged in and the magazine’s trying to squeeze in around him.

Now, I presume the idea for this page was to probably parody your average celebrity news magazine with some vapid, inconsequential gossip about the CN cast, but coming off of Nick Magazine, it’s weird to see a News section where the only tangible information is related to some long-defunct giveaways.

Speaking of which, you will quickly notice the high volume of (rather easy) trivia questions as we read on, all of which were opportunities to win some of the goodies stacked next to each question. See if you can play along, no cheating!

Also, sorry for the hold ups but I’m giving this part some special attention. This comic has simply got it all wrong. Why is Double D the one who stupidly ignored the big shark warning sign? Why is Ed written so observant and astute to the point that he’s the one delivering us the punchline? Why is he calling Double D “Edd”? Why is Eddy oinking? And why is that shark so scary!?

Coming up on our first comic, and it’s something much more on-brand than that previous shark adventure. In fact if you had told me that this comic was just an adaptation of a real episode of the show, I’d believe you! Everything from the comedy to the art is ridiculously on point and that should come as no surprise, since a quick search online reveals that much of the crew behind this comic all worked on Ed Eddy n Eddy themselves. That’s one way to keep your comic on-model.

Anyway, the plot follows the Eds playing superheroes while the usual hijinks and bickering ensue, sporting that typical Ed charm. If that sounds up your alley, give it a look! That goes for all three of the comics featured in this book (well, for the most part anyway). I haven’t got much to say about them myself, they’re just good.

Very fun section here, featuring some words of wisdom from the best Powerpuff Girls character: Mojo Jojo. Probably the best anyway, I’m not an expert. That show wasn’t really a favorite of mine. I like his signature also, the handprint is a good touch.

Jesus Christ, this game must be terrifying! What on Earth do tentacles and mustached baby heads have to do with Mario Tennis? I’m afraid to find out.

I find it interesting that even UK ads seem to make fun of haughty english-types. I guess in hindsight that’s actually a pretty obvious way to be counterculture for a UK audience.

I hate stuff like this. “Oh yeah draw a circle and a semi circle and then draw dexter”. What the hell! What’s the semi circle even for? You barely used it! Don’t really get the weird clenched fist pose either, I don’t remember Dexter being the fist pumping type.

First time I've heard of this movie. But just how could I have missed it? Seems like they were giving DVDs away by the truckload! Maybe I’ve never heard of it because that goblin is a little creepy bastard. Who knows.

These ads man. I think I might love ‘em. They’re avant garde in the best way. Nothing here tops the “mustached baby head referee” from the Mario Tennis ad, but it’s sure trying.

I’m curious though if the game would even recognize the phrase “Go left strange brown beasties”. That microphone wasn’t exactly Siri-quality.

I love a good review! And these are… well… I mean, they’re reviews of Warner Bros products and items they were giving away. These good reviews weren’t even “bought”, they were just guaranteed.

Even still, c’mon Dexter, only a “Sooper” rating for The Iron Giant!? Really putting your self-appointed title of “boy genius” into question.

Shucks fellas, we’re late. Eighteen years late! Now we’ll never have a chance at those prizes, or the complementary Cartoon Network mailing service, for that matter! Oh well, I’m not too bummed. I can’t help but feel the chances were slim anyway, what with the barrier-to-entry being questions like “What’s the name of Batman’s butler” or “What color is Mario’s hat”. 

We've made our way to comic #2 now, and it’s of the Powerpuff Girls! Again, like the previous one everything seems to be on-point, from the artstyle to the writing. This one’s doubly impressive since it seems like the staff behind this one didn’t work on the original show. So hey, kudos!

But yeah it’s your usual Powerpuff fare, stopping a robot or two from Mojo Jojo. Give it a read if you’re starved for Powerpuff Girls content I suppose, I mean the show’s only been rebooted like three or four times already.

Ah, here’s that poster! Not bad, eh? I’m sure this would look good on a wall, or any other number of flat surfaces, for that matter. Shame about the horrible staples of death waiting to rip a gash in your poster when you try to tear it out, though. Oh god, I knew this would happen… I’m already starting to get some horrible magazine-poster-related flashbacks.

Can’t believe Eddy was busting his chops all this time coming up with scams when he could’ve just charged people to use his magic floating swing set. Look at how much fun he’s having, he’d make a killing!

Nothing like a little smattering of brain teasers to get the brain back in gear after 31 consecutive pages of comics, giveaways, and other mind-altering guff. Now, these are all perfectly fine, if not a little simple, but I'd like to talk about the top right one in particular…

Am I missing something here? Both B and D look the same as the original! I thought maybe the scan quality might be obscuring a hidden detail, but I’ve messed with the colors and saturation, checking every possible angle, and I still can’t find what’s wrong!

The answer key says the right one is B, so if anyone knows what’s wrong with the illustration in D, please feel free to share. Maybe then I'll finally be able to get some sleep.

This honestly was the kind of stuff I expected out of a Cartoon Network magazine, more supplementary material and bonus content based on the currently airing shows and less piss-easy giveaways. Well, I’ll take what I can get. Kids Next Door is one of the Cartoon Network shows I look back on pretty fondly, so this was a fun trip down memory lane.

(Okay, quick little side note here, cause something just occurred to me as I was writing this segment, and how often am I going to get to talk about KND on a Nickelodeon Magazine blog?)

Has anyone else noticed that all the main characters are designed to have their eyes obscured? I know in the show itself they’d often have their eyes open or pop out from behind their eyewear, but by default they all have their pupils hidden. I don’t have a point to make here, but that’s a weird little design detail, yeah? 

Last comic of the book, and surprise surprise, it’s Dexter’s Lab! Not as sure how to feel about this one after reading the other two. For one, I just wasn’t the biggest Dexter’s Lab fan as a kid, and two, the art in this is weirdly off-model. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong about that, of course (I loved a lot of the show-based Nick Mag comics that played with bending the established artstyle around*), it’s just that after the previous two comics were a near perfect screen-to-paper transition of their original shows, this one feels like it’s breaking a precedent a bit.

*Scan from @90s-2000sgirl on Tumblr (deactivated)

Like, you see what I mean right? Not bad, it just throws me off a little.

But hey, you want to talk about off-model art…

No no, I’m not actually going to nitpick childrens’ fanart, that’s crossing a line. Especially since these are pretty good! It must have been amazing for these kids to see their drawings end up in this section. I hope they all enjoyed their awarded copies of Kangaroo Jack 2, if that insert up in the top left is to be believed.

Wow, Mac, you’ve got an interesting list of favorites. And a biased one at that, nice work putting your own show on there!

Also, cutting out the TV guide seems like a bit of an unnecessary hassle to me. Not to mention you’re less likely to lose a whole magazine than you are a single piece of messily cut paper, if you really are planning on using it.

¡Mucha Lucha! was a bit of an odd, short-lived pleasure of mine back in the day. I think it stemmed from my liking of how each character had their own personal special move they would use in-battle. Kids today have it easy, it seems like nowadays every character can have as many special moves as they want! 

Also, show of hands, who here has heard of Atomic Betty? I seriously have never heard of it until this very moment. A Google search reveals that, apparently, it aired on Cartoon Network for less than a year? Shocking if true, but I guess that would explain my total non-memory of it.

Games? Inside the TV? Not a console in sight? If you had told me back in 2005 I’d have found it preposterous, but I think Apple TV or whatever made them commonplace now. Thanks, I guess.

These things have to be lost media, right? How do you even go about archiving something like this? It doesn’t sound like you could’ve downloaded them, since they would change every week. 

I bet some poor fella is out there right now, trying to remember that odd little Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends game he played on his parents’ TV as a kid, one fleeting Summer afternoon. Sadly even if he does remember he’s probably not going to be able to track down a copy, since… there are presumably no copies!

And there you have it, folks! The first ever edition of NMH Side Issues! This was a fun little experiment, and I think I’d be up for doing it again sometime. But as always, I think more Nick Magazine is in order. I mean, it’s in the name after all! 

Still, it was fun to see an example of what else you could find hanging on the magazine rack. Well, at least in the UK, anyway. Picture it: Mom’s picked out the perfect beans on toast and has nearly made it to the check-out line. You’ve got five seconds to choose what you’re reading on the car ride home! What's it gonna be kid?

I bet you could guess my choice!

(Yeah, right!)

Hate to end the blog on a sour, serious note, but the Internet Archive recently lost a court case against some large publishers regarding the scanning and lending of e-books. They’re looking to appeal, but it’s a gloomy situation. The Internet Archive has always been a real force for good on the internet, and it makes things like Nick Mag Highlights possible in the first place, not to mention countless other archival projects spanning from out-of-print books to now-inaccessible web pages. Showing your support online for the site, or even sending a small donation would do a lot in helping to keep a great service available to all.