REVIEW: ‘Kim Possible Adventures’

Back in the day when the internet was still paid for by the minute and news moved at a slower pace, kids entertainment magazines were the place to get behind the scenes info and extras on all favorite shows. Spearheaded by Nickelodeon Magazine and Disney Adventures these magazines had fun interviews with the stars and people with cool jobs, tips on navigating school and parents and tie-in short comics to extend adventures with your favs. A lot of these comics were later released as collected volumes based on the title/show but some of them have been left to languish in out of print purgatory. The Kim Possible Adventures from Disney Adventures were in the latter category but with Kim coming back to screens in live-action Disney Channel Original Movie form and sparking a new generation of fans it’s the perfect time for a comics revival too.

IDW Publishing has collected these short comics from Kim Possible Adventures which features the work of Michael Stewart, John Green, Abby Denson, Craig Rosseau, Jeff Albrecht, G.Guler, Tom Bancroft, Howard Shum, Dan Gracey, Landry Q. Walker, Eric Jones, Mike DeCarlo, Steve Behling, Phil Allora, Fabrico Grellet, Bill Matheny, Emily Kanalz, and Elizabeth Watasin. The collection is made up of 23 short comics featuring Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable on various missions against some of their most recognizable villains like Dr. Drakken, Shego, Senor Senior Senior, Monkey Fist and of course the evilest villain of all, high school.

There’s a certain charm to the collection that sparks nostalgia and a kid just coming into Kim Possible will have fun with it however it’s pretty obvious that these shorts were meant to be read amongst the larger context of the Disney Adventures Magazine. Stumbling across one is an exciting and fun jolt to tide you over during hiatus between new episodes. Reading them all together showcases the sameiness of the stories.

The shorts that work the best are the ones that evoke common classic tropes like in “Impossible Voyage” where Ron and Kim are shrunk and have to navigate through Rufus’ body or the ones that don’t follow a typical mission like “Film Frenzy” where Ron thinks he’s run into trouble at the movie theater but really just stumbled across some henchmen taking a day off.

A few more of those types of stories and perhaps one or two featuring the Possible Family would have made the collection feel a bit more balanced. There’s definitely fun to be had with the more typical mission type ones like in “Monumentally Evil” where we get to see The Lincoln Memorial and The Washington Monument fighting each other and in “Portrait of Evil” where Drakken’s ego is what leads to the collapse of his plans and Shego’s reaction to that is always fun, they just overwhelm a bit.

Kim Possible Adventures is a fun bit of nostalgia for Kim Possible fans, particularly those who used to get Disney Adventures as kids. The art is very much in the style of the cartoon and, like with the live-action movie, it’s fun to play “spot the running gag from the show.” Kids wanting more Possible content after seeing the Disney Channel Original Movie will likely enjoy it too. With streaming of course they can watch episodes whenever they want rather than having to time their day around cable air schedules but one thing that hasn’t changed in the last 20 years is the joy supplementary comics bring.