Nintendo Comics System

Nintendo Comics System emerged in the United States in 1990 from a licensing relationship between Nintendo and Valiant Comics. Its creation reflected the expanding commercial role of Nintendo characters during the Nintendo Entertainment System era. Rather than limiting those characters to game cartridges, Nintendo made them available for television and publishing projects, while Valiant supplied the comic-book production and distribution framework. The line covered several different forms of adaptation. Super Mario Bros. comics were informed by the first three main Mario games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and by The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. This combination produced a version of the Mario setting that mixed game characters, television terminology, and original comic inventions. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, and Bowser, called King Koopa in the American material, served as the central established cast. Wart, the Koopalings, and the viruses associated with Dr. Mario also appeared in supporting roles. The comics added figures such as Stanley the Talking Fish, King Toadstool, Wooster, and Dirk Drain-Head, demonstrating that the line was not intended as a frame-by-frame transcription of the games. The Game Boy books used the Game Boy title but focused on Super Mario Land. At the time, that game provided the clearest Nintendo adventure foundation for a dedicated Game Boy adaptation. The four-issue story introduced Herman Smirch, a hostile and embittered figure manipulated by Tatanga. The narrative repeatedly connected the fictional game threat with the real world and used a child character and a diminutive Mario as the protagonists' route into the conflict. The Legend of Zelda adaptations drew on the two Zelda titles then released for the NES and incorporated elements from the related animated series. Captain N: The Game Master was adapted with greater changes than a straightforward television tie-in. The comics retained Kevin Keene, Princess Lana, Duke, King Charles, Pit, and other show-created material, but excluded third-party characters used in the cartoon because Valiant did not hold the relevant licenses. Samus Aran took a more prominent role, despite not appearing in the television program, and Uranos served as Mother Brain's lieutenant. The books also preserved several stylized reinterpretations of Nintendo settings and characters that had already been established by the cartoon. Metroid and Punch-Out!! were presented as stories within graphic-novel-like issues instead of separate continuing books. Samus was characterized in a notably self-interested manner and was connected to the Captain N material, illustrating how the line sometimes used cross-property combinations rather than maintaining strict game continuity. The publications ran across 1990 and 1991. The Mario line was renewed for 1991 with two distinct books, Super Mario Bros. and Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. After this period, Nintendo Comics System ceased to function as an active publishing imprint. Its significance lies in its position between video-game licensing, Saturday-morning animation, and traditional comics publishing. The line preserved a snapshot of how Nintendo properties were interpreted for American audiences before later adaptations established more standardized character identities and continuity.

• 1991

  Mario publishing line is renewed

  [1]Nintendo Comics Systemen.wikipedia.org

  Mario material continues in separate Super Mario Bros. and Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. books.

• 1991

  Publishing run concludes

  [1]Nintendo Comics Systemen.wikipedia.org

  The Nintendo Comics System publishing period ends after its 1990–1991 run.

• 1990

  Nintendo Comics System debuts

  [1]Nintendo Comics Systemen.wikipedia.org

  Valiant Comics publishes the first Nintendo Comics System material under license from Nintendo, covering several game and television properties.

• 1990

  Game Boy series begins

  [1]Nintendo Comics Systemen.wikipedia.org

  The Game Boy-branded comic series starts a four-issue storyline based primarily on Super Mario Land and introduces Herman Smirch as an original character.

A licensed cross-media publishing line that adapted Nintendo's best-known game and television properties for the North American comic-book audience.

• Comic-book series · 1990

  Super Mario Bros.

  A Valiant comic adaptation drawing from the first three principal Super Mario Bros. games on the Nintendo Entertainment System and from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. It features Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, and King Koopa, while also incorporating supporting game characters, television concepts, and original figures created for the comics.

• Comic-book series · 1991

  Adventures of the Super Mario Bros.

  A separate Mario publication issued as part of the line's 1991 continuation. It shared the broader Nintendo Comics System approach of translating Mario's game and television identities into original comic stories rather than presenting a strict reproduction of any one game.

• Comic-book series · 1990

  Game Boy

  A four-issue comic series carrying the Game Boy name but based on Super Mario Land. Its plot centers on Tatanga's return to the real world, Herman Smirch's manipulation, and a child who helps release a miniature Mario to oppose the villains.

• Comic-book series · 1990

  The Legend of Zelda

  Comic adaptations based on the two Legend of Zelda games released for the NES at the time, with additional influence from the related animated series. The material translated the game's adventure premise into a licensed narrative format for American comic readers.

• Television tie-in comic · 1990

  Captain N: The Game Master

  A comic adaptation of the animated series that retained its core premise and original characters but changed the crossover roster. Because Valiant did not license the third-party characters used in the cartoon, the comics substituted or emphasized Nintendo-linked characters including Samus Aran and Uranos.

• Anthology and graphic-novel stories · 1990

  Metroid and Punch-Out!! stories

  Metroid and Punch-Out!! appeared as individual stories in graphic-novel-like issues rather than receiving separate ongoing comic books within the Nintendo Comics System line.

• 1990

  Nintendo licenses multiple properties to Valiant for a unified comics lineStrategy

  Background

  Nintendo game characters and related television properties were being extended into other media for North American audiences.

  Action taken

  Nintendo authorized Valiant Comics to publish stories based on Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Captain N: The Game Master, Game Boy, Metroid, and Punch-Out!!.

  Aftermath

  The arrangement produced a concentrated 1990–1991 publishing program that became a historical example of Nintendo's early character and media licensing.

  Source

1. 1Nintendo Comics Systemen.wikipedia.org