BOOKS, PUBLICATIONS
& TRADING CARDS
EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
PROMOTIONAL
COMIC BOOK (circa 1989-90)
This comic book adaptation of Excellent Adventure was published by DC Comics to promote the video release of the
first movie. We believe it was also a give-away premium for Cheerios
cereal as well. Copies were also provided to various stores as promotions.
OUR RATING??
**Most non-triumphant!**
Because this was a freebie comic, DC Comics obviously didn't spend a lot of time worrying about the artwork and it shows. Bill & Ted look like 40 year olds throughout the comic and the storytelling is uninspired, as are the colors. Still, it must be considered a collector's item since it was only available as a promotional give-away item and not sold in stores.
BOGUS JOURNEY NOVELIZATION (1991)
The book version of the movie published by Berkley, written by Robert Tine.
OUR RATING??
**Excellent**
This book doesn't include any photographs from the film to illustrate the story, but it is notable for the fact that it follows the original script for the movie and includes many of the edited plotlines and footage, including the more radical behavior of evil robot Bill & Ted while trashing the dudes' apartment and the alternative ending in which they must face their fears.
BILL & TED'S MOST ATYPICAL MOVIE CARDS (1991)
Front
Back
Pro Set's Trading Cards came in packs of 10 and collectors could compile a complete set of 100 cards promoting both Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey. Pro-Set is one of the leaders in the trading card world and they did a most excellent job on this set, using pleasing colors, great photos and telling the stories of both movies on the back in a fun way. Also the use of *different* photos on the back was a nice decision, meaning fans would get around 200 different photos with this set! A scratcher card contest (with scratcher cards included in every pack) offered fans the chance of winning a trip to San Dimas, a GTE Telephone Booth or smaller prizes such as Bill & Ted Nintendo Game, Game Boy Game or T-shirts.
OUR RATING??
**Outstanding!**
A most amazing set of collector's cards, these were a class act all the way. This is definitely one of the best of the Bill & Ted tie-in products. A special collectors card with Excellent Adventure on the front and Bogus Journey on the back was also available, possibly as a promotional item.
BILL & TED'S TOTALLY
EXCELLENT COLLECTORS CARDS (1992)
These trading cards were produced by Merlin in Britain only. The series of 130 cards covers both Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, half of the set covering each film. Terrific photos are used, as shown above. The backs of the cards simply followed the plotlines of the movies. General cards with promo shots from the movies included Bill & Ted terminology on the back.
OUR RATING??
**Non-bogus**
While the photos used are most outstanding the information on the back is a bit on the dull side. It might have been more fun to have a kind of larger photo to assemble or some interesting Bill & Ted facts instead. But these cards are pretty cool anyway!
LOOK IN! MAGAZINE (1991-1992)
Marvel was not the only publication company to do Bill & Ted comics. Look In! magazine for kids in Britain had their own comics, most of which were based on the animated television series although a few original comics were produced as well. The dudes were given two pages each issue in what was typically a continuing story following one of their adventures. The first entry appearing on January 18th, 1992 included the first two pages of the The Totally Gross Anatomy of a Gym Teacher episode of the DIC series of Bill & Ted cartoons. The comic series ran for about a year and often other tidbits about Bill & Ted (or Keanu and Alex) were included in the magazines as well.
OUR RATING??
**Not bad!**
We love seeing the dudes in the comic pages, and these versions of the animated series could have easily been done in the States as well, except Marvel opted to have the incredible Evan Dorkin pen their comics and we were spared this kind of literal translation to the comics page. The colors are rich but the artwork leaves a little bit to be inspired. It would have been nice if they'd done fewer translations of the animated series episodes and more of the original strips (which are quite entertaining) but that's as may be. For what they are these strips aren't bad at all.
Want to know more about the Look In comics? Click here to go to our comics section!
Bill and Ted?s Excellent Adventure characters and images ? & ? 1989, 2003 Creative Licensing Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
