Editing Game Boy (comic)

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[[File:Nintendo Comics System Vol 1 1.jpg|250px|thumb|Cover art for the [[In the Palm of Your Hand...|first issue]], used for the reprint in ''Nintendo Comics System Featuring...'' #1.]]

'''''Game Boy''''' is a 1990 four-issue series within [[Valiant Comics]]' ''[[Nintendo Comics System]]'' brand, acting as a spin-off to the main ''Super Mario Bros.'' title. Though the titular video game system features prominently, the comic is moreso a tie-in to ''[[Super Mario Land]]'', featuring the premise of the game's characters invading the [[Real World]].

{{quote|Look around you! This is the real world, where Super Mario Land is only an exciting video game, where [[Mario]], [[Princess Daisy]], and the mysterious spaceman [[Tatanga]] are just images on a screen. But today, that will '''change''', thanks the power of... '''GAME BOY'''|Opening narration, variants of which are featured at the start of all but the second issue}}

[[Herman Smirch]], a bitter and self-centered clerk at an electronics store, is surprised when he sees tiny versions of [[Tatanga]], [[Princess Daisy]], and the various enemies from ''[[Super Mario Land]]'' materialize out of his [[Game Boy]]. Explaining that Herman's misanthropy and weak will makes him a perfect vessel to activate a conduit betweeen reality and the world of the Game Boy, [[Tatanga]]'s loyal minion [[Pionpi]] and his forces proceed to cause chaos in a bid to conquer the "[[Human|giants]]". A teenager manages to summon [[Mario]] from his own copy of ''Super Mario Land'', who beats back Tatanga's assault and causes them to warp back to the Game Boy, Mario in tow.  

The next issues follow a similar formula: Herman Smirch, despite his attempts to stay out of the conflict, is hypnotized into playing the Game Boy and summon Tatanga into our reality. With Herman's assistance, Tatanga's troops attempts to weaponize or fortify a location or vehicle while Tatanga unsuccessfully courts Daisy's affection. A person witness to the commotion and with the knowledge of how to summon Mario grabs a Game Boy to play ''Super Mario Land'' and gets Mario to materialize. Mario, with some help from his human allies and Daisy, uses his skills to foil Tatanga's plot and the villains retreat back to the Game Boy. Mario exchanges some parting words with his ally-of-the-week before doing likewise.

To convey the "clash of the worlds" theme, the backgrounds and human character were illustrated in a realistic style while the ''Super Mario Land'' characters were drawn with a more cartonish appearance, faithful to their game artwork. An exception to this is Tatanga, who is redesigned to look taller and more muscular. Mario, though similar in his appearance to his game self, is portrayed as a quippy smart-aleck eager for a fight, quite unlike his personality in the main ''Super Mario Bros.'' comics.

The book was slightly more serious and action-focused than the main ''Super Mario'' comics, featuring such plot developments as Herman Smirch being on the run from the authorities due to his role in hijacking an airliner, and Mario narrowly averting a nuclear reactor meltdown and becoming ill from the resulting radiation exposure.  Like the other ''Nintendo Comics System'' titles, ''Game Boy'' featured one-off gag pages, framed as tabloid headlines from the [[International Enquisitor]].

 

 

''So says a confused and frightened Herman Smirch to Pionpi, who is standing on Smirch's chest at the time. It's true enough. Pionpi, Tatanga, Princess Daisy and even good old Mario himself are merely tiny flecks of energy organized in precise patterns.''