A tale of plumbers, turtles, and a princess.
Super Brothers is a Super Mario Bros. fan comic by DogmanSP. Retelling the story of Super Mario Bros. in the style of a children's book, it features unique twists and turns as well as familiar trappings.
In the Koopa Kingdom, the wicked, childish ruler Bowser decides to invade the Mushroom Kingdom to obtain wood for his airships. In Brooklyn, ace plumbers Mario and Luigi find a portal to another world when making a house call. Luigi initially stays behind, and before long, Mario has met the beautiful Princess Peach, who quickly makes an impression on him—and Bowser.
Bowser decides the Princess is worth listening to and kidnaps her for the sake of conversation, and it's up to Mario and Toad to make the dangerous journey to bring her back safely! Meanwhile, Luigi begins a hunt for his lost brother and enters the Kingdom himself, but he may not succeed without the help of the hungry dinosaur Yoshi!
The comic can be found here.
A dub of the first chapter (with more to come) can be found here.
This comic contains examples of:
- Art Shift: Scenes in the Koopa Kingdom are in dark colors and heavily shaded, Brooklyn is in full color with mixed shading, and the Mushroom Kingdom is in sepia with minimal shading.
- Asshole Victim: Kamek is ultimately killed by Bowser near the end of the story, but given how he kidnapped thousands of Yoshis, kills his own minions, was the main reason why Bowser became so messed up and undoes Peach's attempt to reform Bowser, it's hard to sympathize with him when he's killed.
- Berserk Button:
- As the king of all Koopakind, Bowser hates when someone else tells him what to do.
- Mario has two: He can't stand broken promises, and bullies.
- Birthday Episode: The comic takes place on Peach's birthday, which the Mushroom Kingdom residents celebrate.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Peach is kidnapped by Bowser on her own birthday.
- The Bore: Luigi bores his client with his chatting while waiting for his brother to return, only stopping when he realizes how late it is.
- Comically Missing the Point: Bowser thinks the partiers are there to celebrate him, and when Peach calls him out on his selfishness being why he's so lonely, he thinks she's so kind and thoughtful he has to have her to himself and kidnaps her.
- Cool Old Guy: Toadsworth is old but no slouch in combat, able to go toe-to-toe with Mario.
- Disc-One Final Boss: What Mario and Luigi think is Bowser in Chapter 5 turns out to be a Goomba disguised as him.
- Dungeon Bypass: Mario and Luigi intimidate a Koopa Troopa into showing them a pipe to World 8, letting them skip what would be a very long journey.
- Face Your Fears: Luigi initially refuses to enter the mansion due to finding it creepy, much to the dismay of Mario. Later on, when it becomes late and notices that Mario hasn't returned to their van, Luigi forces himself to enter the scary mansion to find his brother.
- Green Aesop: The Koopa Kingdom is entirely out of trees because Bowser cut them all down to make airships.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Just as Bowser is about to become friends with Peach and forge peace, Kamek enrages Bowser enough to make him lose control of himself and when he snaps out of his anger, it's too late for him as he realizes he doomed himself by cutting the bridge below him.
- Hope Spot: In chapter 10, it looks like Peach and Bowser will be able to become friends and forge peace, but then Kamek interrupts. The resulting conversation turns Bowser truly angry and leaves no recourse but stopping him by force.
- I Gave My Word: Mario lives through this ideology.
- Improvised Parachute: Mario uses Bowser's long cape to land safely.
- Manchild: Bowser's depiction in the comic is an impulsive bully who acts purely on his whims, and the worst punishment he can think of is denying Peach dinner. Then, his idea of a secret hideaway is a royal bachelor pad, complete with couch, barbells, and guitars.
- A Molten Date with Death: This is the fate of Bowser, as he falls in the lava below the wooden bridge that he cut with his axe.
- Mythology Gag: Tons to the games, and occasionally other Mario media.
- Lakitu being able to summon rain to grow beanstalks references the anime The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach!.
- Peach uses a music box to put the Hammer Brothers to sleep, just like in Super Mario Bros. 3.
- The cookies Goomba-Bowser eats in Chapter 5 are taken from the Yoshi's Cookie puzzle game.
- In Chapter 8, the heating system in the castle is out of whack and leaves the cold-blooded Koopas sluggish, just like in the Super Mario Bros. (1993) movie.
- The climactic fight with Bowser includes not only the familiar axe-breaking-the-bridge from the original game, but also Mario spinning Bowser like in Super Mario 64 and Bowser stomping to create rolling shockwaves along the bridge, like his baby self does in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Toad tracks Yoshi's egg to a room full of Yoshi eggs and commences to smashing.
- Oh, Crap!: Kamek is horrified on learning Luigi is Mario's brother, as it means the threat he thought he got rid of long ago is far from gone.
- Restraining Bolt: When Bowser has had enough of Kamek and dispatches him, he becomes truly furious and a raging, fierce monster.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The cruel actions that Kamek does through the story in order to avoid Bowser's awful fate result in the death of his king.
- The Smart Guy: Kamek is Bowser's Royal Advisor and generally more level-headed than his king.
- Swallow the Key: Bowser does this to the cage Peach is locked in to prevent her from escaping.
- Thwarted Escape: Kamek thwarts Peach's escape attempt by crashing a Thwomp down in front of her, and Bowser later stops her escape via Yoshi by kidnapping her again.
- You Have Failed Me: Kamek kills three Koopa Troopas when they inform him Bowser has left the kingdom.
