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The title panel for the first Nester's Adventures strip following Howard's departure.
Howard & Nester, later retitled Nester's Adventures, was a comic strip that appeared in every regular issue of Nintendo Power from its 1988 launch up through the end of 1993. The strip chronicles the adventures of the bow-tie wearing Howard Phillips (based on the real-life President of the Nintendo Fun Club at the time) and a stubborn red-headed teen named Nester. The two ventured into the worlds of various NES games, often providing tips for the game in question to the readers.
In the June 1991 issue (Volume 25), Howard was written out of the strip after his real-life counterpart left Nintendo to work for LucasArts. The strip was retitled Nester's Adventures in the following issue and continued publication until Volume 55 (December 1993), with three special Nester strips appearing in later milestone issues.
The strip was drawn by Shuji Imai from its first installment through Volume 22, then by Art Nichols from Volume 23 to Volume 29, and then finally by Dan Speigle from Volume 30 onward. Shuji Imai would return for the strip that appeared in Volume 100.
List of games featured in the strip[]
Howard & Nester[]
Nester's Adventures[]
After 1993, the comic strip was retired, with Nester himself being dropped from the magazine altogether a year later. In the remainder of the magazine's run, however, three more strips featuring Nester were produced for later milestones. The final strip showed an aged Nester with a child, commenting how the magazine has come to an end and compared it to game design; you are glad when all the hard work is over, but still feel sad at losing a labor of love. One panel showed a framed bowtie on the wall of Nester's office, a likely reference to his early days paired with Howard.
| Image(s) (Click to enlarge) |
Issue | Featured game |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 100 | Star Fox 64 | |
| Volume 231 | Mario Kart Wii | |
| Volume 285 | N/A |