***THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE NERD BLITZ PATREON***
Well, here we are, the penultimate issue of Volume 1.
Over the last 4 issues, we’ve watched this team meet in the most fun and, occasionally, antagonistic ways and now they’re slowly teaming up and preparing for their first adventure together.
What, if anything, could possibly go wrong?
Let’s dive back in time (at least for the VM crew) and find out!
Big bad ***SPOILER ALERT*** time, gang!
Cover By Selina Espiritu: The Level of detail here is fuckin’ beautiful!
The intricacies of Vax’s gear are a cosplayer’s wet dream, but the background isn’t forgotten either.
Though I love the more streamlined and cartoon style of some of the earlier covers, this may actually be my favorite of the lot so far.
It’s just that damn good!
Art By Olivia Samson: I’ve blown this art a lot in these reviews so you should know this isn’t meant to be shitty in any way, but it’s just more of the same that we’ve seen in the first 4 issues.
The art is simple and yet still detailed.
She has a knack for quirky expressions, particularly with Grog & Scanlan.
I fuckin’ love it, man.
Story By Matthew Colville & Matthew Mercer: Again, picking up immediately after the last issue, we see the beginnings of some dark ritual as a creature heads into the cells to grab Vax.
Vax sneaks away and is confronted by that same creature and Iselda.
Then we follow Keyleth & Vex as they start to gather forces, they retrieve Trinket (Vex’s pet bear) and the rest of the future members of Vox Machina to save Vax.
The story is solid, but I do have a problem.
I took a swipe at the wheel spinny bullshit of Scooby Apocalypse in a previous comic review, but this issue has the exact opposite problem and it is fuckin’ jarring, man.
Some action that would be great to see is lost in the crosscutting between the 2 storylines.
“Offscreen” Keyleth transforms into a white tiger and kills a giant crocodile that was attacking her and Vex.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUCKIN’ AWESOME TO SEE!!!
Then, near the end, when just 2 pages earlier those 2 were still in the Stilben swamps, we cut to them at the docks with Tiberius.
Tibs is talking about how he wasn’t wandering around the swamp, but looking for Keyleth.
I feel like a good bit of neurotic comedy was left on the table with this one.
Look, it definitely doesn’t ruin the issue, but it’s just so damn strange to make such dramatic leaps and cuts.
At roughly 30 pages already, it makes it feel like it needs to be longer to accommodate the story.
Now, one could make the case that they are leaving you wanting more, and that is definitely in effect, but it leaves it feeling too break neck.
But that issue aside, the story is just so good.
We get to dig in with Keyleth & Vex, it’s great watching them bond and talk about their personal histories of pain & betrayal.
While this issue has featured my biggest complaints yet, it’s still damn great.
And the set up is all there for a crazy blowout final issue.
I’m so excited to get there and see how it connects and inches ever closer to the streamed campaign.
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As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
