***THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE NERD BLITZ PATREON***
Here we are, at the end of the first leg of our trip together with Vox Machina.
It truly has been an incredible ride for me, seeing how all of these pieces started to fall into place.
I’m excited to see where this first volume leaves this merry band of adventures, so let’s buckle up and find out together, gang!
As always, here is your extremely necessary ***SPOILER ALERT***
Cover By Ariana Orner: Well, this is just fuckin’ awesome, plain and simple.
The entire group looks great, super heroic, and ready for action.
I love seeing the scale of everybody together, prepared to beat all kinds of ass.
I definitely wanna find a version of this without the trade dress and get a poster of it right stat now.
Quite possibly the best of the lot, which is saying a lot because the covers for this first volume have just been so damn good.
Magnifico!
Art By Olivia Samson: Same as it always is, great and fun.
There’s a great page and a half background gag of Grog beating ass on the ships rampway that I adore and a big splash page of Grog bursting through a door like a monster that is a sight to behold.
Opposite ends of the spectrum, both are a great showcase for what Samson is capable of.
She really does great work!
Story By Matthew Colville & Matthew Mercer: Picking up seconds after issue 5, the future Vox Machina is attempting to make a plan when Grog decides to just unleash hell on the baddies.
The rest of the group quickly realizes and starts kicking ass and making their way to Iselda and the source of the Stilben poison on the boat Vax had just escaped.
In the belly of the ship, they find an arcane circle carved into the floor and filled with a poison called Aqua Caedes that they must find something acidic to dilute.
Scanlan steps up to the circle and starts pissing on it, to great effect!
They battle and defeat Iselda, destroy the boat, then decide to stick together and help the people of Stilben.
In the Alchemist’s manor, he’s trying to contact Iselda and tell her he’s out of poison when a voice speaks through his mirror and offers him a chance to end his pawndom and take a position in The Myriad.
Fade to black.
What I can say about this story is that while it does bring the story to an end, I’m glad that there are enough threads left hanging to pick up in Volume 2.
I don’t know the history of how these issues were made, but I’m glad to see there seemed to be plans beyond just this first series.
I was worried the end would be so abrupt and feel so constricting as they tried to make it self-contained, but that’s not a problem AT ALL.
The characters are still spot on that, if you know the show, you can hear the players voices as you read, which is a hell of a benefit on the level of Batman and the B:TAS cast.
And, yes, it shows, once again, how faithful and well written this comic is, but it also shines a light on just how damn good the cast is at what they did for 115 straight episodes.
They fleshed these characters out so well in the game that it makes it much easier for a writer to latch onto little phrases and quirks to inject in and make it all feel right.
As I write this, Issue 1 of Volume 3 is days from being released.
So, though I’m cresting the mountain top and nearing the downward slide towards the end of this giant collected edition, I’m glad to say that even when I finish this chunk of 12 issues, this journey is far from over.
I love this shit so much and, being the sentimental bastard I often times am with characters, I like knowing that the road is very far from being over.
Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.
Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview, or tweet with us @NerdBlitzPod.
Be sure to check out our first book!
The Camping Trip And Other Stories is now avaliable in Ebook and Trade Paperback!
Hungry for more of that great Nerd Blitz content, head over to Patreon.com/NerdBlitzPod and join at the $5 level to get instant access to numerous Podcasts, Reviews, Audio Dramas, and so much more!
And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
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.
