The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins

By Carey Pietsch; Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy.

"Join Taako the elf wizard, Merle the dwarf cleric, and Magnus the human fighter for an adventure they are poorly equipped to handle at best, guided by their ever-patient dungeon master, in a graphic novel that will tickle your funny bone, tug your heartstrings, and probably pants if you give it half a chance."

The McElroys and Carey Pietsch attempt the impossible in The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins, translating a podcast into a comic book. And they do a fantastic job of it too, but when translating across mediums something is always lost. What I loved about my experience reading this comic was how seamless it was, because if you’ve listened to the podcast, Tres Horny Bois (yes that is what they call themselves in the game) get bogged down a lot going off on goof tangents. It is to great comedic effect but affects the flow of the story, so naturally, some of it had to go for the comic to be a success. These goofs and some general comedic tones don’t cross over from the podcast unless you are very familiar with the first arc being represented in the comic.

It had been several months since I had listened to these early episodes, and while I was able to relive them in the comic, I still noticed that there were things missing. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. It is just a reality of adapting from a previous work, by which they do a great job. The art is absolutely fantastic. They are able to capture the intricacies of these characters in the text and art successfully, and I found myself reading the entirety of it within a few days.

If you need more convincing that the McElroys, and this comic, are worth your time, their introduction is written by Patrick Rothfuss, which is like getting the noble stamp of nerd approval. He says “that The Adventure Zone is some of the finest storytelling I have ever experienced. In any genre. Ever.” Enough said.

If you’re already a fan of TAZ or other things the McElroys have done and haven’t read this yet, why not? If you haven’t dived into the comedic powerhouse that is McElroy, you should, and this may be a good place to start if you’re also new to experiencing podcasts, but I highly recommend you that do check out the podcast because it’s a life changer.

Review by Sarah Hinrichs