Here There Be Gerblins

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins

By Carey Pietsch and The McElroy Brothers

Published by First Second

Summary:
Gonna admit my prejudice right at the start: I love all the things the McElroy Brothers have done. The Adventure Zone is the first graphic novel adaptation of the hit podcast with the same name. It stars our three heroes Magnus, Taako, and Merle, going off on a classic D&D adventure for loot and treasure, while the dungeon master Griffin tries to keep the whole thing afloat. The book is filled with ridiculous moments, great jokes, and an overall upbeat and mysterious tone throughout.

Art:
The art is fantastic. The cartoony style and overly expressive faces work well for the comedy. Most of the art is on the simpler side, but still looks very good, with amazing colors and very varied and interesting colors. All the characters are varied and great, each incredibly expressive. The panels are very busy, but manage to maintain a good flow. A lot of it is text though. Unfortunately due to it being an adaptation from a purely audio medium most of the jokes rely on text, with the images filling in the details. The art does give it a nice flow, giving its fair share of gags.

Characters:
The characters are the best part of the book. They're funny, interesting, varied, and empathetic. You want to see them succeed. The McElroys are fantastic at playing characters, and the visual elements just help it even more, though I do miss their great voices.

Setting:
There isn't much I can say about the setting without major spoilers. It's a mishmash of generic fantasy with an air of ridiculousness too it, like a cave that's styled like an office. Good stuff all around.

Plot:
The plot is also generic fantasy (at least at first), but again with that comedic edge. It's a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure, but with the McElroys classic spin on it. A lot of the filler is cut out, leaving only the best bits.

TL;DR:
The Adventure Zone: Here There be Gerblins is a fantastic comedic romp. It suffers slightly due to its nature as an adaptation, but is still absolutely fantastic. Well worth the read
9/10