What I didn’t expect when I started out was how I’d end up falling head over heels for the cast, the story, and everything that they stood for within their game world, and the real world. I wanted something easy to follow, something lighthearted, and something that would last the months of sleepless nights teething. With the birth of baby number 3, I needed something to get me through the baby-brain fuzz that I knew I would succumb to. I’m a big fan of the show, but only started watching/listening to it this year. That being said, each character gets their moment in the spotlight, whether through use of their special skills, or by story-beat, giving new readers time to get to know them individually, and old fans a chance to learn more about how it all started. Scanlan, as ever, steals the show when he’s on stage, and between his bardic singing, wit, and wisecracks, and breaking the fourth wall in a callback to the cast breaking character during the shows, he will likely be a favourite of many readers. Grog and Scanlan have always been my favourites, and it’s hard not to hear Travis’ and Sam’s voices echoing in your ear as their escapades unfold. Mercer and Colville really capture the characters’ personalities on the page, something which I thought would be lost in translation between the ‘nerdy-ass voice actors’ and their written counterparts.
VOX MACHINA ORIGINS HARD COPY FULL
And they are missed – the dynamic when the full team gets together is the best part of the show – but the other larger-than-life characters are big enough to plug the gaps. Tiberius the dragonborn sorcerer is here too (long before he leaves the show as the Briarwood arc gets underway), but Percy the human gunslinger and Pike the gnome cleric are missing. Keyleth the Air Ashari druid appears early on, rounding-out team half-elf, before the story switches to Scanlan the gnome bard, and Grog the goliath barbarian. The story introduces Vex and Vax first, half-elven twins, a ranger and a rogue respectively, who at this point in time are more used to looking out for themselves – and each other – than anyone else. Vox Machina Origins does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s the origin story of the band of adventurers who would one day go by the name Vox Machina, and who would one day save the realm of Tal’Dorei. (Minor spoiler warnings for VM01 – and Critical Role Campaign 1). The show is wonderfully easy to get into, and I have to admit I was surprised by how VM01 captures its spirit and distills that into printed form. Needless to say, Critical Role will be around for the foreseeable future, and although jumping onto a bandwagon bearing the weight of 115 episodes racking up more than 373 hours of viewing/listening might sound overwhelming, it’s really not. It’s gone from strength to strength in its short lifetime, starting out on Geek & Sundry’s YouTube channel, before setting up shop in its own studio, and then going on to break multiple Kickstarter records where it ultimately raised over $11.3 million to produce an animated ‘special’ which became a series…and then more! Amazon later picked up the series, with merchandise deals following thereafter. And then some.Ĭritical Role – for those that don’t know – is a show in which a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors (their words, not mine) play Dungeons & Dragons. Written by D&D dungeon master Matthew Mercer and Matt Colville, and with incredible artwork from Olivia Samson and colourist Chris Northrop, VMO1 is the full package. Review: Vox Machina Origins Volume 1 (VMO1) is an omnibus of the first six issues of the graphic novel that goes by the same name. Humour, heart, and a heavy right hook of action = check, check, check. The Ugly Truth: Vox Machina Origins is a triple-threat treat to fans new, old, and uninitiated. The Bad: If you’ve never seen Critical Role before, especially campaign 1, this might not have the same ring of nostalgia, but that’s not really a bad thing – it’s just another reason why you should watch it! I might be a little biased as a fan of the show (Critical Role), but Vox Machina Origins is so much more than a ‘companion’ to the series, offering a little something for everyone. The Good: Art, story, characters, all of it gets 5 stars from me.
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