There are a lot of comics out there, but some just stand out head and shoulders above the pack. With “Don’t Miss This” we want to spotlight those series we think need to be on your pull list. This week, we look at the “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” miniseries collection by Matthew Mercer, Jody Houser, Olivia Samson, and MSASSYK.
Who Is This By?
Matthew Mercer is most famous for his work as a voice actor, with roles across a vast multitude of media stretching back to 2004. In terms of writing, his position as a dungeon master on several tabletop role-playing games, most prominently Critical Role itself, have shown his ability to craft intricate, detailed worlds, plots, and characters. Of course, one of his most valuable assets when it comes to “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” is his familiarity with the universe and characters he played a large part in creating in the first place.
Jody Houser is an Eisner Award-nominated writer known for her work on “Faith” for Valiant Entertainment from 2016 to 2019. She has also written a multitude of other series, including “Star Wars: Age Of Republic” for Marvel Comics in 2018 and 2019. Currently, she has been writing “Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor” for Titan Comics since 2018, and the various comics connected to “StarCraft” and “Stranger Things” for Dark Horse Comics during the same years.
Olivia Samson is a member of the Critical Role fan community, also known as “critters” who was brought on for the comic miniseries. A relative newcomer to widely published comics who began in 2017, her published work has been limited, as of yet, to the two miniseries themselves.
Michele Assarasakorn, a.k.a. MSASSYK, worked as a colorist on “Gotham Academy” from 2015 to 2017 for DC Comics, and on “Isola” since 2018 for Image Comics. She has also provided colors for the covers on “Ronin Island.”
Even outside of the myriad cover artists, other collaborators, including Matthew Colville (“The Chain” RPG livestream) before Houser and Chris Northrop (“The Reason for Dragons”) before MSASSYK, were involved in the first arc, so there may be other shifts in the creative team moving forward.
What’s It All About?
Critical Role is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign amongst a collection of self-proclaimed “nerdy-ass” voice actors that began as their own fun weekly experience in 2012 before turning into a live-streamed adventure in 2015 with eventual multimedia presence. The first story, or “campaign,” lasted 115 episodes before concluding in October 2017 (barring the occasional one-shot adventure), and is the basis for the “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” comics.
While the sessions have continued into new stories, “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” is meant to tell the way in which the various members of the adventuring party met, and presumably chronicle their first adventures when they were likely still called the “Super-High Intensity Team.” As is explained in the opening of the first two issues of the first volume, “They will save the world. Eventually.”
What Makes It So Great?
With Matthew Mercer’s overall story, Jody Houser crafts an excellent script that takes full advantage of the various members of what will become Vox Machina. Keeping everyone as fans would remember them without the overt use of game mechanics, Houser instills a variety of emotional reactions from scene to scene, from the horrific to the humorous to the heartwarming. The main players may be familiar, but the threats are new and varied in their execution, with the result being a fantastic and fantastical new chapter in their story to provide additional material for the voracious fanbase.
For newcomers to the story, the characters of this sweeping epic fall into common archetypes of fantasy stories, from the relatively unintelligent barbarian to the kindly cleric to the wisecracking bard and more, providing a stepping stone to head into the tales and a way in which to easily grasp the goings on without getting confused. Add on some very funny gags both new and returned from the chronologically later story in the live-streams, and there’s plenty to love.
Meanwhile, if the writing isn’t enough, the lively artwork provided by Olivia Samson will surely help. Using highly dynamic posing in combat and out, Samson truly brings the words to life, providing a visual feast that Mercer had previously given through his vocal narration. Coupled with MSASSYK’s colors that can change a scene from dark and dour to bright and chipper and many more visceral reactions besides, each issue is thoroughly engaging on multiple levels, and Ariana Maher’s lettering can draw readers even further into the meticulous spellcrafting of the world.
How Can You Read It?
The second arc of “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” is available wherever comic books are sold. The most recent issue, “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II” #3, is available today. The trade paperback of the first arc, “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins,” is due for release October 16, 2019, through Dark Horse Comics.
Given that the party with which critters are most familiar is not yet complete, more miniseries are all but assured. With the variety of options available, and much more story to tell, to quote Matthew Mercer, “How do you want to do this?”
