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“The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins”

By | July 31st, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

For the uninitiated, The Adventure Zone is a podcast started by the McElroy Brothers, hosts of another exceptionally popular podcast, My Brother, My Brother, and Me. On The Adventure Zone, brothers Griffin, Travis, and Justin play Dungeons & Dragons with their dad, Clint. That podcast has spawned this graphic novel, where artist Carey Pietsch attempts to illustrate an improvised role playing game. Does it succeed? Against all odds, it does. Keep reading for our spoiler-free review.

Cover by Pietsch
Written by Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy
Illustrated and colored by Carey Pietsch
Flatted by Niki Smith and Megan Brennan
Lettered by Tess Stone

Welcome to the Adventure Zone!

SEE! The illustrated exploits of three lovable dummies set loose in a classic fantasy adventure!

READ! Their journey from small-time bodyguards to world-class artifact hunters!

MARVEL! At the sheer metafictional chutzpah of a graphic novel based on a story created in a podcast where three dudes and their dad play a tabletop role playing game in real time!

Join Taako the elf wizard, Merle the dwarf cleric, and Magnus the human warrior for an adventure they are poorly equipped to handle AT BEST, guided (“guided”) by their snarky DM, in a graphic novel that, like the smash-hit podcast it’s based on, will tickle your funny bone, tug your heartstrings, and probably pants you if you give it half a chance.

With endearingly off-kilter storytelling from master goofballs Clint McElroy and the McElroy brothers, and vivid, adorable art by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There be Gerblins is the comics equivalent of role-playing in your friend’s basement at 2am, eating Cheetos and laughing your ass off as she rolls critical failure after critical failure.

This book adapts the first ‘arc’ of The Adventure Zone, ‘Here There Be Gerblins,’ which serves as an introduction to the main characters of the story: Taako, Justin’s elf wizard, Merle, Clint’s dwarf cleric, and Magnus, Travis’s human warrior. This arc was based on a game that comes with the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, and it was unclear if the book could be based on that game due to the fact that it would be based on a pre-existing game.

The script, primarily crafted by Dad Clint, both adapts the mission depicted in the podcast, but also finds ways to bring the non-story elements of the podcast into the book. Brother Griffin was the Dungeon Master for their game, so it was unclear what his role in this book would be. He still appears as DM, both to give some clarifying information, and to interact with the characters in a fun way.

That’s the first aspect of the book that breaks convention and sets the book apart as something unique. The decision to allow Griffin to break the fourth wall – both in terms of the in-book story and in terms of giving the reader vital information – was a gamble that paid off, because he’s not overused in the book. He doesn’t show up on every page, and you never get the feeling that they felt the need to include him every X number of pages.

This is also the first huge change from the podcast, which frequently sees Griffin do the most heavy lifting, both due to the voicing of any non-Taako, Merle, and Magnus characters, and due to his role as storyteller/DM. The decision to include Griffin is an inspired one, but it is one that requires judicious restraint.

Carey Pietsch has a yeoman’s task to take the descriptions of characters, some detailed, and some not, and turn them into characters that don’t just match the visuals described by the show, but also convey the vocal tones and personality that they players imbue their characters with. Her Taako is every bit as dismissive and full of himself as Justin’s portrayal, and adds a new dimension to his character – a sideways glance. This is something that obviously can’t happen on an audio-only show, but she gives Taako the bitchiest, shade-throwing-est glare to show his utter disdain for the situations he finds himself in.

This is one way where the book also distinguishes itself as something different than the podcast, in so much as it attempts to create visuals that stand on their own, which is incredibly important. This would not be an interesting or enjoyable book if you needed to be listening to the podcast while reading along, or if it were merely an illustration of things Griffin described. But it also means that Pietsch was given an incredible amount of free reign here. Because of the fact that people are coming to this book, for the most part, due to the podcast, to turn over so much to the non-podcasting member of the creative team was a risk.

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But Pietsch is more than up to the task, crafting a world that is true to the story’s tone, but doesn’t get bogged down in traditional fantasy archetypes, visually. Her characters have an energy and expressiveness that bring a layer of positivity and cuteness to a story that doesn’t necessarily evoke that naturally. But she also doesn’t sugarcoat this and turn it into a book for kids; the book exists in the same odd space that the podcast does, where things are funny and disgusting, sometimes within seconds of each other.

Her most masterful skill, however, is finding ways to bring the spirit of the players into the illustrations, even when the characters couldn’t look less like the McElroys. Along with Justin’s catty take on Taako, Magnus has the wide-eyed optimism that Travis brings to him, and Merle is as clueless as Clint unwittingly plays him. Pietsch also takes visual cues from the podcast, like how Griffin described Barry Bluejeans as looking like Tom Arnold. Pietsch doesn’t exactly do a caricature of Arnold, but he’s in there, and very few people would’ve judged if she decided to go a different way with that character.

The book somewhat streamlines the plot of the first arc, which is good, and keeps the language just as foul, making the book truly feel like the podcast in more than just story. Taking an improvised game and turning it into a book in a more literal translation would likely be a disaster. But Pietsch and the McElroys made this a comic first, and that’s why it works so well.

As a longtime listener of the show, I was legitimately skeptical of the adaptation for a number of reasons. I worried for naught; the charm of the McElroys, fueled by the storytelling of Pietsch and Griffin, radiates off this book, making it a fun, silly, thoroughly readable journey. Because of the private nature of podcast listening, it is really amazing to learn when something that exists only within your ears becomes a cultural phenomenon, and the amazing and unexpected success of this graphic novel seems so different than my experience listening to the show. This was often my ‘the kids are napping, time to do dishes and bake bread’ podcast, and so to know that this is the first graphic novel ever to top the New York Times trade fiction bestsellers list is a real shock to the system, in a good way.

It also acts as a great reminder that comics can be anything, and that something that would seem to not at all work in a graphic fiction context can absolutely translate, given the hard work and talent of its creators. “The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins” is proof positive of just that.


Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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