The backstory behind the beloved adventuring party, Vox Machina, continues in the “Origins” comic. The first run went well enough to warrant a sequel, so now we get to see more of the party come together while meeting new threats.
Written by Jody Houser
Story by Matthew Mercer
Illustrated by Olivia Samson
Colored by Msassyk
Lettered by Ariana MaherWhat’s hiding beneath Gatshadow?
The members of Vox Machina track the missing Grog back to his old home in Westruun, where he appears to have been drawn to the local cursed mountain. Of course, he has. Giant spiders, evil skeletons, and something even more nefarious stand in the unlikely heroes’ way when they venture under the mountain to find their friend!
Before we begin, I have a confession that may revoke my D&D Nerd Card: I have not watched much Critical Role. It’s strange, considering my love of Dungeons & Dragons and the respect I hold for all the actors involved, but by the time I learned about it there was already an extensive backlog I didn’t have the free time for. However, I still learned plenty about it from my friends in the fandom (which, I must add, has been one of the most passionate and welcoming fandoms I’ve encountered in ages, so kudos for that) so I’m not going in entirely blind. This means that this review will be from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know the ins and outs of the characters and their history, so while I might miss out on some Easter Eggs, I’ll be able to gauge how well it introduces, establishes, and builds on the characters for readers who don’t already know everything about Vox Machina.
With that disclaimer out of the way, the comic resumes with the party on a rescue mission for Grog. Along the way they’re joined by Pike the cleric, while learning more about the characters.
The story is well-paced, using the travel time to build on the characters. The way the colors get slowly darker from panel to panel as the party moves through the woods illustrates the passage of time throughout their journey nicely. Small panels of silent moments are used to provide both dramatic and comedic beats as the moment requires, adding to the timing quite nicely.
We’re also given some good character beats along the way. Scanlan has plenty of little asides and jokes, but there are some good moments that indicate how much he does actually care for Grog (and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the party). Grog gets a good moment as well, when he reflects upon his father, and Pike’s introduction helps her mesh with the party nicely. Of course, the banter is a key element to building these characters, and they’re given solid voices that bring out their personality strengths and flaws even as they chat mid-battle.
The quieter moments give us a little character backstory, primarily for Grog, but it also connects to Pike’s. We got more backstory from other party members in the first “Vox Machina Origins” run, so the character focus is nice. Between the dialogue and the backstory, writer Jody Houser manages to capture the voices and personalities of all the characters expertly.
When combat starts, there are some ups and downs to it. The actual action is well illustrated, featuring some nicely angled shots of arrows in flight and suitably impressive monsters. It’s also great seeing some of the spells in action without needing them spelled out – D&D players can recognize a Spiritual Weapon, or know that when Scanlan is shouting insults at a spider he’s actually casting Vicious Mockery. For readers less familiar with the game, it’s just cool magic.
If there is one drawback to the fight scenes, it’s how their endings feel anticlimactic. Considering Critical Role is known for dramatically ending fights with Matthew Mercer’s catchphrase “How do you want to do this?” it’s a little surprising how little fanfare there is in the victories. Defeating a giant spider with just a Guiding Bolt is one thing, but the main villain of the issue gets defeated in two panels on the bottom of a page. No dramatic last words, no one-liners from the heroes, not even a scream of rage as he’s defeated – I had to go back and read it again just to confirm that it was a finishing blow. Even though this is only issue 2, so we know there’s more to come, it wasn’t the most dramatic victory.
Continued belowArtistically, Olivia Samson’s illustrations and Msassyk’s color work bring the story and characters to life nicely. There’s some sharp detailing to the character designs that add plenty of depth to them, along with great aesthetic choices for their outfits and styles.
Perhaps the greatest strength to the artwork is the way the character expressions convey emotion so well. Little details, like creased brows and sideways smiles, help sell the emotions behind the characters in a way that adds to their voices and sense of personality quite well.
The monsters, too, feature solid designs. From giant spiders to skeletal hordes, every foe Vox Machina faces is drawn to be impressively intimidating. Little touches, like different kinds of armor on the skeletons, keep things varied and prevent the hordes of foes from getting stale.
But the scenery is also quite impressive, as we get to see a fair bit more of the world of Critical Role. Ancient woods, huge mountainsides, decrepit crypts littered with ancient tomes – each scene change brings its own energy and color scheme, and each area is filled with great design choices and flavor that makes them all feel like part of a larger world.
All in all, “Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins” serves as both a good prequel for fans of Critical Role and a solid introduction for readers unfamiliar to the series. It blends the game mechanics and storytelling nicely, with very solid artwork to bring it to life. If you’re not a Critter before reading the comic, you may well be by the time you’re done.
Final Verdict: 7.7 – A fun continuation of the story of Vox Machina, with great character work backed up by solid character designs and artwork.
