Vox Machina, the most disastrous and funniest heroes of Exandria, return with new adventures that we can read thanks to Fandogamia Editorial
Editorial Fandogamy post in Spain Critical Role: Vox Machina Originsthe third volume of the comic series, where we are told about the formation and first steps of today’s most famous role-playing group, Critical Role. If you have come here because you have met Critical Role in Twitch or because you have discovered the series The Legend of Vox Machina of Prime Videohere you have the reviews of the first volume and the second of this collection.
What is Critical Role?
Critical Role is a group of American voice actors who come together to perform role-playing games. Through Twitch y Youtube this group began to broadcast their games live so that anyone could enjoy their games. Being voice actors, they gave different voices to the characters giving them a great personality. Due to the success, they decided to prepare a Kickstarter to produce an animated special. They managed to raise more than 10 million dollars, 10 times more than expected. Today his Twitch channel is one of the most successful in the world.
Seeing the tremendous success, Amazon Prime Video became interested in the project and took over the rights to Critical Role and made the animated series The Legend of Vox Machina, in which we can see the members of Critical Role playing their characters. Thanks to the series the group has become even more popular and successful.
But before the streaming series, the role-playing group took the opportunity to release a series of comics where the origin was narrated and how the members of such an illustrious team met. As a curiosity, like the first and second volumes, the story of this volume is based on the role-playing games that the group did.
Tournaments and conspiracies in Exandria
Like the previous volumes, this one does not start where the second one ended, a time skip occurs, this is an advantage, since it allows the reading to be carried out without having read the previous volumes, although certain details are lost.
As usual, the members of the group are penniless and with nothing better to do, so they decide to participate in a fighting tournament, where the winner gets a large reward. Here we can finally see all the members of Vox Machina together in the heat of battle, and as one can imagine, teamwork is not their thing. This adventure is only an appetizer of what comes next.
After witnessing an accident at a celebration in Westruunin which an old acquaintance of the group is unfairly accused, Vox Machina he is forced to uncover the truth in what seems like a rather large conspiracy, one involving powerful people. If this were not enough, the group will be involved in another mission about a political disappearance, where a secret organization of thieves will be involved. If you like conspiracies, mysteries, investigations and mythical creatures from dragons y dungeonsYou will like the comic.
Matthew Mercerhe Dungeon Master and one of the founders of Critical Role, is the creator of the story, and the character of the rest of the characters is thanks to the members of the group. But transferring a role-playing game to paper is the merit of Jody Houser. The story is very entertaining and humor is still the strong point of these comics, It is very difficult not to laugh at the absurd situations in which the protagonists get themselves. For those who want to see fights and action, don’t worry, there is plenty of action, especially in the tournament part. The charisma of the characters is outstanding.
Readers who have played D&D or any other role-playing game, they will be able to identify moments where the players of Critical Role they made good or bad rolls, including certain prizes or ways in which they start a mission.
Although compared to the previous volumes, it is possible that this one feels slower, mainly because it is not a self-contained volume. We will have to wait for Fandogamia published the fourth volume to find out how the adventure of the heroes will end, but it seems that it will be the biggest mission they have faced so far.
Olivia Samson repeats as a cartoonist in this volume, with the help of JP Massa, doing a great job. The cartoon style suits a comic of this type of fantasy and magic very well. The artist shows that she has already done comics and a very positive evolution is clearly seen in her work, especially in the increase in detail in the drawing and in the protagonists. As a negative point, it must be said that the faces furthest away in the cartoon lose a lot of quality compared to the closest ones.
Diana Sousa is in charge of color. Sousa used a series of colors similar to the one in the previous volume, which suits her very well and will be liked by people who don’t like drastic changes in her series. The artist uses a wide variety of colors that favor this kind of stories, she makes each character have a characteristic color, which makes them easy to identify. When it comes to showing magic, the artist uses unique and special colors that correctly highlight those spells.
Ariana Maher and Joamette Gil are in charge of the lettering. They do a more than decent job, highlighting onomatopoeia and arcane characters in magic spells.
The Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins 3 edition of Fandogamia
Fandogamia once again shows that you can get good quality at a good price. The volume compiles six non-autoconclusive numbers that will surely continue with the story in the fourth volume. The softcover paperback edition of 168 color pages with a dimension of 26×17 cm. Additionally, the tome includes a gallery of character designs, covers, and sketches with commentary from the creators. As we say, the volume presents a great quality for a price of €15.
Critical Role: Vox Machine Origins
Authors: Matthew Mercer, Jody Houser, Olivia Samson, J.P. Massa, Diana Sousa y Ariana Maher
Format: Cartoon, kill me
Pages: 168 a color
Precio: 15,00 €
Synopsis: The Vox Machina enjoy a week of luxury in Westruun and even the Midwinter festival. But that costs money and it has a bad habit of running out, so they join an underground wrestling ring to win their cake prize. This ends up being just a warm-up for the real danger, when a mysterious attack looms over the festival celebration, magically freezing the entire town. Vox Machina will have to come to the rescue again, against an enemy much bigger than they imagined…
The superb work of writer Jody Houser and illustrator Olivia Samson continues, with colors by MSASSYK and letterer Ariana Maher. The comic includes an extensive gallery of extras with character designs, covers, and sketches with commentary from the creators.
