Critical Role Vox Machina: Origins Volume I Paperback – Illustrated, October 15, 2019

Giving a group of well-known heroes an origin story is no easy feat. When you've become a classic, it seems weird to work backwards and remember - how did this character feel 10 years ago? 20? Already having completed so many arcs and accomplishments, I would think it would be easy to get steeped in foreshadowing or forget to make a character more immature than we last saw them. No such thing happens with our beloved Vox Machina! We're immediately brought to a place of character where they are young, a little naive, struggling to understand each other and how they tick, not fully grasping the incredible friendships about to form in their future lives. It's very well done.Having been a very new fan to Critical Role and more familiar with the second season than the first season (the second being a new story with new characters) I thought that since I haven't seen every episode of the first season I would somehow be lost in the shuffle. I would feel like a newbie fan on the outside looking in, wishing I could get those inside jokes too. But I never felt that way! I felt like Matt Mercer and crew took my hand and said, "Here's what you need to get started! A little bit of Vex, Vax, Keyleth - and now, here's Scanlan, Grog, and Tiberius! And don't worry, there's more soon!" I am STOKED for the next comic that will hopefully see more of Pike and Percy.As far as a comic book goes, this is actually coming from someone who doesn't read comic books. My brain has never been able to quite enjoy nor grasp the graphic novel style of reading, it jumps from panel to panel in the incorrect order and I usually threw aside a comic in frustration of having read the same page over and over and realizing I was tuning it all out. I read the Spider-Man comics as a kid and that was IT for me.Recently, I picked up Jessica Jones (Alias Investigations) and Stumptown graphic novels. I worked really hard to read them and if I found my eyes were bouncing all over the page because *SoMeTiMEs* panels read left to right, or top to bottom, or spread across two pages from left to right and then the bottom half of both pages switched from top to bottom - I kept at it! I realized having characters that are admired and beloved honestly makes all the difference. Despite the difficulty I kept reading because I LOVED them. ANYWAY, that's just context for this:I didn't have ANY SUCH TROUBLE with the Critical Role/Vox Machina story. AT ALL. The pictures are so beautifully placed, thoughtfully drawn, the word bubbles don't spontaneously lead me on an eye labyrinth across the page. At no point did I hold a page under a lamp and squint so I could see what on earth the picture was. It read more like a gorgeous picture book. It felt organized. It went broad for big, cinematic scenes, and then narrowed again for intimate conversations. I never had a moment of confusion whatsoever. It didn't spontaneously give my eyes ADD or throw my gaze every which way to keep up with the action. I felt like without these distractions I was fully able to SOAK IN the story. And now instead of remembering my favorite scenes in flashes of big white word bubbles, I remember them by color and character expression.Favorite moments: Keyleth in the swamp, healing Vax, and her sweet friendly nature. Scanlan's way of greeting the group when they run into each other unexpectedly. Tiberius's warmth towards perfect strangers. ANYTHING WITH THE TWINS. At no point did I feel distracted by the format of a graphic novel as I usually would be. It's elegantly crafted, beautifully written and colored. Character voices SHINE through! I feel like I could hear each individual and distinct voice, never once did I think - huh, I wonder who wrote THIS line for this character? It felt like I was listening in at the Critical Role table and each actor came forward to read the lines out loud for me. It feels genuine and true to their character, while at the same time, portraying that younger self I mentioned.Congrats to the artists and the Critical Role team. What a great story!

Within the first 60 seconds of popping this comic open, I was instantly hooked.I'm glad I waited for the Volume series to come out, I could only imagine the pain of waiting in between issues as this story is very well-paced and grips you visually and captures your imagination. This is everything I've ever wanted in a Fantasy Comic. Adult Flavor, real-to-life characters and decisions, and fantastic action and lore. I'm not much of a "Comic Book Guy" but I'm definitely a fan of the Fantastic Matthew Mercer as well as the Magnificent Matthew Coville and experiencing a story through their combined lens and experience playing Dungeons and Dragons has turned me into a Vox Machina Comic Book Guy. I will definitely be purchasing the next volume once the compilation is complete.

Bought volumes 1-3 as a gift for my girlfriend and she loved them!! Along with some other critical roll stuff. The stories and books are great. Definitely worth getting.

Very well written with a great look into the start of what would become a MASSIVE world. The world building aspects and character development in this first book really sets the tone for the whole experience.

Decent story, great artwork. Worth the money. Let me son look at some pictures while I told him the censored version, he can't wait to "read" the next one.

I've been following Vox Machina on Youtube for a year now and I haven't caught up all the way with campaign 1. This book basically lets me see into the past of the party members as I currently know them. The book is really beautifully designed and is a very good comic book type paper. The colors are fantastic and the contrast is clear straight away. This isn't some second-rate printing quality, it's the real deal and feels great to hold.

Waiting for the replacement to come in, will update when it does. Also ordered the 2nd and 3rd volumes and unlike this one, they are in perfect condition. Hopefully this was just a fluke.

I love Critical Role and have never been bothered by any of the content before, so I was surprised that it started right off with infant death. I suppose I should specify human infant death. (I'm nott really worried about that manticore.)It's still a great read and I loved everything else about it, but I had to put it down and hug my baby before I came back to it.Buy both part 1 and 2 together so you don't have to wait inbetween