As a huge D&D fan, I've been meaning to get into Critical Role for a very long time. I haven't yet found the time to sit down and get into the podcast, but I saw this and had to buy it! I'm so pleased with it - the art style is fantastic, the story is very well done and it's a brilliant introduction to the characters even though I don't know them that well yet. It's exactly what I want from a story based around D&D, with great characters and witty dialogue and things gone wrong (as always) and a ragtag team of adventurers who mesh together somehow. ( )

I love all the art and seeing our beloved characters in the beginning of their journey is such a treat! ( )

Did I know what Critical Role was when I started this book? No. Do I know what it is now? Still no. It sure is something though. Can't say I didn't like the book, so whatever sort of weird popular culture this thing may be, it's created a good graphic novel and that's all that matters to me.

(I'm not old I swear!) ( )

Great fun and excellent artwork. ( )

Pretty good for the comic book media tie-in prequel to an ongoing podcast where you basically listen to people play Dungeons & Dragons. I have never listened to the podcast or played D&D, so I was hesitant to try this, especially since I got burned by The Adventure Zone series, graphic novels based on another D&D podcast I do not follow. At least the humor in Critical Role is not as forced, desperate, and unrelenting as in The Adventure Zone.

The actual story here is a convoluted affair with a whole mess of factions -- mercenaries, assassins, adventuring groups, a criminal organization, and a demonic organization -- investigating and causing deaths among poor people in a generic fantasy world port town. A small group of adventurers -- a fairly typical mix, maybe a little too similar the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy -- coalesce out of the chaos with meet-cutes, grudging enemy-of-my-enemy alliances, and routine team in-fighting and snarking.

The characters are all likable in their roguish, brutish, and brooding ways and almost carried the book for me, but I think once was enough for me and this franchise. ( )