For lack of a better term, The Adventure Zone is a family business.
Sort of.
It all started with the McElroy brothers - Justin, Travis and Griffin - who started up a comedy advice podcast called My Brother, My Brother and Me.
It was a huge success, and soon they were performing live shows in front of sold-out crowds around the country - but they wanted to come up with a project that could include their father, Clint, a lifelong professional radio announcer.
So they started a podcast that would involve the four of them playing Dungeons and Dragons - and they called it The Adventure Zone!
The result was another comedy hit, as Clint, Justin and Travis created characters and tried to survive the trials devised by Griffin, the Dungeon Master.
They managed to craft an amazing story of heroics, friendship and lots and lots (and lots) of jokes - and the show became a hit!
Now you can hold it in your hands, as the McElroys have adapted the first several episodes of the podcast into a 250-page graphic novel titled Here There Be Gerblins! (And it's just the first of many planned volumes.)
It drops you right in the middle of the action, as human warrior Magnus Burnsides (Travis), elf wizard Taako (Justin) and dwarf cleric Merle Highchurch (Clint) tackle a series of missions, guided by Griffin, who often pops into the proceedings, breaking the Fourth Wall.
What follows is great mix of action, story twists and a wealth of very funny moments! (But fair warning - this isn't a book for young readers. There are quite a few four-letter words in evidence here.)
The art is by Carey Pietsch, and the style is cartoonish, in a high-energy and fast-paced fashion. It's a heck of a lot of fun and matches up well to the humorous tone and exotic locales and even-more-exotic creatures that populate the story.
Do I need to recommend it? The book is already on the New York Times Best Seller list, it's hugely popular and selling like crazy!
What the heck, I'll recommend it anyway! It's mighty entertaining, and any fan of fantasy - or humor - or the Family McElroy (which is all good-hearted people everywhere) - are sure to love it!
Grade: A+
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