Why This D&D Comic Broke My Heart (In a Good Way)

Okay, this one requires a little explaining, because The Adventure Zone has had one of the stranger journeys from one medium to another.

If you are looking for an Adventure Zone graphic novel review, you should know up front: this story means the absolute world to me. The original Bureau of Balance arc started as a podcast featuring brothers Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy and their dad, Clint, playing Dungeons & Dragons together. Griffin serves as the Dungeon Master, while Justin, Travis, and Clint play the three heroes at the center of the story.

It is one of those podcasts that had a dramatic impact on my life. I have listened to it from start to end at least three times, watched the animated clips on YouTube, and traveled to multiple live shows. This podcast genuinely makes me cry every single time I listen to it. Around the time the podcast wrapped up the Bureau of Balance arc, I had my first daughter, and I would literally tell her the adventures of Taako, Merle, and Magnus as I put her to bed.

This is the level of impact and love I have for this story. So, when the podcast became a graphic novel series illustrated by the incredibly talented Carey Pietsch, I was ecstatic.

But I do have to caveat here: I am not a graphic novel person. It’s just not my thing. After finishing a few of the Adventure Zone graphic novels, I started to ask myself why I was struggling with the format. I realized that, to me, comic dialogue can sometimes feel a bit choppy, and I have a very active imagination that prefers to build the world in my mind.

But I pushed through, because I love these characters. And now, the entire original campaign has been adapted across eight graphic novels (with the finale, Story and Song, wrapping up the saga). So, basically, we’re reading a comic-book adaptation of a fantasy story that originally came into existence because four members of the same family sat around making dick jokes and playing D&D.

Still with me? Good. Let’s dive in, shall we?

🚨 SPOILER WARNING: This review discusses events throughout all eight Adventure Zone graphic novels. 🚨

Meet Taako, Magnus, and Merle

At the center of The Adventure Zone are three adventurers who probably shouldn’t be trusted with anything remotely important.

• Taako is an elf wizard with an enormous personality and an equally impressive collection of spells.
• Magnus Burnsides is a human fighter whose preferred solution to a problem involves charging directly toward it.
• Merle Highchurch is a dwarf cleric whose relationship with religion is somewhat flexible, despite the fact that being religious is technically his entire job.

What makes this series so great is that these characters meshed really well. They all complement each other and have hilarious, messy conflicts that mimic a real family. Which makes perfect sense, because it was a real family playing them!

Together, they are recruited by a mysterious moon-based organization called the Bureau of Balance to track down the Grand Relics—magical artifacts capable of causing world-ending destruction.

The Goofy Beginnings & Genre-Hopping

Instead of a standard fantasy slog, the genius of The Adventure Zone graphic novels is how the series drops these three goofs into wildly different genres in every book.

It starts like a traditional D&D adventure in Here There Be Gerblins, but quickly pivots. By the second book, Murder on the Rockport Limited!, we are suddenly in a locked-room murder mystery on a train! I have to say, this one is my absolute favorite. I love the setting, the introduction of key characters like the boy-detective Angus McDonald, and most importantly, the ridiculously incompetent antagonist, Jenkins. Knowing that the McElroy brothers were mercilessly making fun of their brother’s NPC in real time just makes reading it hilarious.

From there, the series just keeps genre-hopping. Petals to the Metal turns into a wildly dangerous Mad Max-style battle-wagon street race, and The Crystal Kingdom traps them in a floating sci-fi laboratory infected by a rapidly spreading pink crystal.

When the Stakes Get Real (And Time Starts Looping)

The series eventually shifts from fun, chaotic larks to a story with massive emotional stakes.

My second favorite story arc of the whole run is The Eleventh Hour. The party is sent to the town of Refuge in pursuit of a relic that can manipulate time. The catch? The town is trapped in a magical bubble, and at exactly noon, it is destroyed… only to reset back to 11:00 a.m.

I absolutely loved the Groundhog Day aspect of it all. Each loop gives them another opportunity to piece together the mystery, but it also presents a brutal temptation: if they take the relic, they can change the tragedies in their own pasts.

The Epic Finale and the Price of Saving the World

By the time we hit the later books, like The Suffering Game, things get substantially nastier. Our heroes are forced to make increasingly painful, permanent sacrifices just to survive. The tone shifts, and you realize the goofy adventurers you met in book one are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

It all culminates in the final novel, Story and Song, where the overarching mysteries of the Bureau of Balance, the ominous Red Robes, and the heroes’ own forgotten memories finally come to light. What started with three guys fighting goblins becomes a heartbreaking, cosmic fight for survival involving their friends, their history, and the fate of existence.

Rolling the Final Dice

Through all eight books, Taako, Magnus, and Merle remain the chaotic, lovable center of the adventure.

From podcast to graphic novel, I loved the journey, and now it is over (unless Netflix finally gives us that animated show!). After this experience, I’m still not completely a “graphic novel guy”, but my oldest daughter is. And now, thanks to these books, I get to share the story of Taako, Magnus, and Merle with her in a whole new way.

Which makes me love this story even more.

Are you into graphic novels, ClayReader? Is there a series out there that could permanently change my mind about the medium? Let me know in the comments below!