bookheaven | Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins Library Edition (Reply)

Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins Library Edition Volume 1 by Sam Maggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a gorgeous (and pricey) edition of four of the origin stories of the Mighty Nein characters written in conjunction with Matt Mercer and the voice actors embodying the various characters. In this we have, in order, Jester Lavorre, Yasha Nydoorin, Caleb Widogast and Nott the Brave. So let me talk about them individually.

Jester's story has lovely art and color palette and while the story seems to go on a bit long (I haven't checked but I suspect it is the longest by page count). We meet Jester as a young girl, Sapphire, whose mother is one of the most sought after courtesans in the realm and is also Agoraphobic and overprotective to the extreme. Jester is rarely allowed outside the building and turns inward to her art. Until she meets The Traveler, who at this time she believes to be another kid like herself. It's a story about their dangerous shenanigans until Jester finally leaves the nest. It is by far the happiest story of the bunch.

Yasha's story was the weakest (and I'm not saying that because Yasha is not my favorite character. I like her don't get me wrong but she's at the bottom of the pile for me). It seemed overly long for the story it's telling but that might not have been so bad had the art been better. William Kirkby's art in this is...I wish I could see it as the editors extolled it. It's a muddy, heavy lined, out of proportion, bodies don't look like that mess. I outright hated it. Yasha's story is pretty tragic though so there was potential for it to be good. She's taken basically as the spoils of war but raised by the leader as her own. That works until she falls in love with another woman taken in the same way. Only more sadness results and we leave her on the steps of joining the Nein.

Caleb's story is tied with Nott's as my favorite (I'm biased, they're my favorite two characters in the Nein but in full honesty Caleb is the type of character I always fall for). Caleb's story starts with joy, him getting a rare spot at the Solstryce Academy where he and a couple others, Astrid and Wulf are mocked for being country bumpkins. They are selected for special training which is obvious to anyone but them they are being groomed and tortured and probably experimented on (which is probably why three country folk were selected). They are left scarred inside and out and used as weapons for the empire. Also they're a thruple (the pages get pretty spicy within the bounds of what's allowed on a page) so Caleb is canonically a poly pansexual from what we can tell. And then his story goes beyond tragic as the gas lighting and outright magically enthrallment takes him to a dark place, to dark things and then he breaks.

Nott the Brave's story is very much the saddest of them all. Kirkby's art is back. It's still ugly but at least not as bad as Yasha's (so...that was an artistic choice?!?) And I can't really review it without completely spoiling it if you haven't caught up with the Mighty Nein (I am not but I had already been spoiled for all this because what it's 4-5 years ago now that it aired?) What is done to Nott is horrific and really one of the more interesting twists.

So very glad I got this edition and I know I said it's expensive but honestly is more expensive than buying the comics individually? No, not really. It's worth it.

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