Synopsis:
When you become that which you fear most, how do you carry on?
Veth Brenatto doesn’t have an exciting life, but she likes it that way. Unlike her childhood, it’s safe. Predictable. And her husband and son love her almost as fiercely as she loves them. But Veth’s cozy existence is turned on its head when she and her family are captured by raiders. In order to save them, Veth will commit an atrocity that will sever her from all that she loves–maybe forever–and lead her to become Nott the Brave of the Mighty Nein.
Celebrated writer Sam Maggs (Captain Marvel, The Unstoppable Wasp) is joined by Critical Role cast members Matthew Mercer and Sam Riegel, with the expert art of William Kirkby (Rat Queens) and colors by Eren Angiolini (Multiversity: Teen Justice) for a heartbreaking look at a halfling’s end and a goblin’s beginning.
Review:
Nott’s back story is the one that made me cry during campaign two. Unfortunately, I don’t think this graphic quite grasped the emotion of it. Maybe because Sam Riegel is such a beautiful storyteller, but it felt like something was missing. That doesn’t mean it was bad. Not at all. I’ve loved every instalment in this series so far.
The character designs in particular are the standout part of this graphic novel. One of the biggest appeals of The Mighty Nein for me is that they look so varied. No offence to Vox Machina but they were a bunch of human looking characters and then Grog. What makes the Nein so special is how every character looks completely different. I especially love Nott’s design. Veth is very cute, but as someone that has always loved the weird and wonderful, Nott’s design is perfect.
I was hoping we’d get a little more out of the goblin scenes. Nott talks about it a little during the campaign but you don’t get a lot as Sam’s an excellent role player and he knows she wouldn’t want to talk about it. But saying that, the story of this instalment is the strongest of the ones I’ve read so far. It’s cohesive from start to finish and you follow just one timeline so it’s easy for those that don’t know anything about this world to follow along.
Going back to the art, it’s great. I’ve never seen anything by this artist before but I’ve noticed they’ve also illustrated the Yasha instalment (which is the only one I don’t own yet), so I’m excited to check that out.
I’m not sure which instalment I’m going to pick up next, but I’m excited for whichever one I choose.
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