Critical Role began as a private Dungeons & Dragons game with Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master and creator of the Exandria setting. Each cast member created their own character to play in the campaign. In 2015, Geek & Sundry moved "the group's existing home game into its studio" as a weekly web series; the first campaign focused on the story of Vox Machina.[5][6]Critical Role started their second campaign, with new characters, in 2018;[7][8] this campaign focused on The Mighty Nein adventuring party.[4]
2020–present
In November 2020, Critical Role announced that a graphic novel series exploring the backstories of The Mighty Nein main characters would be published by Dark Horse Comics. Each book has a different creative team and was released as a hardcover.[9][10][1]Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins – Home was released in August 2021 for Free Comic Book Day.[11] In December 2021, Dark Horse announced that many of the titles in the series would have a delayed release date due to a mixture of circumstances.[12] An omnibus – titled Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins Library Edition Volume 1 – collecting the Jester Lavorre, Caleb Widogast, Yasha Nydoorin, and Nott the Brave stories[13][14] was released in October 2023.[15] The second library edition volume, collecting the Mollymauk Tealeaf, Beauregard Lionett, Fjord Stone and Caduceus Clay stories, was released in December 2024.[16]
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins – Acquired Taste was released in May 2025 for Free Comic Book Day; the issue focuses on Beau and Caleb in Bassuras waiting to meet a contact at a dinner theater show themed around Vox Machina.[17] A boxed set collecting the eight hardcover volumes is scheduled to be released in November 2025.[18]The Mighty Nein Origins is also scheduled to be adapted for the digital vertical scroll format on Webtoon.[19]
Reception
In Publishers Weekly's "Best-selling Books Week Ending February 18, 2022", Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins–Caleb Widogast was 14th in "Hardcover Frontline Fiction".[20][21] In USA Today's "Top 150 Weekly Best Sellers", Caleb Widogast debuted at #144 on February 17, 2022.[22] Brian Hibbs, in The Beat's analysis of 2022 comics sales, highlighted that Caleb Widogast was one of eight Dark Horse titles in the "Top 750" and that it was Dark Horse's 4th best selling title with 15,000 copies sold.[23] In Publishers Weekly's "Best-selling Books Week Ending February 10, 2023", Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins–Nott the Brave was 18th in "Hardcover Frontline Fiction".[24]Colorist Diana Sousa was nominated for the 2023 Eisner Award in "Best Coloring" for her work on Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin, The Mighty Nein Origins: Fjord Stone, and The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast.[25]
Corey Patterson of CBR opined that the "success" of Critical Role comic series Vox Machina Origins and The Mighty Nein Origins "highlights why the comic book medium may be the best way to tell Critical Role stories" and "it could be argued that comic book illustrations are better at unpacking Critical Role's immersive world, especially when it comes to the campaign events retold in The Mighty Nein Origins".[2] Patterson noted that unlike the Vox Machina Origins series, The Mighty Nein Origins "series specifically structures each volume around a specific character from the party".[2] He commented that the latter series "does a brilliant job of homing in on each party member's backstory and unique experiences" as each volume "pinpoints the stages that created their characters and eventually led to them crossing paths with the adventuring party".[2]
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