The Adventure Zone Vol. 2: Murder on the Rockport Limited!

The Adventure Zone Graphic Novels #2

by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy

In the second Adventure Zone graphic novel (adapted from the McElroy family's wildly popular D&D podcast), we rejoin hero-adjacent sort-of-comrades-in-arms Taako, Magnus, and Merle on a wild careen through a D&D railroad murder mystery. This installment has a little of everything: a genius child detective, an axe-wielding professional wrestler, a surly wizard, cursed magical artifacts, and a pair of meat monsters.

You know, the usual things you find on a train.

Hot on the heels of "The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins", the smash hit graphic novel that launched the series, "Murder on the Rockport Limited" picks up the saga where volume 1 left off. Both books are based on "The Adventure Zone," a tabletop RPG comedy podcast with downloads numbering in the tens of millions and an army of passionately devoted fans. With art and co-adaptation from Carey Pietsch, the McElroys are once again turning their raucous freewheeling D&D campaign into some damn fine comics.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics, Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Adventure

219 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2019

About the author

Clint McElroy is the father of Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy. He does the Adventure Zone podcast with them and has also appeared on several Maximum Fun donors-only bonus episodes.

Clint is the Ultimate Dad.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these graphic novels. I got the BN edition with cute little cards in the back!



Happy Reading!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-release review:
Oh, man, I am so stoked for this! I was forced strongly encouraged to read Here There Be Gerblins by a friend, and I fell in love with the graphic novel and have subsequently become addicted to the podcast. Seriously, in the three weeks since I started listening to The Adventure Zone, I've listened to 70 episodes, and I have no plans on stopping. But I also can't wait to read more graphic adaptations of the podcast!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAAARRRREEEEYYY!!!!

CAREY PIETSCH CONTINUES TO BE BEYOND AMAZING AT ART. FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, CHARACTER DESIGN, ENVIRONMENTS, TINY DETAILS ON BACKGROUNDS, TINY DETAILS ON PAPER/BOOKS, TINY DETAILS ON EVERYTHING.

Listen, if you read Gerblins, you know what to expect from Rockport: Shenanigans. Absolutely hilarious hijinks. And deep character moments. And just a bit of foreshadowing. There's nothing about this book I didn't like just as much (if not more than) the podcast. But Carey's art just takes it to the next fucking level. God.

[The Bibliopossum · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/23/19
I went through the book once, gonna re-read it before giving it a thorough review, but in short it holds up better than the first volume. No contest.
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12/4/18
There's a preview of this good child on the website and I'm already in love. Look at this jovial freckle-faced lad.

This is an Angus I can believe in.
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11/12/18
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Angus MacDonald is as magnificent in this book as he was in the podcast arc.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

While "Here There Be Gerblins" was more of a copy+paste of the original Podcast, "Murder on the Rockport Limited" did a flawless job of adapting the best parts of the podcast while mindfully trimming and adding, to make the story well-rounded and well paced. A wonderful adaptation and well told story that's both dramatic and funny and just so good! Some key jokes are left out of the comic, but this book does well at being it's own thing and adding fresh jokes that leave you in stitches. We will always have the moments from the Podcast, so let's see what the book has to offer! Also, wonderful art from Carey Pietsch, as always! Her panels are so detailed and have some truly powerful visuals. It's very emotional seeing our boys in action and our beloved side characters come to life and get more involved in the adventure. Looking forward to seeing this same treatment for Pedals to the Metal! If book two improved that much from the first, I can't wait for the nuance that three surely will have to offer

[francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the book tour for Gerblins, they all praised Carey's design for Graham (The Juicy Wizard). And yeah, I bet this book'll be good. But I'm 100%, all in, totally on board, completely infatuated, in this for the Juicy Wizard.

[Layla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun time. I'm really looking forward to the next one. Even if you don't listen to the podcast, I highly suggest picking up The Adventure Zone graphic novels if you're looking for something new to try.

[Adriana Martinez Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

YEEEES FANTASY COSTCO 🎶 WHERE ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!!! GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!! 🎶

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read the first volume of this because it was a Goodreads Choice Awards graphic novel nominee last year. And now I'm reading the second volume because it is in this year's Goodreads Choice Awards. As I vowed to myself with Monstress, this is not an error I will make a third time.

This murder mystery set on a train is dull, slow and not funny. I guess you really need to follow the podcast to get anything out of it.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three brothers and their dad started playing D&D and recorded themselves playing it. The podcast, The Adventure Zone, became so insanely popular, that we’re now getting the graphic novel treatment for the eight arcs of their campaign. What a world.

Listening to this campaign play out over the years was a source of joy. Griffin, the DM,is a natural storyteller, and the familial bonds of the players elevates the comedy and camaraderie with each episode. The story got good, then really good, then fucking BRILLIANT towards the end, and new podcast episode releases turned into midnight listening parties across the nation.

So there’s a lot to live up to when translating this story to a new medium. Will the story still make sense? Will the humor still hit? Will the audience still empathize with the characters?

Yup.

Carey Pietsch once again brings these characters to life on the page, all 220 of them, as Merle, Taako, and Magnus are assigned to recover another artifact from a train station... but their contact has been murdered. What follows is a murder mystery that introduces one of the best characters in the whole TAZ universe (Angus MacDonald, Kid Detective) and some real clever planning and execution by the heroes. Of course they screw up a lot, making things way harder for themselves, but it makes it so much more entertaining watching them claw their way out of it, while making us laugh along the way.

Even if you haven’t listened to the podcast, pick up vol 1 (Here there be Gerblins) and now this new entry for some entertaining fantasy role play with surprising heart and depth.

[Alex Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be a bit of a biased review. I'm a huge fan of the Adventure Zone and borderline obsessed with the McElroys in general. There was no way I wasn't going to love this, especially after the fantastic first volume. Murder on the Rockport Limited improves on the first volume in almost every way and, just like the podcast, is where the real core of the Adventure Zone kicks off.

What I Liked
-The art. Carey Pietsch had already set the tone of this series of graphic novels in the first volume, but she continues to absolutely nail it in Rockport. This volume introduces some beloved characters, most notably Angus McDonald, and Pietsch's versions of each is so perfect. Every panel is absolutely gorgeous as well.

-The transition from audio to visual. Seriously. I don't know how they pulled this off so well. The Adventure Zone is a mostly improved podcast, but they manage to both tell the story in a satisfying way and transfer over many of the goofs, pop culture references, and family banter in a way that fits in the visual format. This was true in the first volume as well, but I still can't get over how well they translated it here.

-The story. The first volume, Here there be Gerblins, is the introduction to the world and the characters, but really sees the McElroys experimenting with the format (during the podcast). They did a great job of tightening up that arc for the graphic novel, but Murder on the Rockport Limited is the arc where things really start to pick up and I'm so excited for the continuation of the series.

-The quality and love. There's a lot of little things in the graphic novel that are simply nice touches. There's obliviously inside jokes and easter eggs scattered throughout, but the thing I love the most is the section of fan art at the end of the book. The Adventure Zone has a ton of dedicated fans who produce all sorts of wonderful fan art and other content, so it's great to see the McElroys recognize and include that in the graphic novel.

What I Didn't Like

-Nothing. I told you above this would be a biased review. I love this series and these good good boys and can't wait for the next installment.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been so long since I read the first volume that I really don't remember much about it. Fortunately, there’s a brief recap at the beginning of this book. It also helps that it picks up directly after the first book’s end.

The series is based on a podcast, which I’ve not listened to. Ever since the dawn of tabletop RPGs, players have thought, “Wow! That adventure was so fun! We should write a book/film it/start a podcast/publish it/etc!” Fortunately, the McElroys have a knack for entertaining banter, or at least a finely tuned sense of what to edit out. 99% of the story is the adventure as experienced by their characters, with occasional interjections from the Dungeon Master.

Newly minted artifact retrievers, Taako, Merle, and Magnus are dispatched to claim an item of vast power from the safe of the luxury train, the Rockport Limited. Naturally, it's not that easy, and before you can say, “Orient Express,” we’ve got a murder, multiple suspects, a boy detective, and a crab monster. It's fun, exciting, and, honestly, much more memorable than volume 1.

The humor is just a touch on the low key side. The McElroys enjoy banter and silliness, but never to the detriment of the story. They take their adventuring seriously, and never let the jokes get in the way of the plot. The action moves at a brisk pace. The art is lovely, with just the right amount of humor.

After a slow start, this is shaping up to be a fun series. Recommended!

[Dev · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short version of any TAZ Balance review is just "god, I love Taako so much" but I'll try to say a few other things as well ;) This is probably my favorite campaign from Balance, although some of my favorite parts aren't really translated to this graphic novel adaptation. Still, all the characters and character designs are great and Clint does an amazing job of taking all their disorganized rambling from the podcast and translating into a much more linear and well-paced story. Also, I don't know why but them ragging on Jenkins about his spell slots is one of the most hilarious things in the whole series to me so I enjoyed that a lot here.

Definitely makes me want to go back and listen to the podcast version though because they obviously cut out all the parts where they just could not figure out ANY part of Griffin's puzzles in this one and he finally got so frustrated that he basically had the NPCs solve most of it for them. I get why they took it out here, but it just absolutely killed me in the show because I was like oh my god Griffin, you have vastly over-estimated how smart your entire family is lol. Looking forward to the next one because I had a VERY hard time visualizing what was happening with all the racing in an audio format so I'm hoping I will like the graphic novel version a lot better for that.

[Adri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel adaptation continues to be top of the line. If you haven't listened to The Adventure Zone, I highly recommend it because this comic experience will be all the better for it! I love the way Carey Pietsch and the McEl-Boys have collaborated to comb through these arcs, tighten them up, and really let their finest moments and most iconic goofs shine. I laughed out loud, I rooted for these three idiots to find their way, and I felt my heart grow three sizes when they did.

A tongue-in-cheek, fantastical whoddunit romp, what else could you want?

[Travis Riddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry in The Adventure Zone's "Balance" series.

It's really amazing getting graphic novel adaptations of this story. It's truly a fantastic tale, filled with interesting and surprising plot twists, fun and deep characters, and tons of varied, wild locales. While I loved the story, I'm not keen to re-listen to over 70 hours of content, so being able to relive it in this more easily digestible form with absolutely beautiful artwork accompanying it is great.

This second volume improves on the first by beginning to tweak the story a bit, given the family's knowledge now of where everything leads to, so they know what scenes were filler and not really necessary as well as the deeper mythology of the characters and plot (which allowed them to create a powerful new scene at the end of this book that was not present in the podcast version).

Luckily there's a teaser at the end of the book promising a third book coming, and I really hope we get an adaptation of the entire storyline, because this is a fantastic fantasy story that everyone should be reading, brought to life by tight writing and breathtaking artwork.

[Celia T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the spark and fun is lost in graphic novel format, since much of the humour of the show comes from improvisation & the sense of immediacy you get when the Horny Boys are experiencing their adventures in real time. If I had read this book with no context, I don't think I would enjoy it. But, oh well! I do have context! So I enjoyed it a lot!

[Renata · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great adaptation. I'm still not totally convinced how well these adaptations hold up if you haven't listened to the podcast and don't have these character voices in your head already?

Nevertheless: <3 Angus McDonald <3

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

IT'S a real surprise that a podcast has been adapted into such a uniquely exciting graphic novel. The art is wonderful- bright, colourful and fun whilst consistently being clear about what's happening, particularly in combat.

The characters are wonderful and Griffin's interjections as DM were well done and added an extra bit of comedy. I enjoy that there's plenty of humour but also a story-thread throughout. It's all enjoyable and good.

I also enjoyed this volume, maybe slightly more than the previous one, because I never listened this far in the podcast so this was exciting and new for me. Looking forward to the next volume.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course this was a delight! Great things all around: lots of little inside jokes for podcast people, a very very good Angus McDonald (the best character?!?), and an extremely good Garfield the Deals Warlock.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just can’t get enough of this series! The first installment is absolutely brilliant and the second is somehow even better. There is nothing like this series out there or that even begins to come close to it. I mean, in this installment alone we have a genius child detective, an axe-wielding professional wrestler, a surly wizard, cursed magical artifacts and two meat monsters. If that doesn’t intrigue the hell out of you and make you pick this series up then I don’t know what will! On top of all the wacky creatures and wild adventures they get up to there’s the incredible sense of humour throughout and that’s what makes this series for me. It’s just so damn bloody funny and I absolutely adore it! The illustrations are just top notch as well, they really bring the story and even the humour to life right on the page in front of you.

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1) Here There Be Gerblins ★★★★☆
#3) Petals to the Metal ★★★★☆
#4) The Crystal Kingdom ★★★☆☆
#5) The Eleventh Hour ★★★★☆

➸ Trigger warnings for alcohol consumption, blood & gore depiction, dead bodies & body parts, dismemberment, beheading discussed, murder & attempted murder, fire, train crash, mind control, animal attack.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main thing I miss when reading The Adventure Zone comics versus listening to the podcast is the silly voices, and especially the pacing of vocal delivery. But what you get instead is a wealth of silly character expressions and visual jokes. They are sneaking in earlier appearances for some characters who were introduced later in the podcast story, which works well. The murder mystery is very effective, especially the final reveal and the concluding battle. I love that they include a fan art gallery in the back of each volume, helping to maintain the alternate fan-canons for character's visual appearances.

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin) · Rating 5 out of 5]

🗡️ The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins


Content/Trigger Warnings: Talk of death, murder, depiction of decapitation, swearing

Friends, if you thought I was just going to stop with the first book of this series then you thought wrong! My inner nerd is screeching at high levels because of this book, for so many reasons. My number one, favorite thing in adventure books is a good murder mystery. Needless to say, I was hooked from the very title and it just gets better the minute you open the page. I’m not kidding, if you have checked The Adventure Zone out yet, then you need to go look into it, immediately!



If you couldn’t guess by now, this book follows our main characters after they decided to join The Bureau of Balance, to help save the world and maintain, well, balance. Our heroes have been made reclaimers, they retrieve artifacts that could threaten the very existence of the world they live in. Upon receiving their new jobs, they are thrust into a new mission, to locate and retrieve a new artifact that’s more dangerous than the last they encountered. Now they’re on the Rockport Limited trying to locate the artifact only to be thrown into a murder mystery. Not only will they have to protect the world this time, but they’ll have to protect the innocent passengers of the train from a serial killer

🚂 Griffin McElroy – Dugeon Master; podcasting, karaoke, weaving a rich tapestry of drama

🚂 Magnus Burnsides – Human Fighter; battle, carpentry, everything else…apparently

🚂 Taako – Elf Wizard; spell-casting, transmutation, gastronomy

🚂 Merle Highchurch – Dwarf Cleric; healing…supposedly, now specializes in nature domain

From the dungeon master to our side characters, you will absolutely fall in love with each and every one of them. In the first book we were introduced to our main characters, Magnus, Taako, and Merle, but now we have an array of different characters. In the beginning of this book, not only do we get a recap of everything that happened, but we get reintroduced to The Director who is the head of The Bureau of Balance and Killian, the orc warrior we met in the first book. While they only play minor roles in this book, they’re both important characters to the overall story. Our side characters, however, are fantastic! Many readers are going to fall in love with Angus McDonald (the world’s greatest detective), Graham (a human wizard with an obsession of trains), and Jess the Beheader (prized fighter, weilds an axe that’s soul bound to her). They all great characters in their own way and I absolutely adored the various personalities they added into this adventure.

“Like I said, I am the world’s greatest detective and I am on the trail of a serial killer named… the Rockport Slayer.”

I think I say this all the time with any nerdy read, but this graphic novel was like coming home. This is a series filled with content that I’m more than familiar with. I play video games, I do LARPing, I do cosplay, I have also played plenty of D&D in my time, and reading The Adventure Zone reminds me of how much I love all of those things. So yes, every time I open the pages to these books, it’s like opening the front door and greeting my family, saying I love you to the person I am, and just acknowledging that these are things that I love, and I don’t want to lose that feeling, ever. So, I think for many readers who have a nerdy side to them, who love D&D, love a wild adventure that will hold your attention for days, I think readers will fall in love with The Adventure Zone as much as I have. Plus, dad jokes!

“Admittedly… This looks cool… But STILL! This is stupidly dangerous and he’s probably gonna die! That’s our boy!”

Of course, like the first book, this book is filled with so many things hilarious things and though book two has some serious elements, I still found myself wrapped up in giggles. There are so many great moments that are hilarious, awe striking, and moments that will twist your gut, but you can’t help loving it all. It’s the perfect balance of so many good elements and I think it’ll be easy for many readers to get wrapped up in this story.

And if you haven’t seen the stunning art for this series yet, then you really need to pick up a physical copy! The art style is absolutely stunning and constantly keeps my attention on the pages, lingering just a little longer before turning the page. I truly believe the art is one of my favorite things about this series and it’s so easy to feel a certain way on each panel. It’s perfect in every way and choosing one panel to love more than the other is so so difficult. It truly is enthralling.

Overall, I love this series and I’m patiently waiting for the third book to come out. Yes, that’s right, book three is coming out in July of this year! I’m so excited and I can’t wait for it to be here! We don’t have any details on what it’s about, but hopefully all the questions we had from this book will be answered in the next. Seriously, I can’t recommend this series enough. It’s a piece of my heart and I truly hope you’ll pick it up as soon as you can!




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[Jay G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...

* I received a copy from the publisher for exchange of my honest review*

The second installment based off of a Dungeons and Dragons podcast run by three brothers and their dad, this adventure follows three unlikely heroes... Taako the elf wizard, Merle the dwarf cleric, and Magnus the human warrior. This time, the heroes board a train, meet a child detective trying to solve a murder and must work together to uncover a magical artifact before it falls into the wrong hands.

I read the first installment of this graphic novel and instantly fell in love with its quirky cast of characters. I was so excited to dive into the second installment and did not disappoint! I loved seeing my three good boys as well as the new characters introduced. Angus, the boy detective was a great new addition to the story line and I hope to see more of him in the future. I still love the art style and bright colours in each panel and the attention to detail is amazing. I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE THIRD INSTALMENT

[Sam Wescott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun. I actually liked this one a bit better than the first, but ironically, I think it might be because this wasn't my favorite arc in the podcast, so I'm not comparing it as harshly. I thought the art for Jenkins was PERFECT and Angus was so adorable, omg.

I am very curious about how the action comes across, though? It seems like it might be kinda hard to follow if you don't already know what happened from the podcast. The art is lovely, but I'm not sure it's always the best at getting the action sequences across. I'd love some input from someone who has read the comics, but not listened to the podcast... but do those people exist?

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Adventure Zone graphic novel series, Murder on the Rockport Limited! continues the chronicles of a goofy trio of adventurers in a D&D universe. Based off of the podcast of the same name, this book continues to feature the humour, heart and fun of the first. In this episode, our "heroes" are tasked with recovering a valuable magical relic from a murdered investigator. The object possess a dangerous power, and must be destroyed at all costs. But to retrieve the artifact, the trio must determine a murderer form a wacky cast of fellow passengers, and defeat some strange creatures along the way. Funny, interesting, well animated graphics, and the like. A continuation of a high quality series, and I eagerly await volume three!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another incredibly entertaining installment in The Adventure Zone series. I really appreciate how well this story balances some of the great comedy bits from the podcast with the overall narrative of the story. Carey Pietsch's art was great as usual! I especially loved how Jenkins and Angus McDonald were drawn.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taako, Merle and Magnus go on a train adventure, where they have to solve a magical murder mystery with the help of a plucky ten year old detective. Teleportation, rushing in, powerful magical artifacts, and much silliness ensues. A fun second installment. Looking forward to the next!

[lexi ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it, but i think it resembled murder on the orient express too closely. i do still love the graphics though

[Gretal · Rating 4 out of 5]

the scuttle buddy is way too cute.