Dungeon Critters

by Natalie Riess, Sara Goetter

Natalie Riess and Sara Goetter's Dungeon Critters is a middle-grade graphic novel about a gang of adorable animal friends on a D&D style dungeon crawl.

Quests! Plots! Evil Plants! Magic and mayhem!

Join the Dungeon Critters — a tight-knit squad of animal companions — on a wild adventure investigating a sinister botanical conspiracy among the furry nobility. As they risk their lives traveling through haunted dungeons, swamps, and high society balls — they also come closer together as friends.

Motivated by rivalries, ideals, and a lust for adventure, these critters navigate not only perils and dangers of the natural world, but also perils and dangers… of the heart!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Comics, LGBT, Adventure, Childrens

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2020

About the author

Natalie Riess is an American artist, illustrator, and webcomic creator. She gained public recognition after her comic Space Battle Lunchtime was published by Oni Press in 2016. Her webcomic Dungeon Critters created with Sara Goetter was published by First Second Books in 2020.

Reviews

[jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

gay animals on adventures, i can truly think of nothing better

[Анастасія ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Мила історія, посміялась в кінці, в результаті нікому той меч і не потрібен, але його діставали, ну хоч дружбу знайшли

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to Dungeons and Dragons style adventures for kids. The art is a lot of fun and the creators have done a good job of balancing large action scenes and touching quiet moments. The characters all have strong distinct personalities, and I really got invested in what happened to them in the story. I'm hoping that a second volume is made.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Hilarious* D&D inspired all ages graphic novel with tons of LGBTQ+ rep. Starts with a raft-load of puns, but calms down into a very satisfying adventure full of both absurd (in a good way) shenanigans and real feelings.

I might not have lasted through the opening with the non-stop punning (though pun fans will undoubtedly be delighted!) but I trusted Natalie Riess from Space Battle Lunchtime and Sara Goetter from her short work Haircut, which I loved. Super fun and I wish it was first in a series because there is NO TELLING what these characters would get up to.

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a cute and light magical adventure. The art is beautiful and I loved the story line. Gender and sexual orientation were fluid and natural which I loved, especially in a story designed for children. There was adventure, magic, and humor all mixed together in a delightful story which the potential for future volumes which I hope come into existence.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like a kid-friendly Adventure Zone, with all the irreverent humour and DnD-style questing you’d expect, but none of the adult content. Adorable animals must solve a magical mystery on their quest to save the kingdom, defeat their rivals and sworn-enemies (which are different things, apparently) and perhaps fall in love along the way (age-appropriately with only longing and a bit of a smooch at the end). Gender and gender-presentation is played fast and loose, which I found fun; for example, one of the protagonists, an impulsive frog adopted by royal bears, is a girl-prince with a crush on a swashbuckling vixen thief. Sometimes the story and its many subplots were hard to keep straight (lol) but overall it was an enjoyable romp for the age group.

[The Bookish Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was precious.

[Laisea (grayscalebooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loooove an overly queer graphic novel but honestly I might have DNFed this one if jt weren’t for Goro. The art style was cute but many of the pages were overfilled and hectic, and that applies to the story as well — the plot was all over the place and each character was off in their own world, which also made it hard to buy into any of their friendships or romances. This is why Goro is so endearing — he’s the perfect foil for everything else that’s going on, with his simple answers, reasonable logic, and uncompromising goals.

[Samantha Matherne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An #OwnVoices middle grade fantasy graphic novel, Dungeon Critters is unabashedly reminiscent of Dungeons and Dragons with cute, powerful, clever animals as the adventurous group. Some characters are gradually and sweetly revealed to be LGBT without that being their core identifying characteristics. The art wonderfully pops off the page, and the story flows well from one unmarked chapter of the critters’ adventures to the next. I became so engrossed in the mix of drama and comedy from the characters that I didn’t even see twists until they unfolded. Highly recommend.

[Danielle Booey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dungeon crawling with cute animals. The party is made up of a pyromaniac cat magic user named Rose, a golden retriever healer who specializes in plant magic named Juniper, a swashbuckling frog prince named Chirp, who is also good at thieving, and a snake/reptile strongman named Goro.

Lots of adventure, creatures, shenanigans, stolen identities, dangerous plants, terrible puns, and hilarious reaction shots. I’m definitely going to have to purchase myself a copy of this one.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 9 year old rates this: “The book was funny. It has lots of magic. The whole book is funny except a little scary at the end, but not scary scary. The drawings are great.”

[Darcy Roar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute little fantasy adventure with a strong D&D feel, Dungeon Critters feels a bit like TAZ for kiddos. I really enjoyed the characters and their sassy shenanigans! My only (very mild) grumble is the wild vacillation in emotions from the characters (before the finale, all bets are off in the finale) I'm talking about the big betrayal where Juniper supposedly turns evil & Chirp freaks out. I get that they laid it out a bit earlier & high running emotions, etc. but it just didn't hit quite right. These critters have supposedly been traveling together for a long while, but the second a rando accuses one of them they turn on each other? Meh, I know I'm being too picky but it irked me. I think this kind of twist would work better after we've seen the characters together for a while & with Chirp 'seeing' the betrayal herself buuuuut I'm an adult picking at a kids graphic novel soo take that with a solid grain of salt. Overall it's a very cute world/set of characters & the story is quite solid! Would recommend to younger fantasy readers (there is some romance & some violence so maybe not Crazy young) & fans of cute D&D runs!

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a delightful fantasy graphic novel with quirky, darling critter heroes, lots of adventures and magic too. It took me a little bit to get into the swing of things, but once I was in I couldn’t stop reading. I love that this is super inclusive with several queer characters, including Prince Chirp who uses she/her pronouns. Great friendship and adventure story with lots of puns and heart. Riess and Goetter are collaborative partners and girlfriends which makes this even more adorable. Goro was my favorite character by far, loved him.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So that was adorable. I imagine you probably get more out of it if you're more familiar with graphic novels or D&D style Adventuring than I am, I enjoyed it but I'm not used to Big Battle Scenes visually or story wise, so it was a little overwhelming.
I am very interested in Prince Chirp who uses female pronouns? Is she genderweird, is Prince a non-gendered title in this world? I am very curious.

[♥Sabulous ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD.

The art style reminds me a lot of Beetle & the Hollowbones and Snapdragon.

It had me laughing out loud through out and I for sure didn't see the twist at the end coming. So good. Highly recommend to fantasy graphic novel lovers.

[Sarah Schanze · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely adorable and hilarious book, full of equal parts heart and humor. The art was amazing too, and so fun.

[Calyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful

[Wilma (Enby Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story, plot twist and characters were epic and so vivid! but it really bothered me how the text bubbles changed colors all the time

[Anna Kate Allen ☔️⚡️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH A CUTE BOOK! Oh I loved this so much! The characters were well thought out… and the plot TOTALLY caught me off guard! I love the little notes and the character Goro is adorable! (I love the others too… but Goro has stole my heart ♥️) If you like adventure, friendship, and a tint of romance…. this is definitely for you!!! :)

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story about a band of adventurers getting into mess after mess. I liked the plot even if it seemed a bit simple at times. The art is beautiful and flowed very nicely. The writing was great and I loved the puns. I would read more for sure!

Goro is my favorite.

[Kirsten Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

goro + horseboy 5eva

[Maisie Iven · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute and fun! Gave me total Cucumber Quest vibes (we love to see it). Perfect for the d&d loving tween in your life!

[Peoria Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spencer rated it 4 stars.

[Meg Sedillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read! It really made me laugh out loud.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anxious dog June; stolid Goro, a legged snake; flamboyant cat Rose; and self-assured frog Prince Chirp are the Dungeon Critters, a wisecracking, villain-fighting, dungeon-raiding group of anthropomorphic friends who roam a magical fantasy kingdom.

[Shandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute! I hope we get book 2! :)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was cute, adventurous, and funny. 10/10

[Fern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute and fun D&D adventure with puns aplenty!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

review pending...

silly and sweet, a lot of good energy and humor. an easy recommend for young readers of fantasy adventure graphic novels.

[Aryanna Gonzalez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't recommend. The story's alright, but I dislike the art and if you don't want to hear about boys having boyfriends and girls having girlfriends, then don't read this. 👎