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Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins
Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast
In Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast, Bren Aldric Ermendrud is chosen to attend the exclusive Soltryce Academy, preparing for an important future in service to the Empire. But nobody — least of all Bren himself — can foresee the cruelty he will endure, and the ways in which it will break and remake him. Witness the events that transform Bren into the Mighty Nein’s Caleb Widogast, and how they inform the path he’ll take in the future.
56 pages, Hardcover
Published February 2, 2022
33 people are currently reading
1483 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 316 reviews
February 8, 2022
Emotional damage.
September 22, 2023
A really dark and depressing story of a young mage sent off to school where he was twisted into being a monster for the Empire before breaking free. Surprisingly erotic as well as Bren develops a throuple while in school. Not bad, but also not as fun as other Critical Role comics.
December 8, 2023
I’m sure other D&D players can relate to the table trying to out-depress each other with character backstories—and Liam O’Brien is sure the master of that craft. Caleb’s cagey, mysterious backstory is captured here in chilling and (surprisingly sensual) detail, revealing a little more about what pushed him to do what he did and how he became the man we meet in Mighty Nein.
Like Jester’s, this comic appeals to a weird slice of the audience: if you don’t know Critical Role or aren’t prepping to start it, you’re probably gonna be left underwhelmed and confused. But if you’ve watched it all, there aren’t really any surprises here, though seeing the story play out, removed from a monologue, is quite something. Maybe the audience is me. Who just likes to look at Caleb’s sad face.
Like Jester’s, this comic appeals to a weird slice of the audience: if you don’t know Critical Role or aren’t prepping to start it, you’re probably gonna be left underwhelmed and confused. But if you’ve watched it all, there aren’t really any surprises here, though seeing the story play out, removed from a monologue, is quite something. Maybe the audience is me. Who just likes to look at Caleb’s sad face.
February 5, 2022
Caleb is my favorite, but some of the panels and pages were hard to follow and I'm sure I read some out of order. That's why it lost a star. Still a good comic though.
November 9, 2023
damn, this was dark. It was great seeing Caleb’s backstory in pictures, I really enjoyed it. It was a tick too short in my opinion, we really only jump from one key event to another. Therefore I‘d only recommend it for people who‘ve already watched the second campaign, it won‘t make sense otherwise.
February 20, 2022
This is a really good flashback to Caleb's backstory, and it really simply and cleanly shows both trauma bonding and the ways that people can be inducted into a cult (even before the magical brainwashing). Obviously, this is filling out specifics of the backstory for a character who we've already got these reveals for (in less detail) over the course of a 141-episode liveplay series so I think there are elements that lean on the expected reader coming to it as fans of the series itself (ie, Trent Ikithon the big bad's motivations, for example -- they can't put that all in here because it's something built out over an extended period!) but I think it gives the emotional core of the backstory nicely. Also, that threesome was great (I'm seeing some complains that Astrid with short hair looks like a man but -- like -- the lack of individual identifying features via unisex haircuts and clothing is part of the indoctrination into the cultish service of the Volstrucker so like, what do you expect here).
August 8, 2022
Short and... well, it isn't sweet, it's tragic. But it's managed to compress a full arc into very few pages and still making an impact. Impressive and a good read.
May 2, 2022
Content Warnings for Parent Death, Animal Death, Physical Abuse, and Mental Manipulation
There is not much to write about this comic if you are a fan of Critical Role, which I am assuming most of the people reading it are. This comic follows Bren Aldric Ermendrud acceptance and time at the Soltryce Academy until he realized that the Empire might not be worth his gifts, time, pain, and loyalty. While most of this information was covered throughout the original stream, this comic did expand on the hinted relationship between Bren, Astrid, and Eadwulf, rather graphically. This is probably the most sex-positive and sex-forward of the Critical Role comics that I have read, though I admit I have not read all of them. The artist really captured the pain, desire, and need of the three students during their harrowing tutelage under Master Trent Ikithon. They were always characters that I was interested in knowing more about, and I still want to know more about them. Overall, it was a vibrant and beautiful art style and a little deeper look into what made the Mighty Nein’s wizard tick.
There is not much to write about this comic if you are a fan of Critical Role, which I am assuming most of the people reading it are. This comic follows Bren Aldric Ermendrud acceptance and time at the Soltryce Academy until he realized that the Empire might not be worth his gifts, time, pain, and loyalty. While most of this information was covered throughout the original stream, this comic did expand on the hinted relationship between Bren, Astrid, and Eadwulf, rather graphically. This is probably the most sex-positive and sex-forward of the Critical Role comics that I have read, though I admit I have not read all of them. The artist really captured the pain, desire, and need of the three students during their harrowing tutelage under Master Trent Ikithon. They were always characters that I was interested in knowing more about, and I still want to know more about them. Overall, it was a vibrant and beautiful art style and a little deeper look into what made the Mighty Nein’s wizard tick.
February 5, 2022
I received an ARC copy of this book from Edelweiss
Another great Critical Role comic! The art is gorgeous and although I think we already knew most of this storyline [I skipped around campaign 2 a lot] it's still fun [for a given value of the word fun when it comes to Caleb lol] to see it all come to life on the page like this. I will say I wish this one was just a BIT longer since Caleb's backstory is a lot more complicated than Jester's so this one did feel a little bit rushed compared to her comic, but it still manages to hit all the beats you'd expect it to as well as maybe a few you wouldn't [absolutely love that Liam apparently refuses to play a character that isn't bi]. Definitely a must-read for Critical Role fans although I'm not sure how much sense it would make to someone who isn't familiar with the show.
Another great Critical Role comic! The art is gorgeous and although I think we already knew most of this storyline [I skipped around campaign 2 a lot] it's still fun [for a given value of the word fun when it comes to Caleb lol] to see it all come to life on the page like this. I will say I wish this one was just a BIT longer since Caleb's backstory is a lot more complicated than Jester's so this one did feel a little bit rushed compared to her comic, but it still manages to hit all the beats you'd expect it to as well as maybe a few you wouldn't [absolutely love that Liam apparently refuses to play a character that isn't bi]. Definitely a must-read for Critical Role fans although I'm not sure how much sense it would make to someone who isn't familiar with the show.
February 11, 2022
I don't mind dark and depressing, but this is very rushed. Nothing is really explained or explored. So you don't know why the evil instructor is doing what he's doing. I felt nothing for the characters or their supposed romance. I also didn't expect or like the sexual content. The art is decent at times.
January 27, 2026
I’ve likely got an essay in me about how this differs from episode 5 of the animated series, but it does fuck hard. I don’t love the art style, but I will forgive almost anything for the minimum 2 on-page threesomes.
April 13, 2022
This isn’t a review of a comic this is a love letter to Caleb Widogast.
“You weren’t born with venom in your veins. You learned it”
As of writing this I am beyond 110 episodes into critical role campaign 2, so none of the story presented in this comic was new to me. And yet, seeing it play out hit me so hard. Caleb is genuinely one of the best characters I have ever come across, which says a lot. I can’t put into words how much love I have for him.
With that being said, his origin story is fucking tragic beyond my imagination. Liam O’Brien will pay for this one day. And in reading this comic, seeing more of Caleb with Astrid and Eadwulf just made everything even more so painful. AND SEEING HIM DANCE WITH ASTRID.... goodbye. Looking back at the Wulf/Astrid encounters that already happened in c2 hurts so much more now. And I can guarantee that if we see Astrid again, I will cry immediately 😋
“Some of us are tired of macabre fairy tales. So enjoy your mouthful of lies, when they choke it out of you.”
Anyway, that’s on Caleb being the best critical role character.
“You weren’t born with venom in your veins. You learned it”
As of writing this I am beyond 110 episodes into critical role campaign 2, so none of the story presented in this comic was new to me. And yet, seeing it play out hit me so hard. Caleb is genuinely one of the best characters I have ever come across, which says a lot. I can’t put into words how much love I have for him.
With that being said, his origin story is fucking tragic beyond my imagination. Liam O’Brien will pay for this one day. And in reading this comic, seeing more of Caleb with Astrid and Eadwulf just made everything even more so painful. AND SEEING HIM DANCE WITH ASTRID.... goodbye. Looking back at the Wulf/Astrid encounters that already happened in c2 hurts so much more now. And I can guarantee that if we see Astrid again, I will cry immediately 😋
“Some of us are tired of macabre fairy tales. So enjoy your mouthful of lies, when they choke it out of you.”
Anyway, that’s on Caleb being the best critical role character.
October 30, 2024
Mediocre torture/tragedy backstory porn designed to make money from Critical Role fans. Story won't make much sense if you don't follow CR.
56 pages, including sketchbook at the end, means paying $17.99 for a single issue hardback comic book.
Borrow it from the library if you absolutely must read it, or consider:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/critical...
56 pages, including sketchbook at the end, means paying $17.99 for a single issue hardback comic book.
Borrow it from the library if you absolutely must read it, or consider:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/critical...
February 1, 2023
Oh. My. God.
This was SUCH an incredible depiction of the trauma of Caleb’s past. It was all the same beautiful, confronting and horny. I was almost always feeling intense emotions whilst reading this. The art was BEAUTIFUL and it helped visually map out so much of what Liam was able to depict during campaign 2. This is a talented team to bring even more life into a Liam O’Brien character.
This was SUCH an incredible depiction of the trauma of Caleb’s past. It was all the same beautiful, confronting and horny. I was almost always feeling intense emotions whilst reading this. The art was BEAUTIFUL and it helped visually map out so much of what Liam was able to depict during campaign 2. This is a talented team to bring even more life into a Liam O’Brien character.
February 8, 2022
Frumpkins origin more like it
February 9, 2022
this broke my heart, then ripped it out of my chest, threw it on the floor, stomped on it for good measure, and then put a single bandaid on it.
April 13, 2022
A bit too fastpaced for my taste, but still very gripping!
October 31, 2022
Liam O’Brien is sick and twisted, I love him.
Read
June 5, 2024I'm not going to rate this bc I cannot possibly be expected to give it a real rating. I feel like I just injected 7 cups of coffee directly into my veins. Astrid Becke are you free tonight.
January 9, 2026
Wizard school, but make it war crimes.
3.5
3.5
Read
February 9, 2022i'm.... sad
February 7, 2023
MY HEART
June 16, 2022
The art is nice, but it rushes through the story so fast it has no emotional impact - I didn't feel either the tragedy or the romance. I got choked up watching Liam/Caleb tell the story himself (on YouTube), but this was just 'meh', and the way they chose to show his mind being cleared would not have made me understand what was happening if I hadn't already heard the telling. I liked the intro of Nott in the last 2 pages, but Caleb's demeanour there didn't match his more withdrawn, much less confident demeanour at the beginning of the Mighty Nein.
This is the second origins-adaptation I've read (Jester was the first), and so far I can't really recommend them, especially not to people who haven't already watched the Mighty Nein story and have that basic info/impression to work with. Disappointed.
This is the second origins-adaptation I've read (Jester was the first), and so far I can't really recommend them, especially not to people who haven't already watched the Mighty Nein story and have that basic info/impression to work with. Disappointed.
April 22, 2025
This was disappointing. Caleb´s my favourite character from MN, and I loooooved his backstory. This felt too short and rushed from one angular touchstone to another quite fast. And I also expected more meaningful interaction with Astrid and Wolf. I feel so much of their relationship stayed unexplored in MN, and I was hoping for a bit more depth here.
I didn´t like the art. I felt the faces of everyone were very similar. The one I found creepy af was Trent tho. Good characterization on that one.
Bc of the rushed paced, the scene with Caleb´s parents didn´t feel as impactful, which is a waste bc Liam does such beautiful storytelling and emotional delivery during the show...
I didn´t like the art. I felt the faces of everyone were very similar. The one I found creepy af was Trent tho. Good characterization on that one.
Bc of the rushed paced, the scene with Caleb´s parents didn´t feel as impactful, which is a waste bc Liam does such beautiful storytelling and emotional delivery during the show...
September 23, 2022
I absolutely love Caleb, and I love seeing more of his relationship with Astrid & Eadwulf. The art style is beautiful. However, Caleb’s story is so uniquely impossible to translate into the comic book medium due to how much of it occurs in the mental space/is misremembered/a lie, and the sheer time it occurs over. Even with a thorough understanding of canon lore, I found myself significantly lost at multiple points.
June 26, 2022
enjoyable and beautifully illustrated but as someone who is not the greatest fan of liam o'brien's torture porn backstories i wish this had focused on caleb and nott's first meeting and time running cons together before the mighty nein, instead of rehashing everything we were told about caleb's backstory in the actual show
April 12, 2022
funky wizard boy makes my heart hurt
September 14, 2025
Caleb Widogast, my beloved <3
I read this all in one sitting and I definitely plan on reading it again. Critical Role's second campaign, The Mighty Nein really single-handedly got me through the COVID-19 quarantine when I started watching it in isolation five years ago. Now, this campaign has helped me so much and still hold such a special place in my heart, especially my favorite character, Caleb.
Anybody who has seen the campaign knows exactly how dark Caleb's backstory is, and this origin story comic definitely reflects that. It tells that story in a dark, twisted, but engaging and fast-paced way. I genuinely couldn't put it down!
I feel like the character dynamics are excellent. My one piece of commentary is that if this was longer, I would have loved to see more of Trent Ikithon as he is the main antagonist in Caleb/Bren's story, and I feel like he was not quite as fleshed out here or that dynamic was not quite as pervasive as I would have expected. However I do feel like that is due to the page constraints/not enough room to tell that full story.
The characters and dynamics that did feel fully fleshed out were Caleb/Bren's dynamic with Astrid and Eadwulf as well as his dynamic with his parents. The former relationship felt so toxic and codependent, but also just kids trying to survive together, and I felt like all of those layers were so present and well-conveyed. I didn't expect to connect so much with Bren's parents, just because they didn't show up so much, but I definitely did .
The artist did a fantastic job here too, by the way. The artwork exactly fit the mood and tone of the story. And it felt very true to how I think of these characters, as well as the world they inhabit. Something about the art felt very fitting for the school setting, too.
Speaking of which, I loved what we did get of the school setting. This really feels like it could be a fully fleshed novel, because there was definitely so much more to see at the Soltryce Academy. I tagged this as 'dark academia' because it really fits those vibes of a dark, magical school training spies and warriors, and encouraging the toxic codependent friend groups I mentioned before. Which is why I would have loved for this to be a fully-blown dark academia novel, even though this graphic novel format also works so well and there are some things in art that cannot be conveyed with words.
Finally, I love where they decided to leave off this graphic novel because that definitely feels like one of the biggest turning points of Caleb's life and was such a sweet way to end it <3
Overall, I really enjoyed this and I plan to read it again - maybe even later this year in anticipation of the tv show arriving soon!
P.S. I bought this one for $3 total from the "nick and dent" section of a bookstore, when the retail value is about $18, and it feels like such a steal because it came virtually undamaged and perfectly intact. Shoutout to used(?) bookstores! :)
I read this all in one sitting and I definitely plan on reading it again. Critical Role's second campaign, The Mighty Nein really single-handedly got me through the COVID-19 quarantine when I started watching it in isolation five years ago. Now, this campaign has helped me so much and still hold such a special place in my heart, especially my favorite character, Caleb.
Anybody who has seen the campaign knows exactly how dark Caleb's backstory is, and this origin story comic definitely reflects that. It tells that story in a dark, twisted, but engaging and fast-paced way. I genuinely couldn't put it down!
I feel like the character dynamics are excellent. My one piece of commentary is that if this was longer, I would have loved to see more of Trent Ikithon as he is the main antagonist in Caleb/Bren's story, and I feel like he was not quite as fleshed out here or that dynamic was not quite as pervasive as I would have expected. However I do feel like that is due to the page constraints/not enough room to tell that full story.
The characters and dynamics that did feel fully fleshed out were Caleb/Bren's dynamic with Astrid and Eadwulf as well as his dynamic with his parents. The former relationship felt so toxic and codependent, but also just kids trying to survive together, and I felt like all of those layers were so present and well-conveyed. I didn't expect to connect so much with Bren's parents, just because they didn't show up so much, but I definitely did .
The artist did a fantastic job here too, by the way. The artwork exactly fit the mood and tone of the story. And it felt very true to how I think of these characters, as well as the world they inhabit. Something about the art felt very fitting for the school setting, too.
Speaking of which, I loved what we did get of the school setting. This really feels like it could be a fully fleshed novel, because there was definitely so much more to see at the Soltryce Academy. I tagged this as 'dark academia' because it really fits those vibes of a dark, magical school training spies and warriors, and encouraging the toxic codependent friend groups I mentioned before. Which is why I would have loved for this to be a fully-blown dark academia novel, even though this graphic novel format also works so well and there are some things in art that cannot be conveyed with words.
Finally, I love where they decided to leave off this graphic novel because that definitely feels like one of the biggest turning points of Caleb's life and was such a sweet way to end it <3
Overall, I really enjoyed this and I plan to read it again - maybe even later this year in anticipation of the tv show arriving soon!
P.S. I bought this one for $3 total from the "nick and dent" section of a bookstore, when the retail value is about $18, and it feels like such a steal because it came virtually undamaged and perfectly intact. Shoutout to used(?) bookstores! :)
August 1, 2022
My rating of this is probably a little (or very much) biased because Caleb is one of my favorite characters in Critical Role’s second campaign.
As with the Jester comic, there isn’t much new stuff in this for people who have seen C2, though the emotional weight comes from things only mentioned or, in some cases, hinted at being explored more fully. What was especially heart-wrenching to see was
I’m sure parts of the fanbase are happy
What I really liked
As with the Jester comic, there isn’t much new stuff in this for people who have seen C2, though the emotional weight comes from things only mentioned or, in some cases, hinted at being explored more fully. What was especially heart-wrenching to see was
I’m sure parts of the fanbase are happy
What I really liked
March 26, 2024
Okay, so important content warning to start with. There are some explicit sexual images in this graphic novel. So be warned if you're not into that because I certainly wasn't warned lmao.
Even though these images took me by surprise, I loved this book! When I started watching this Dungeons and Dragons campaign I was interested in Caleb right from the start. There was something mysterious and sorrowful about him. His backstory confirms this feeling. This man has so much trauma to carry. He needs a hug desperately.
I loved how the story told in the graphic novel ended with Caleb meeting Nott. They are definitely one of my favourite duos in the Critical Role campaigns. Even though I felt like the events in the Graphic Novel were a bit rushed, I liked the storytelling. Happy to have read it!
Even though these images took me by surprise, I loved this book! When I started watching this Dungeons and Dragons campaign I was interested in Caleb right from the start. There was something mysterious and sorrowful about him. His backstory confirms this feeling. This man has so much trauma to carry. He needs a hug desperately.
I loved how the story told in the graphic novel ended with Caleb meeting Nott. They are definitely one of my favourite duos in the Critical Role campaigns. Even though I felt like the events in the Graphic Novel were a bit rushed, I liked the storytelling. Happy to have read it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 316 reviews