Fans of The Legend of Vox Machina, the record-breaking animated series from Critical Role and Amazon Studios, won’t want to miss the second of three interconnected prequel stories! Written by Marieke Nijkamp (This Is Where It Ends, The Oracle Code, Hawkeye: Kate Bishop), with art by Travis Hymel, colors by Diana Sousa, and letters by Comicraft, all in collaboration with the cast of Critical Role, this original graphic novel shines light on the off-screen storylines of the show!Critically injured and seemingly abandoned by her brother after the murder of her family, Cassandra de Rolo finds herself at the mercy of Whitestone’s usurpers. Much to her shock, Delilah and Sylas Briarwood treat her with the utmost care—almost like a daughter—as she recovers within the relative safety of her own childhood bedroom. On edge and suspicious of their motives, Cassandra adapts to survive while processing the trauma of her family’s demise and Percy’s abandonment.The Briarwoods delight in parading Cassandra around the city in an attempt to convince the despairing populace of their benevolence. Instead of becoming their paragon of obedience, Cassandra unwittingly becomes the guiding light of the rebellion attempting to rescue Whitestone: particularly in the eyes of her childhood friend and rebel leader, Archie. Cassandra vows to do whatever she can to help her beloved home, but are the ghosts of her past powerful enough to overcome the ghosts in her present, or will the Briarwoods’ brainwashing drown out all reason?
Contributors: (W) Marieke Nijkamp (A) Travis Hymel; Diana Sousa; Jimmy Betancourt; Richard Starkings
Marieke Nijkamp is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels, graphic novels, and comics, including This Is Where It Ends, Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin, At The End Of Everything, Hawkeye: Kate Bishop, The Oracle Code, and Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens.Travis Hymel is a Colorado based comic book artist and illustrator. He has worked for comic book publishers such as: Devil's Due Comics, Action Lab Entertainment, Boom Studios, Comixtribe, Full Moon Comix, and UNICEF.Diana Sousa lives in Portugal, where she splits her time between all things comics and graphic design, writing, and all sorts of nerdy content.She’s the Eisner nominated colorist on the CRITICAL ROLE: VOX MACHINA ORIGINS on-going comics series, as well as the CRITICAL ROLE: THE MIGHTY NEIN ORIGINS: CALEB WIDOGAST, YASHA NYDOORIN, and FJORD STONE graphic novels from Dark Horse Comics. She colored issues 16 and 17 of CROWDED volume 3 from Image Comics. She also colored MALL GOTH, an upcoming graphic novel from Simon & Schuster. She freelances for Hunters Entertainment, and has done the layout for some of their TTRPG books.Diana can be bribed with books, tea, chocolate, comics, video and board games, Dungeons and Dragons shenanigans, dinosaurs, pirates, and yet more chocolate.