Munchkin 1

Based on the immensely popular card game, Munchkin comes to comics! Munchkin takes place in a very flexible mashup of genres. Originally a satire of fantasy roleplaying, it has since then taken on non-fantasy and non-gaming elements. Characters in Munchkin change constantly but never permanently. What do Munchkins do? They play for the win. They are rules lawyers. They backstab. They gloat. They whine when someone else backstabs or gloats. Munchkins are emotional. Munchkins may be clever, but they are never wise. Munchkins have short attention spans. Munchkins may be brave in the face of awful odds, but they are even braver when beating up crippled goblins for their lunch money. If a Munchkin seems to show mercy, it's because he was bored or distracted. After all, even stomping an ant helps you level up.

In the vast genres of geek fandom, there lies the ever evolving realm of gaming.  One game in particular has definitely grown over the years, adding to its list of cross genre flavors.  Odds are, you've probably at least heard of the immensely popular game Munchkin.  Now we see its jump over into the world of comics (which interestingly enough it sort of did with one of the expansions).

Admittedly, it wasn't until just recently that I finally managed to sit down to a game of Munchkin.  For those who have not had the pleasure, it's basically "kill  the monsters, steal the treasure, stab your buddy".  The perfect party game, especially when you have a lot of people.  The comic does a hilarious job of taking aspects and even examples of gameplay and putting it into comic form.

With each mini story featured in the book, we had a different artist take on the visual task of bringing Munchkin to life.  While they are all unique, each one still did an excellent job of keeping the same artistic feel that the card game has.  I really enjoyed seeing some of the situations that could happen in the game get illustrated.

Obviously enough, if you've played the game, you're going to enjoy this book all the more.  Had I not started playing though, I think the fun story and art would still have kept my interest.  If anything, it would have possibly inspired me to try the game.  That being said, you should definitely give both the game and this comic a try.

For more on Munchkin or other Boom titles, check out Boom! Studios.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.