The Adventure Zone vol 3 by The McElroys

Vol 3: Petals to the Metal! by Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy, illustrated by Carey Pietsch

The trio is back on another assignment, this time to find the Gaia Sash, which has been put to use by a thief named Raven who has holed up in a vault in the city of Goldcliff. The three meet a local cop, Hurley, who has a connection with Raven and might be able to help them slow her down. Hurley and Raven were racing teammates in the highly dangerous Battlewagon races that are super popular (and super illegal) in Goldcliff. Raven escapes the tower, but Hurley knows Raven will be in the next Battlewagon race. The only way to get to Raven is for the three heroes and Hurley to form a new battlewagon team and try to take her down in the race, and watch out for the twelve other teams trying to take down and beat them!

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This story was as hilarious as the other two volumes in this series. There is a lot of action and magic in this volume, especially during the race, that keeps the pages turning extremely quickly. There were a few callbacks to previous volumes that might leave readers a bit confused if they aren’t reading this on the heels of the other books. A new character in this volume, Garyl the binicorn, is wonderful and provides a lot of cheekiness. The ending of his volume leaves a pretty big cliffhanger and gives some insight into the society our heroes are fighting against, so readers will be impatiently waiting for volume four. 

The art in this volume is exceptionally beautiful with some of the magic sequences colored fantastically. The pages are jam-packed but still visually pleasing.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2

Publisher: First Second
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 9781250232632 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Fantasy, Humor, Magic, Action Adventure​, Mystery, First Second