The adventure zone vol 4 by The McElroys

Vol 4: The Crystal Kingdom by Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy, illustrated by Carey Pietsch

​The trio is on another mission to bring back another relic, a transmutation stone that is acting kind of like King Midas. It's currently on a floating laboratory that is slowly being consumed by pink crystal that transforms everything it touches. With their favorite team of Regulators (including Killian and Carey), they travel to the laboratory in special space suits to keep out any crystal particles that might transform them. They have to find the transmutation stone and save the laboratory before it's engines can't handle the weight and it crashes to the planet below, which will turn all of that into crystal too. Just in case that isn't all too complicated, Kravitz, an agent of Death, tags along to try to right the wrongs of people escaping death, which includes most of the people on the laboratory!

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This is another fantastic adventure in a truly entertaining series. There is a bit more science and theoretical physics in this one that may resemble the Marvel or DC Universes, but this definitely isn't a tale of superheroes. Takko is still my favorite because of all the sass and sarcasm. He and Kravitz exchange some flirty-ness, which is adorable. Killian and Carey are also an extremely cute couple, so there's enough touches of romance in this story to satisfy that urge for readers.

The illustrations in this series are really beautiful with some awesome coloring. The characters are extremely expressive, and action sequences are very easy to follow. This is definitely a story readers can get fully immersed in.

Like the other volumes, there is some mild cussing and, of course, some fantasy violence. Some of the jokes are also meant for a slightly more mature audience, so this would be best for older teens.

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

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3

Publisher: First Second
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 9781250232656 (Paperback)

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