There are adaptations, and then there are acts of devotion.
When Worlds Beyond Number launched in 2023, the actual play fantasy podcast quickly established itself as something more than a tabletop campaign recording. Created by longtime friends Brennan Lee Mulligan, Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, and Lou Wilson, the series quickly built a devoted audience through richly imagined worldbuilding, extraordinary performances, and a fantasy setting, Umora, that feels simultaneously mythic and intimate.
Now, Worlds is making the leap to comics with Worlds Beyond Number Presents: The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One – Book One, a 240-page hardcover graphic novel from Skybound and Image Comics. Adapted by Jadzia Axelrod (Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, Hawkgirl) and illustrated by Sarah Webb (Kochab), the book retells the beloved Children’s Adventure, chronicling the first meeting of Suvi, Ame, and Eursulon and the formative summer that binds their destinies together.
If the Kickstarter’s staggering success — over $1.7 million (as of press time) pledged against a $25,000 goal — proves anything, it’s that Worlds Beyond Number fans were ready for this journey. But what makes the graphic novel adaptation especially fascinating is that Axelrod and Webb weren’t simply hired hands; they were already fans themselves.
“I remember checking my email while I was out and about,” Axelrod said, laughing at the memory. “I saw an email from Alex and thought, ‘Oh, I haven’t talked to Alex in forever. I wonder what he’s on about?'”
What followed was the sort of professional phone call that most creators only dream about.
“He asked, ‘How would you feel about adapting Worlds Beyond Number into a graphic novel?’ I could not believe it,” Axelrod said. “I immediately came home, told my wife, who’s also a fan, told my kid, who’s also a fan, and we all screamed together in the kitchen.”
For Axelrod, who had already listened to the Children’s Adventure multiple times before receiving the offer, the project presented a unique challenge: how do you adapt an audio experience built on performance, improvisation, and imagination into a medium where every detail must be immediately visible?
Courtesy of Skybound.
Finding Umora on The Page
The challenge of adapting Worlds Beyond Number wasn’t simply one of translation; it was one of interpretation.
“We made the decision very early on that we weren’t going to rely heavily on narration,” Axelrod said. “We would use the opening line from the podcast, but after that, we wanted the story to exist through dialogue and images.”
That choice shifted the burden of Mulligan’s evocative descriptions from text to art.
“All of Brennan’s beautiful descriptions became panel descriptions for Sarah,” Axelrod said. “That’s why we have Sarah. We don’t need a giant wall of text to tell readers how beautiful Grandmother Wren’s cottage is.”
Fortunately, Webb’s artistic sensibilities already aligned closely with the spirit of Umora.
“I feel really lucky in that the style on this project is pretty close to my natural style,” Webb said. “Leaning into some of my biggest influences, especially My Neighbor Totoro, already fit the tone the Worlds Beyond Number team was going for.”
For Webb, the goal was always to create a world readers could inhabit.
“I always hope that my books and art can be a portal into another world,” Webb said. “Giving that world warmth, little mysteries, and age always helps. It doesn’t hurt that the podcast already brought this world to life so well.”
That warmth is evident throughout the graphic novel, particularly in Webb’s inventive layouts, where tree branches, roots, and environmental details become part of the storytelling language itself.
“I’m glad you liked those,” Webb said. “That’s something I’ve enjoyed playing around with since some of my very first comics. It’s probably a little of my shojo manga influence coming through, combined with enjoying drawing backgrounds as much as characters. I also spend a lot of time in the woods, and when you spend enough time making comics, you start to view everything through the lens of comic composition.”
Courtesy of Skybound.
The Problem-Solving Art of Adaptation
Adapting an eight-hour audio adventure into a graphic novel required more than compression; it required reconstruction.
Axelrod found that the first half of the Children’s Adventure translated surprisingly cleanly.
“The first half is actually very tight,” Axelrod said. “The second half is where they start doing these looser character scenes, and my job became figuring out how to knit them together into a story that works as a graphic novel.”
That process meant moving events, recontextualizing moments, and occasionally planting narrative seeds earlier than they appeared in the original podcast.
“Wavebreaker, for example, appears much earlier in the graphic novel,” Axelrod said. “Not as Wavebreaker necessarily, but as a kind of Chekhov’s sword. That way, when it returns later, it doesn’t feel like it came out of nowhere.”
Courtesy of Skybound.
Ever More Subtle Challenges
Over the course of adaptation, the team found themselves faced with challenges that were both exciting and demanding of their collective skillset.
“Eursulon was really difficult in a fascinating way,” Axelrod said. “Lou Wilson’s performance communicates so much internally. If you remove Lou’s voice, suddenly you have this incredible character who doesn’t say very much.”
Rather than giving Eursulon more dialogue, however, Axelrod and Webb leaned into silent storytelling.
“We created these sequences where you see his emotions through action,” Axelrod said. “Him holding Wavebreaker and putting it down. Him feeling uncomfortable in his human glamour. Giving those moments space became really important.”
Courtesy of Skybound.
The Great Bear Arrives
For all the planning involved, there were still moments when Webb surprised even the writer.
“I wouldn’t say Sarah solved problems I couldn’t solve,” Axelrod said. “But I was constantly amazed by what she added.”
One moment stands above the rest.
“There’s a double-page spread when the Great Bear first appears,” Axelrod said. “Everything before that has this slightly animated quality, and then suddenly there’s this image that feels so real, so textured, so physical. To have the most fantastical moment become the most real moment was such a beautiful choice.”
For Webb, balancing the story’s emotional range came down largely to color and restraint.
“I think coloring for emotion rather than realism does a lot of work for me,” Webb said. “I try to stay balanced in my drawing style. Serious moments might lean a little more realistic, while sillier moments can be looser. Hopefully, I found a balance that worked throughout the story.”
She also discovered that some moments from the podcast already existed fully formed in her imagination.
“Ame’s introduction was immediately vivid to me,” Webb said. “Her character is so lively, and the cottage is described so well. The Great Bear’s parade of children, on the other hand, was a little tougher. Any kind of parade or crowd is always a tall order.”
Courtesy of Skybound.
Building a World from Inside Out
One unexpected consequence of adapting Worlds Beyond Number was developing an entirely new understanding of Umora itself.
“When you’re listening to a podcast, you don’t need to know what Grandmother Wren’s bathroom looks like,” Axelrod said with a laugh. “It’s a room with a bucket. Fine. But when you’re making a comic, suddenly you need to know where the shrine is relative to the cottage, what kind of boots wizards wear, what exists when the characters aren’t in the room.”
That deeper level of engagement led to conversations with Mulligan and lore editor Taylor Moore about details listeners never hear.
“There were things that maybe didn’t make it into the final edit of the podcast, but that the players knew, and that might matter later,” Axelrod said. “Getting to peek behind the curtain was incredible.”
Sometimes that meant learning when not to invent.
Added Axelrod, “I came up with a fantasy name for a character once, and they immediately told me, ‘Don’t use that name. That’s somebody who’s showing up later.'”
Courtesy of Skybound.
A Story Worth Telling
As the Kickstarter continues to soar, Axelrod remains humble about her role in its success.
“I wish I could take credit for any of this,” Axelrod said. “Brennan, Lou, Aabria, and Erika created this incredible world that people fell in love with. Seeing readers realize that I’m also a fan, and that I’m trying to bring this story into a new medium with as much care and fidelity as possible, that’s been really wonderful.”
For both creators, the enduring appeal of Worlds Beyond Number comes down to something deceptively simple.
“I think the story manages to really capture a specific moment in these characters’ lives,” Webb said. “It brings the audience into their friendship.”
And perhaps that’s the secret at the heart of The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One. Beneath the magic systems, ancient lore, talking bears, and sprawling fantasy landscapes lies a story about children discovering who they are through each other. It’s a story about friendship, growing up, and finding your place in a world that feels impossibly large.
Or, as Axelrod put it, “I think the things I love about Worlds Beyond Number are the same things everyone else loves: these wonderful characters, these moments of heart and humor and horror.”
Judging by the response so far, she’s probably right.
You have until Wednesday, July 15 at 3 p.m. EDT to back Worlds Beyond Number via Kickstarter.
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