Fan transmedia creations are a crucial part of The Adventure Zone’s relationship with its fans. The Adventure Zone has a somewhat bifurcated ownership: the creators control the story through the auditory podcast, but the fans control the aesthetics through fan designs of the characters. Not only is fanart incredibly common and varied, but fan animation is also very popular. Fan art provides a visual interpretation of the podcast without using the podcast itself, but fan animatics of The Adventure Zone are able to combine the existing audio content with new visual interpretations to engage with the original work in new ways. Justin described having “less ownership” over his character Taako “in a good way…in a healthy way” two years into the podcast compared to when he originally created the character because of the fandom’s growth. Taako is “still a character” he made up, but Justin thinks “it’s cool that other people have their own spin on Taako and their own sort of take on him.”

The character Taako, in particular, was controversial for his interpretation among fans. Taako, pronounced like “taco,” is a character whose personal mission is to create the first taco, which has not been invented in the fantasy world of D&D yet. Some Latinx fans found Taako, a character created by a cisgender white man, offensive by appropriating Mexican culture. Other Latinx fans saw Taako as a Latinx character, happily claiming him as representation. This conflict came to a head when a preview of the graphic novel adaptation was released.

The graphic novel, while stated to only be one interpretation by the creators, obviously carried a sense of officiality. A firestorm emerged when a section from the first chapter was released, revealing the graphic novel designs of the Tres Horny Boys to be all white. Fans were outraged — this was completely opposed to the diversifying principle of the fan interpretation. The only designs that could be called “official” featured no racial diversity, unlike practically any fan head canon (which almost always have some diversity). The McElroys responded swiftly, posting on Twitter that they would revisit the designs. However, even when the revisited designs were revealed, some fans remained unhappy.

Merle was given a far darker skin tone while Magnus remained white. Fans discussed tokenism with Merle appearing to be black, complaining having only one person of color is not representation. Considering the myriad of black characters introduced later in the graphic novel who were not seen in the initial and revisited previews, I do not think the tokenism argument holds up to much scrutiny, although the sentiment is understandable.

But, once again, most conversation focused on Taako. Taako’s character was given a slightly blue-green skin tone, which disappointed a variety of fans for a variety of reasons. First, a running joke with Taako is his obsession with gold and money, which led some fans to say that Taako’s green skin had antisemitic connotations. More issue was raised at Taako not being a Latinx character. Griffin wrote a response to the controversy on the official TAZ blog, noting that fans criticized the McElroys for “fail[ing] to follow through on an opportunity to get better representation for Latinx listeners, instead opting to take a safe route, and mak[ing] Taako a fantasy color without any kind of real-world connection.” However, Griffin does acknowledge “[m]aking Taako Latinx means that Justin would have made a Mexican wizard that he named after tacos — which, from [the McElroys’] perspective, isn’t great — who he then played without any consideration for the cultural ramifications of that identity.” The McElroys stuck with the revisited designs for the graphic novel, and the controversy died down somewhat as time passed and after Griffin’s post circulated.

Only The Adventure Zone’s unique transmedia relationship to its fandom could have produced such a crisis, but the resulting discussion between the creators and the fans demonstrates the power of creator-fan interaction. Not only was the reaction to fan backlash at the all-white designs immediate, but the response to the revisited designs was also swift. The McElroys are constantly trying to improve their work to be as representative and inclusive as possible. Besides Griffin’s nearly 2000-word response to the graphic novel controversy, Justin and Travis tweeted apologies and thoughts on their Twitters. The McElroys have also hosted several special episodes of The Adventure Zone called “The The Adventure Zone Zone,” where they answer listener questions about the series and discuss the behind-the-scenes work that goes on. “TTAZZ” episodes contain lengthy reflections on Taako’s character, fan interpretations, and the McElroys duty as straight cisgender white men to have diversity in their stories.

It should be noted that TAZ’s “Balance Arc,” while lacking specific racial representation, does excel in having a diverse cast in other ways. Several central characters in the series are gay (including Taako), one of the later arcs features a transgender character prominently, and women play powerful roles throughout the story. In fact, Griffin even directly responded to viewers concerns after he (unknowingly) invoked the “Bury Your Gays” trope with a lesbian couple. He promised to do better, and, later in the show, he introduced other lesbian characters who weren’t given a tragic ending. Griffin also subverted his original use of the trope by reviving the originally doomed lovers near the end of “Balance.” After “Balance,” the second season of The Adventure Zone “Amnesty” does contain explicit examples of racial representation. Taking place in modern West Virginia rather than a fantasy world, Travis’s player character, Aubrey, is Puerto Rican. She is also bisexual and has ADHD, including more LGBTQ+ representation as well as neurodiversity. These steps into explicit representation in their newer campaigns exemplify how the McElroys learned from the problems of “Balance,” although the particular designs of characters are very open to fan interpretation.

Near the end of “The Eleventh Hour,” the sixth mini-arc within the “Balance” campaign, Taako, Merle, and Magnus encounter a goddess who gives them a prophecy as she blesses them: “You’re going to be amazing.” That turned out to be true within the story of The Adventure Zone, but it’s true outside the podcast too. I know that, as the McElroys continue to learn from and engage directly with their fans, they are going to continue to be amazing. So often, fans must struggle with a lack of representation in the media, but TAZ struggles to balance the ability for fans to interpret characters freely and explicit representation. Declaring any one character a certain race or ethnicity somewhat invalidates all the listeners who perceive that character in another way. No one fan will picture the Tres Horny Boys the same, and TAZ embraces that reality. The McElroy family’s awareness of this dynamic and willingness to hear out fan’s feedback allows The Adventure Zone to be more than just a podcast — it is a conversation between all the fans and the creators. Justin McElroy said the podcast was “like a car that flew.” The Adventure Zone took on a life of its own, separate from the creators. The McElroys may have built the car, but the fans helped it fly.