Reading order
by Matt Dinniman · part of Dungeon Crawler Carl
Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novels series: 0 books + 1 adaptation. We've reviewed every one.
Read them in the order they were published
This graphic novel adapts the first book of Matt Dinniman's LitRPG series. Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, find themselves trapped in a televised dungeon-crawl game show after Earth's destruction. They must fight through monster-filled levels while entertaining alien viewers to survive.
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Our take
Book by book, from our reviews. Ratings are Amazon readers' for the edition we link, so counts vary by printing.
Book 1
4.7 · 1,287 Amazon ratings (this edition)
Worth reading if you enjoy the novel's mix of gory fights, game-rule mechanics and a talking cat, and want it compressed into a thirteen-episode opening chapter rather than 464 pages.
Locus also found the novel repetitive, and the comic's own pacing is untested.
About the author
Matt Dinniman is an American author known for the science fantasy LitRPG book series Dungeon Crawler Carl and science-fiction novel Operation Bounce House.
Also by Matt Dinniman: Dominion of Blades, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Carl's Doomsday Scenario, The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, The Gate of the Feral Gods, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride, The Butcher's Masquerade
Author Matt Dinniman sits down with Lits Play to discuss the creation of Dungeon Crawler Carl and what readers can expect in Book 8, A Parade of Horribles.
Uploaded by Lits Play and Penguin Random House, 2026 · Watch on YouTube ·
Dinniman says he discovered the LitRPG genre in 2015 through poorly translated Russian ebooks at his local library. He loved how the genre reproduced the gaming dopamine hit of watching stats and levels increase on the page.
“The first time you read one, you say to yourself, I didn't know you could do that in a book.”
Dinniman recalls playing the 1980s text adventure adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before knowing it was a book. He checked the novel out from the library solely as a cheat guide to solve the game, which kickstarted his reading of adult fiction.
“it was impossible to play the game without the book.”
Dinniman considers himself a pantser who writes characters into impossible dilemmas without knowing the escape route in advance. He also lets his Patreon backers vote on major narrative elements, such as whether The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook existed.
“I'm what some people call 'pantser,' I just make it all up as I go along”
Dinniman reveals that his restless mind requires him to rotate between different Pacific Northwest coffee shops every day rather than working in the same location twice in a row, all while blasting loud heavy metal through headphones.
“I have to write in a different place every day, which presents a challenge.”
Dinniman explains that Princess Donut was inspired by a real tortoiseshell Persian kitten that glared at him all weekend while he was selling pet portraits at a cat show.
Dinniman considers himself a pantser who invents stories as he goes, but because LitRPG involves stats and numbers, he maintains a tracking spreadsheet over 200 pages long.
Dinniman describes how his Patreon supporters vote on plot events for Carl and Donut as the story is written, mirroring the alien viewers in the fictional game show.
Dinniman began serializing the book on Royal Road and Patreon out of financial necessity after Emerald City Comic Con was canceled in March 2020, leaving him with negative $80 in the bank.
On A Parade of Horribles: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 8
Intro
Inspiration for Dungeon Crawler Carl
Appeal of the LitRPG genre
Influential games
Incorporating gaming elements into Dungeon Crawler Carl
Influence of Reality TV
If you like this series
Picked in our review of Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1: what to read next.
Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 30
Gege Akutami
High-stakes battle manga where brutal fights carry real emotional weight — shares Dungeon Crawler Carl's mix of dark spectacle and genuine character jeopardy.
Our review →
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Gamified survival world packed with pop-culture callbacks and a sarcastic everyman lead — closest mainstream prose cousin to Dungeon Crawler Carl's setup.
Our review →
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Ordinary man dropped into a catastrophically absurd universe he didn't ask for — the comedic DNA Dungeon Crawler Carl most clearly inherits.
Our review →
Solo Leveling
Chugong
A hunter climbs lethal dungeons ruled by game-like levels and ranks, building power floor by floor — the closest major match for the crawl structure here.
He Who Fights with Monsters
Shirtaloon
A wisecracking outsider lands in a world of ranks, essences, and dungeon fights, answering absurd danger with humor the way Carl does.
Sufficiently Advanced Magic
Andrew Rowe
A climb through a magical tower of deadly, puzzle-like floors — the same structured dungeon-descent appeal, with the humor dialed down and the rules dialed up.
Questions
There are one Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novels books so far.
Start with Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1 and read them in publication order: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1 (2026).
Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1, published in 2026. This graphic novel adapts the first book of Matt Dinniman's LitRPG series. Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, find themselves trapped in a televised dungeon-crawl game show after Earth's destruction. They must fight through monster-filled levels while entertaining alien viewers to survive.
Yes, all one: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Vol. 1.
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Looking for Matt Dinniman's other books? See every series and standalone.
