‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Expands With ‘Crocodile,’ an All-New Story Set in Matt Dinniman’s World
The new ‘Crocodile’ graphic novel puts fan-favorite crawler Florin at the center of a canonical story
Key Takeaways
- 'Crocodile' is an original, canonical 'Dungeon Crawler Carl' story.
- The graphic novel turns the spotlight on established crawler Florin DuPont.
- Fans pledged more than $2.6 million to the 'Crocodile' crowd funding campaign.
The story of Dungeon Crawler Carl may have had its beginnings with Carl, feline Princess Donut and a decidedly unfortunate trip into the World Dungeon, but the Matt Dinniman-created universe is quickly growing in size.
As is usually the case when a creation unexpectedly becomes a phenomenon, the powers that be look to expand it in different ways. Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl is no exception as this past May saw the release of the first collected volume of its WEBTOON, which transforms the beginning of Carl and Donut’s adventure into a graphic novel. But hot on the heels of that adaptation comes something considerably more ambitious: a graphic novel that doesn’t simply retell Dinniman’s story, but actually adds to it in a major way.
Dungeon Crawler Carl: Crocodile is the first official original side story set within the DCC universe. Created by Dinniman, adapted for comics with writer Michael Moreci and illustrated by Brett Bean, the book shifts attention away from Carl and Donut and onto a familiar face: mercenary Florin DuPont. And unlike the WEBTOON, everything that happens in Crocodile is an entirely new—and canonical—part of the larger story.
How ‘Crocodile’ expands ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’
The scenario takes readers all the way back to the First Floor of the World Dungeon, essentially running alongside the earliest events of Carl and Donut’s story. This time, though, we’re seeing the apocalypse and its aftermath through Florin’s eyes, who Vault comics describes as a mercenary and loner struggling with his humanity while competing on Dungeon Crawler World, battling monsters and ridiculous challenges as part of the alien game show. The story will also feature familiar characters alongside new allies, enemies and weapons.
MATT DINNIMAN: “Of all the crawler characters, Florin has the most mystery around him, so I thought he’d be the perfect choice for a spinoff.”
MICHAEL MORECI: “We’ve been wanting to write a story set in the same crawl as Carl for a while now, and Florin is the perfect choice. What’s so great about Florin’s story is that it’s a story of survival. And there’s also a lot more going on with this story—a lot more depth, a lot more emotion, a lot more heart than I think was explored in the book. And that’s exactly why Matt and I and the team at Vault decided on him as a person to follow for the first-ever Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novel.”
That’s something separating Crocodile from the DCC WEBTOON, written by Tevagah with artwork from Laurel Pursuit, which adapts the adventures of Carl and Donut readers already know while Crocodile uses the graphic-novel format to open another door into the World Dungeon.
Matt Dinniman teams with Michael Moreci
Although the story originated with Dinniman, he’s not making the journey into comics alone. Michael Moreci, whose comic credits include Barbaric, Wasted Space and The Plot, worked with Dinniman to flesh out Florin’s story and adapt it to the graphic-novel format. His resume also includes Star Wars, Stranger Things and Rick and Morty, making him no stranger to entering fictional universes with established fan bases. More importantly, he was already one of those DCC followers.
MICHAEL MORECI: “Big action, big ideas, wall-to-dungeon-wall insanity—I was a big fan of Dungeon Crawler Carl and the universe Matt’s created long before I was asked to contribute to it.”
Then there’s Brett Bean, who faces a different challenge: actually showing us this previously unseen corner of Dinniman’s universe. Bean, whose work includes D’Orc, I Hate Fairyland and Marvel’s Rocket and Groot, wasn’t coming to the World Dungeon cold, either. He’d already been reading the books and listening to Jeff Hays’ performances when he landed the assignment to define visually the characters he’d been imagining.
BRETT BEAN: “I never thought I would be one of the few people who actually got to design and create them into canon in the universe. The fans have been imagining what these characters look like for quite a few years in quite a few books, so it’s been really awesome to work with Matt and try to focus on what they would be like in a graphic novel. We’ve had a great time reimagining the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl. Expect explosive action scenes, life-and-death challenges, drama and quite a few surprises. I love this universe that Matt made. I’m so happy to be a part of it.”
Fans went crazy for ‘Crocodile’
If anyone was wondering whether DCC fans wanted a Florin side story, the crowdfunding campaign provided a fairly definitive answer. Vault initially set a goal of $50,000 and by the time the campaign ended it had pulled in more than 52 times the original goal: 26,635 backers had pledged $2,625,208.
BRETT BEAN: “We hit $1 million dollars the first day. Incredible! This universe is awesome and it’s an amazing thing to be a part of.”
Readers will nonetheless have to wait a little longer than originally expected. Vault’s latest production update says the expanded book is now expected to go to print in early 2027. Campaign backers who purchased physical editions are expected to receive them in early spring, while the standard retail edition is currently scheduled for May of next year. Vault may make the digital edition available to backers earlier, once the comic itself is completed.
There’s already quite a bit of the book in existence. A special Crocodile Issue #0 included an introduction by Dinniman and the first 15 pages of the comic, some in color and others presented as black-and-white inks, along with concept artwork. Recent production updates indicate that key scenes are finished and Bean continues working through the remaining artwork and illustrations.
And despite Crocodile being deeply connected to DCC, Vault says newcomers won’t have to read eight novels before reading it. Florin’s story was deliberately constructed to work as a self-contained introduction to the World Dungeon as well as something new for longtime fans. Whether it remains a one-off is considerably more interesting: Dinniman has indicated that there aren’t currently plans for additional graphic-novel spinoffs and that they’ll see how Crocodile performs before deciding what comes next. Of course, given that $2.6 million crowdfunding campaign, a further expansion would seem likely.
MATT DINNIMAN: “I am so excited to finally bring you Crocodile, the first canon graphic novel expansion set in the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll make Florin’s life slightly less miserable. But probably not.”
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