If you spent any time on YouTube between 2014 and 2019, you basically lived in the world of Pat and Jen. PopularMMOs wasn't just a gaming channel. It was a chaotic, hilarious, and strangely comforting soap opera set inside Minecraft. When Pat (Patrick Brown) announced he was moving into the world of graphic novels, nobody was really surprised. The fans—the "lucky" ones—wanted more than just 20-minute videos of epic proportions. They wanted something they could hold.
Tracking down the PopularMMOs books in order is actually pretty straightforward, but the stories themselves? They're anything but. These books aren't just dry guides on how to craft a diamond sword or build a base. They are full-blown, illustrated adventures that lean heavily into the "Cloud" and "Epic" lore that Pat and Jen built over years of episodic content.
They’re goofy. Honestly, they’re a bit weird. But that’s exactly why people still hunt them down today, even after the channel's dynamic shifted so drastically.
The Core Graphic Novels: Where to Start
If you're looking for the actual narrative arc, there are four main graphic novels. You have to read them in the order they were released because, while they are somewhat episodic, the character dynamics and the "villains" carry over.
PopularMMOs Presents A Hole New World (2018)
This is the one that started it all. Released in mid-2018, A Hole New World dropped Pat and Jen into a literal hole. Groundbreaking, I know. But for fans of the channel, seeing Bomby and Captain Cookie rendered in a professional graphic novel style was a huge deal.
The plot is classic PopularMMOs. Pat and Jen fall into a deep pit (classic Pat move) and end up in an underworld filled with zombies, strange creatures, and a massive challenge they have to overcome to get back to the surface. What makes this book work—and why it hit the New York Times Best Seller list—is the dialogue. It actually sounds like them. You can hear Pat’s specific cadence and Jen’s quirky interjections in your head while you read. It doesn’t feel like a ghostwriter who never watched a video; it feels like a love letter to the channel’s peak era.
PopularMMOs Presents Enter the Mine (2019)
Less than a year later, the sequel arrived. Enter the Mine takes the stakes a bit higher. If the first book was about survival, this one is about exploration and the classic Minecraft itch to see what’s behind the next wall.
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They end up trapped in a world that is basically a giant game. It’s meta. It’s fast-paced. One thing people often overlook about this second installment is how much the art improved. Dani Jones, the illustrator for these books, really nailed the "Minecraft-but-not-quite-Minecraft" aesthetic. It’s expressive. It’s vibrant. It captures that frantic energy of a "Challenge Games" video without needing a high-speed internet connection.
PopularMMOs Presents Zombies’ Day Off (2020)
By 2020, things were changing in the PopularMMOs world, but the books kept rolling. Zombies’ Day Off is probably the most "alt-perspective" book in the series.
Instead of just focusing on Pat and Jen trying to find loot, it dives into the lives of the creatures they usually spend their time blowing up. It’s funny. It’s a bit lighter than the previous two. If you’ve ever wondered what a creeper does when it’s not trying to ruin your house, or what a zombie thinks about while wandering the desert, this is your book. It’s short, punchy, and honestly great for younger readers who might find the "lore" of the first two a bit heavy.
PopularMMOs Presents Into the Overworld (2021)
This is the final main entry in the graphic novel series. It feels like a bit of a victory lap. By this point, the PopularMMOs brand was facing some real-world hurdles, but the book remains a time capsule of the high-energy content that made them famous.
In Into the Overworld, we get the ultimate showdown. It’s got the humor, the TNT, and the bizarre creatures we expected. It rounds out the quartet. If you’re buying these for a collection, this is usually the hardest one to find in some local shops, simply because the print runs started to stabilize compared to the massive explosion of the first book.
The Activity Book: A Different Kind of Entry
There is a bit of a "hidden" fifth book that often gets lost when people talk about the PopularMMOs books in order.
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It’s called PopularMMOs Presents: Pat and Jen’s Epic Adventure (2019).
Don't get this confused with a narrative story. It’s an activity book. Think mazes, puzzles, and "create your own" sections. If you’re a completionist, you need it. If you’re just in it for the story of Pat and Jen fighting Evil Jim, you can probably skip this one. But for a kid who wants to feel like they are part of the crew, it’s a solid addition.
Why These Books Still Rank in the Gaming World
You might wonder why anyone cares about Minecraft graphic novels from five years ago.
The answer is nostalgia.
PopularMMOs was one of the largest channels on YouTube for a reason. Pat and Jen had a chemistry that was lightning in a bottle. Even though their personal lives and the channel's output have changed significantly since these books were published, the books remain frozen in time. They represent the "Golden Age" of Minecraft YouTube.
- Accessibility: These books are written at a level that’s perfect for middle-grade readers. They aren't intimidating.
- Visual Storytelling: For kids who struggle with giant walls of text, the graphic novel format is a gateway drug to reading.
- Authenticity: They don't try to be "cool." They are exactly as goofy as the videos.
The Reality of the "Pat and Jen" Dynamic
We have to be real for a second. Reading these books now feels a little bittersweet. Pat and Jen’s divorce and the subsequent changes to the channel are well-documented. When you read A Hole New World, you’re reading about a version of them that doesn’t really exist anymore.
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Does that ruin the books? Not really. If anything, it makes them more valuable as artifacts. They are a record of a specific moment in internet history when two people and a bunch of mods could take over the world.
Actionable Steps for Collectors and Parents
If you are looking to pick these up, don't just head to a big-box retailer and expect them to be on the "New Releases" shelf.
- Check Used Bookstores: Because the peak of the channel has passed, many kids have grown up and traded these in. You can often find the hardcover versions of the first two books for under five dollars at places like Half Price Books or ThriftBooks.
- Verify the Edition: There are library binding versions and standard hardcovers. If you’re a collector, go for the original HarperCollins hardcovers with the dust jackets. They look way better on a shelf together.
- Start with "A Hole New World": Seriously. Don’t skip to the third one. The jokes build on each other. You need to see the start of the journey to appreciate the weirdness of the later entries.
- Read the Descriptions Carefully: When shopping online, make sure you aren't accidentally buying a "guided journal" or an unofficial fan-made book. There are a lot of "unofficial" Minecraft books out there that try to ride the coattails of big creators. Look for the official "PopularMMOs Presents" branding and the HarperCollins logo.
The legacy of PopularMMOs is complicated, but the books are simple, fun, and exactly what they need to be. They are a way to revisit the Overworld without needing to worry about a 1.21 update or a server crash. Just flip the page, ignore the real world for a bit, and watch Pat accidentally blow something up.
It’s what he does best.
PopularMMOs Books Release Timeline
- A Hole New World – June 19, 2018
- Enter the Mine – February 19, 2019
- Pat and Jen's Epic Adventure (Activity Book) – July 30, 2019
- Zombies' Day Off – September 29, 2020
- Into the Overworld – May 4, 2021
For anyone looking to complete their library, following this chronological order ensures you don't miss any of the character growth—or the increasingly ridiculous puns. Grab the first one, find a comfortable spot, and get ready for a lot of TNT.