The Witcher #1
Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Joe Querio
Color by: Carlos Badilla
Geralt of Revia returns in Paul Tobin’s The Witcher series by Dark Horse!
As an enthusiast of the two Witcher games, I was eager to jump into Tobin’s The Witcher to join The White Wolf on more of his dark adventures. This first book begins light enough with a hunter, Jakob, fishing when Geralt rides up to him. The two men share a meal, wine, and stories as the night grows late. When Jakob mentions that he is being watched by his wife, who’s been dead for nine years, it peeks Geralts interest. When it is time for Geralt to be moving on, Jakob decides to accompany him, “After all,” Jakob says, “A hunter’s life and a witcher’s– they’re not so different, ehh? We both stalk, kill, survive. We must keep moving.” With that, the pair venture into a dark forest and, what’s sure to be, an even darker tale.
The Witcher series has always intrigued me because of it’s dark and gritty story. Geralt’s humor and wit, at times, also kept me interested in how he is going to react to a given situation. At first glance, I felt as if the Geralt depicted by Joe Querio didn’t really jive with my image of Geralt (à la the Witcher games…). His face seems to change slightly throughout a few of the panels which threw me off. But once I was sucked into Tobin’s writing, I was able to get past the slight visual “discrepancies” (if I can even use the word). I found myself very familiar with this snowy-haired monster slayer and I’m very excited to see where Geralt and Jakob’s adventure brings them.