Even for long-time fans of Andrzej Sapkowski's iconic fantasy book series The Witcher, gamers obsessed with The Witcher games, or devotees of Netflix's critically acclaimed live-action series that has dropped its second season, news that there is a whole slew of The Witcher graphic novels by Dark Horse Comics may come as a surprise. While not as in the mainstream as its novel, video game or TV counterparts, the ongoing The Witcher comic series offers classic and fresh perspectives on the series' main character, the Witcher Geralt of Rivia, with gorgeous, haunting art from a variety of amazing talents.
The Witcher franchise by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski has had a cult following in Central and Eastern Europe for decades, but it only came into the mainstream in Western media with the release of CD Projekt Red's 2007 The Witcher video game, the critically acclaimed 2015 game The Witcher: Wild Hunt (now considered to be one of the best fantasy RPGs of all time) and became further popularized by Netflix's 2019 live-action adaptation. Dark Horse Comics' The Witcher graphic novels have been released since 2014, and the plot of the miniseries more align with stories from The Witcher game than the novels. With six miniseries having already been fully released, and another one on the way in 2022, there is truly no end to extra The Witcher content that fans can get their hands on.
The Witcher graphic novels, which follow Geralt in his many adventures and continue to add complexity to an already intriguing and misunderstood character, are not written by the novels' original author. But Dark Horse Comics and CD Projekt Red have tried hard to involve Polish creatives in the process whenever possible, something that should be celebrated. The first two miniseries The Witcher: House of Glass (2014) and The Witcher: Fox Children (2015) are written by Paul Tobin with art by Joe Querio and coloring by Carlos Badilla, while the most recent run The Witcher: Witch's Lament is written by Bartosz Sztybor with art by Vanesa del Rey and coloring by Jordie Bellaire. The Witcher: Fox Children is of particular interest for fans of The Witch novel series, because this comic is the only one based on material directly from a novel, Season of Storms, as opposed to the video game or new original stories.
The continuity of The Witcher's various media franchises is complex, seeing as The Witcher TV series is based on short story collections that act as prequels to Sapkowski's main novel series, but the game definitely follows Geralt in his later, and perhaps final, adventures as a Witcher. Since the graphic novels are adapted from the world of The Witcher, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the stories that they follow typically take place later on in Geralt's long, horror-filled life.
Fans of the recent gorgeously animated The Witcher prequel film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will also be interested in the graphic novel spin-offs. The comics add more complexity to the character of Geralt and explore the lore of the Witchers, just as Nightmare of the Wolf did for Geralt's mentor, Vesemir. The bold fantasy and horror elements of The Witcher novel series and video game franchise are ripe for comic book adaptation, and the large number of already published miniseries proves that The Witcher graphic novels are enjoyable for fans new and old. For anyone interested in experiencing more of Geralt's world, especially while waiting for Season 3 to drop, make sure to check out Dark Horse Comics multiple volumes of The Witcher graphic novel.