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First Look: Geralt takes on a freaky new threat in 'The Witcher: Fading Memories' comic
Geralt of Rivia recently cut a commanding figure in Netflix's debut season of The Witcher starring Henry Cavill as the gallant supernatural slayer of ghouls, demons, djinns, and dragons. Stepping out of the paranormal pixels of developer CD Projekt Red's lineup of fantasy role-playing video games and based on the novel series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is enjoying the fruits of his savage reputation in a multitude of mediums.
Until Season 2 of Netflix's The Witcher arrives possibly sometime next year, along with an upcoming animated tie-in film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and the prequel series Blood Origin, fans of the franchise can still satiate themselves with a new Dark Horse Comics miniseries titled The Witcher: Fading Memories — and SYFY WIRE has an exclusive preview of the premiere issue.
Written by Bartosz Sztybor and bewitched with intense artwork by Amad Mir and Hamid Sheykh, The Witcher: Fading Memories #1 arrives on Nov. 25 with a brooding, atmospheric main cover courtesy of Evan Cagle.
Set within the harrowing universe of the hit games, the plotline finds Geralt impoverished and dejected after occult threats and bad beasts have apparently vanished. Lean times have always been tough for Witchers and without the perpetual work vanquishing the darker elements of the world, Geralt's situation has become dire.
While The Witcher ponders and explores new potentials for his life's journey, he is summoned by the Mayor of Towitz, a small village where children are being kidnapped by swamp-dwelling Foglets. However, all might not be as it appears!
A 15-year veteran of the European comic industry, writer Bartosz Sztybor is a narrative manager at CD Projekt Red and involved in all narrative projects from the world of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077, writing scripts for comics and other story-driven projects, searching for talent, editing, and producing narrative content.
"The Witcher was always an amazing world to dive in as a gamer and as a reader," he tells SYFY WIRE. "I have always loved Geralt as a character, a fantasy twist on a hard-boiled noir detective with a pinch of Slavic romanticism. A monster hunter trying to do his job but always finding himself somewhere between lesser evils. I’m a fan of moral ambiguity in CDPR’s games and Sapkowski’s books, my favorite movie and literary characters are those who need to make difficult choices. I liked thinking about what I would do being in Geralt’s shoes, who was very often angry or sad about the decisions he had to make. So I dreamed about creating some tough decisions for Geralt to make the readers emotional and invite them to think if Geralt made the right choice."
Sztybor promises that this new Dark Horse comic miniseries will feature noir atmosphere, tired, hard-boiled Geralt, a dark secret and a long, interesting, and very emotional investigation full of twists, surprises, and a few monsters to slay.
"There will also be some postmodern twists on classical fantasy tropes and themes, one of the foundations of The Witcher world," he adds. "But also – another foundation of games and books – a fair piece of social commentary and moral ambiguity. You’ll be angry, you’ll be sad, and you’ll be compassionate about what Geralt has to do. And then you’ll cry when you see the consequences. If you’re a fan of “Bloody Barron” quest, then “Fading Memories” is definitely for you."
Now take the trek into our exclusive look at Dark Horse Comics' The Witcher: Fading Memories #1 (Nov. 25) in the full gallery below.
