Side quest – review of the comic book “The Witcher. Daughter of Flame “

Derivative works, based on popular and respected titles, rarely match the original in quality. Is the comic book The Witcher an exception? The short answer is no. After a long time, I invite you to the text below.

Game related

The CD Projekt RED series of games, and in particular its third part, was a huge success in the world and gained great popularity. No wonder that the creators of the Wild Hunt decided to develop their version of the Witcher universe in other media. The result was a game of imagination, The Witcher RPG, and comics published in the USA by the Dark Horse Comics publishing house, and published in Poland by Egmont.

Seeing a picture of a game on the cover of my book, many fans assumed it was the first game. And serious SF and fantasy fans despise such secondary books and do not buy them because – primo – they are secondary and not original. Secundo – they are completely irrelevant to those who do not play any games – and such are the majority of fans.

– Andrzej Sapkowski in an interview for the Polityka weekly

The author of the Witcher series very often speaks from the position of an authority and uses not necessarily legitimate generalizations. However, it is hard to disagree with him about the quality of the works he describes as game related . Indeed, it seems that most of these types of texts are made solely out of profit and exploitation of the popular franchise before its star fades. For this reason, you need to have the right attitude towards books and comics based on games, and don’t expect too much from them, so as not to be disappointed. However, this does not change the fact that even in the category “reader for series fans” you can create a title that is more or less successful. The witcher. The daughter of the flame It is not a hopeless comic book, but taking into account the possibilities offered by the wealth of the world known from CD Projekt RED games (not to mention Andrzej Sapkowski’s series), one cannot help but feel that the authors have wasted enormous potential, ultimately giving the readers a wildly average.

The sands of Ofir are not

The beautiful, dynamic illustration that adorns the hardcover of the collective issue looks very promising. Unfortunately, this is the strongest element of the daughter of the flame . The story begins in a way reminiscent of the Wild Hunt side quests . After one of the skirmishes, the witcher arrives in Novigrad and heads to the inn, where he is given a task …

The script by Aleksandra Motka and Marianna Strychowska’s drawings are correct and nothing else. Everything seems to be in its place and looks decent, but the graphic design is completely unremarkable and the story is not memorable. During the investigation, Geralt, due to Dandelion’s carelessness, ends up with him in the palace of King Ofir. The presence of the bard beloved by readers and the setting of the action in an exotic land gave the authors a field to show off, both in terms of the plot and its illustration. Unfortunately, the potential for an adventure with magic, demons and intrigue in the Ophirian court was not used by them to the extent it deserved. The reference to the plot of Hearts of Stone is a nice treat for fans of the game, but in comparison to it, the story presented in the comic is pale.

Another drawback is the fact that the graphic level is not even. On the opening pages, the frames are filled with figures and backgrounds, and at the same time clear and legible. You can also notice color dominants and the use of textures. Everything changes, however, more or less when the protagonists arrive in Ophir. Palace interiors often seem empty and sterile, and the characters are less detailed and varied. It is especially eye-catching when we remember well-designed, detailed designs of heroes and game sets. The aesthetics are not improved by the color work of Lauren Affe. Building an atmosphere through colors and lighting is especially important in fantasy stories with elements of horror. The more saddened the fact that mostly Daughters of Flame We are dealing with poorly matched and unimaginative colors.

Paradoxically, in terms of graphics, the best look is – in my opinion – the board illustrating the retrospective of the adventure in the Oxenfurt sewers known from the Heart of Stone expansion pack. Perhaps this is proof that the authors of the comic lacked the creativity and skills to match the writers and graphic designers from CDPR.

The impression of mediocrity is not improved by the poor edition. Apart from the two notebook covers, the album does not contain any accessories. Oddly enough, it does not even include the biographies of the authors, although it might seem that their inclusion is standard practice.

For hungry fans

The world created by CD Projekt RED on the basis of Sapkowski’s work offers extraordinary possibilities. The mass of fictional and visual material is both a blessing and a curse for authors of derivative works. It provides a benchmark, but also a restriction of creative freedom. For this reason, moving the comic book action to a completely new place was a great move for the creators of Daughter of the Flame and provided a lot of creative possibilities. It is all the more sad that this potential has been wasted, and the end result, both scenario and graphically, looks decent at best. As reading for the bus or train (for a shorter distance) it is as it is found, but it is forgotten as quickly as it is read.

The witcher. Daughter of the Flame is a comic only for the most ardent fans of the CDPR series, who feel unsatisfied after the end of their adventure in the world of games. Unfortunately, even for them it may be unsatisfactory, because despite the efforts of the authors, it clearly differs from the virtual prototype. You can reach for it to pass the time, and if you don’t do it, you won’t lose anything.