The Witcher: Witch's Lament #4

The Witcher: Witch’s Lament #4

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Bartosz Sztybor

Illustrated by Vanessa Del Ray

Layouts by John Starr

Coloured by Jordie Bellaire

Lettered by Aditya Bidikar

Vengeance, rage, retribution—as the motives behind the murder are revealed, the weight of Geralt's guilt manifests—is justice his to deliver or will penance require a sacrifice?

I am always super intrigued by Geralt’s stories. He’s a great character and he’s as complex a man as he is simple to understand and this dichotomy makes for some of the best reading around. I am always so impressed with Bartosz and the way he can craft and tell a story and this one cements just how much he’s worth following. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and when you are someone that has some deep rooted desire to help others and it is within that deep rooted desire that he’s able to be deceived and manipulated by those who are masters at it. He also lives in a world where magic is real and kingdoms are ruled by those who have issues and want or need to have power over others. This world is full of intrigue and simpletons and this creates room for Geralt to exercise his power and do what he was born to do.

I am absolutely loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. I really like how we see Geralt come to the realisation of the truth and how this affects him. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story it has this weird and interesting effect on the reader.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers hold some of the most complicated parts of the storytelling, the characterisation and the twists and revelations. All these and more add such delicious depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceedingly well.

There is a very distinct style to the interiors here and with the subject matter and this world in general it creates this amazing mood, tone and feel for the story. The composition within the panels brings us great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The linework is spectacular and the varying weights really create this unique style that we see. When we see the backgrounds being utilised they do so much to enhance and expand the story is beautifully rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The way we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exceptionally rendered.

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As we go through the pages of this issue and we see Geralt break things down for us as he reveals just what exactly has been going on is something that I wasn’t expecting to see and yet it is bloody brilliant in the way it’s thought up and executed. Bartosz really has a great way in how he approaches crafting a story and then bringing to life for the reader and it makes him an exceptional talent. We see how exceptional he is through the quality of the writing and characterisation and how they inspire the interiors to be so incredibly stylised to enhance the words.