Comic Review: Witcher: Of Flesh and Flame #4

Witcher: Of Flesh and Flame #4

Dark Horse Comics

Writer: Aleksandra Motyka

Artist: Marianna Strychowska

Geralt’s latest adventure in Ofir comes to a close with issue #4. After sorceress Radeyah’s betrayal at the end of issue #3 (Geralt just can’t catch a break, can he?) we find our hero in hot water. With some slick talk from the world’s greatest bard, Geralt is spared death and from there can finally figure out the remaining mysteries surrounding this adventure.

Motyka’s writing continues to be the strongest part about this miniseries. Like I’ve said previously, from the dialogue to the sequence of events, this story feels just like a series of quests I’d play in a CDPR Witcher game. Geralt’s dry wit and Dandelion’s tall tales feel so familiar in the best way and that really works wonders for the story.

However, this familiarity is also in a sense the story’s biggest downfall. While I enjoyed being here with the witcher and the bard, the actual plot of the comic wasn’t anything too impressive once things really got moving. A lot of intrigue was built up in the first issue, but with each subsequent issue things got less and less interesting and by this final one I could pretty much predict exactly how things would play out. Not to say that it wasn’t a fun journey nonetheless, but it’s a shame that the miniseries couldn’t (in my opinion) deliver on the hype it set up in its initial issue.

I criticized Strychowska’s art a bit in the second issue, but I’m happy to say since then the art has been consistently enjoyable. The detailed characters and use of light and shadow gives the panels a lot of depth that brings the experience even more life than it would have otherwise possessed with just a good story. Action scenes are dynamic, but slower-paced scenes of just dialogue or even showing a character silently moving don’t feel lifeless either. It’s a good balance.

While Of Flesh and Flame may not have panned out into the great Witcher story I had hoped for, it’s still an entertaining read for fans of the CDPR series. I felt that issues #2 and #3 were a bit weak, but #4 comes in with a strong finish that leaves me with good memories of the miniseries. If CDPR is finished making games starring the White Wolf, I wouldn’t be upset if they continued releasing short series like this from time to time. It’s always nice to hang out with Geralt.