Dark Horse's Witcher comic series Fox Children lingers on a single, horrible quest

Perhaps the most singular feature of any Witcher game is its unsettling moral ambiguity. Players are often left to make their own decision to kill the cat or save it, but their actions often bring about unexpected results. Veteran comic author Paul Tobin's latest Dark Horse series, The Witcher: Fox Children, explores that ambiguity eagerly. The five-part series seems poised to take fans of the series on a wild ride.

Fox Children opens with Geralt of Rivia on the road to Novigrad with his dwarven sidekick, Addario Bach. Once they arrive they fall in with a group of merchants headed off to rescue a child. While a journey down a misty river into the heart of darkness is a fine plot device however, the Witcher seems perhaps a bit uncharacteristically eager to join in the journey.

As it turns out, the merchants' motivations are not what they first appear to be, and the true nature of the mission takes a decidedly darker turn. The rescuers are revealed to be kidnappers themselves, and before long a child lies dead. The comic comes to a quick end on a cliffhanger.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt will be out on May 19th, and from what Polygon was shown at last year's E3 it promises to be the most cinematic game in the series yet. However, Fox Children seems poised to indulge fans with a kind of bottle episode that will give them more color and detail than is possible in a mere cutscene.

Enhancing the look of the laconic main character is Joe Querio's focused art style. He seems to be holding Geralt's thoughts back from the reader at every turn, choosing to frame the action with over-the-shoulder angles that recall the gameplay of the original source material. More subtlely, he only shows the Witcher's eyes in a handful of frames. The effect, when combined with colorist Carlos Badilla's graceful work, is a first issue that raises more questions than answers.

The first issue is on sale now in both a physical and a digital version. Issue two is slated for May, while issue three will land in June.