At yesterday’s WitcherCon event, brought to us through a collaboration between Netflix and CD Projekt Red, we got a few big announcements, so the event certainly did not disappoint. Now in addition, we've gotten even more new Witcher material thanks to IGN sharing the details on the Kickstart pre-launch of The Witcher: Ronin manga.
This comic will be set in an ancient, Japanese-inspired world in which Geralt will be following after Lady of Snow Yuki Onna. The author of this manga is Rafał Jaki, who is teaming up Hataya, a Japanese illustrator. Jaki worked as CDPR’s comic book editor for eight years, and he also participated in coming up with the card game, Gwent, so we know there is some reliable talent coming together on this project.
Since this manga is going to be entirely unrelated to the video game’s stories, we can expect entirely new settings and content. According to Jaki, “Both Europe and Japan have a unique tradition in this area, and bringing iconic Japanese stories and monsters and fitting them in a Witcher context was the most exciting thing for me.”
Jaki explains that even though terms such as “Witcher” would not fit in with a Japanese setting, they took inspiration from other Elseworld comics, such as Superman Red Son, and are convinced that people will be able to still understand the concept.
CD Projekt Red decided to go with a Kickstarter because they wanted to create a collector’s edition, and they also want to launch the manga globally. As opposed to targeting a wider audience, this manga will specifically be for those dedicated Witcher and manga lovers out there.
The Kickstart will include the 100-page main story in full color, and it will also feature three 15-page short stories by guest artists. The campaign will not start later than 60 days after this pre launch, so we should be seeing more in the very near future.
During WitcherCon, it was also announced that The Witcher season two will be coming to us on December 17, so it won’t be too long until those cryptic trailers are cleared up.