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imminentmurphy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mysticslinky's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Not sure where it falls in the mythology, but intriguing story and excellent art.
aoc's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't checked out Witcher comics at all so with Dark Horse taking a swing at it I thought I might as well give the damn thing good old college try. This particular House of Glass volume collects all five individual issues in one neat package. Not being used to comics that I actually blazed through it on my first read... and subsequently had to re-read it. Let's see if anything stuck for the second round.
First thing first – you don't really have to be familiar with The Witcher from anywhere else to enjoy this comic. Sure, it helps but throughout more-or-less first two issues Geralt himself, circumstances of the situation he finds himself in and other characters he runs across will explain all the really important bits to you. Geralt is a breed of mutant, man-made type cultivated through a diet of various alchemical ingredients and others, with superior training in combat and magic, but also in what really defines his calling of being a monster slayer – keen sense to intuit and parse situations because not everything can be resolved by simply killing someone nor is everything like it appears to be at first glance. His kind is needed to common people and kings alike who cannot practically solve crisis involving esoteric curses, monster on the loose, etc yet Witchers are also universally reviled for their abnormality and most would do away with them if only there was a equivalent substitute to be found...
It is this common knowledge that makes the opening scene where Geralt meets a hunter called Jakob distinct because Jakob does not pull back in disgust or fear. Instead, he offers the wandering Witcher to share a meal with him and Geralt responds in kind by pulling a flask of quality wine. Things escalate when a drowner hiding in, well, nearby river almost kills Jakob and Geralt saves him, but it's the good hunter's reason for being so deep inside the forest of Caed Dhu on his own that raises Geralt's interest – Jakob's wife was killed and he feels guilt having failed . Yet he also points back at a spot where she keeps silently staring at him from time-to-time followed by the sound of songbirds singing. He suspects something fouler is afoot and is determined to stay with her. Seeing as his magic-detecting medallion keeps vibrating like crazy ever since he's entered the first and even strongly after seeing Marta, Geralt extends a helping hand to poor hunter and we're on our way.
I have not spoiled much, if anything, that you won't find out in the first ten or twelve pages and first issues are pretty much always setting down some ground rules, anyway. Some sacrifices have to be made. Story actually goes places, although there's a very good chance you'll see WHERE it's going with the way Witcher stories develop or by sheer fact the comic is trying to red herring you pretty hard, but at times it's also strangely meandering. Every issue is of course punctuated by something abrupt happening in the eponymous House of Glass and still we find ourselves following Geralt and others discussing nature of things almost nonchalantly. Our protagonist might be used to all of this, but others not so much yet they take it in stride. It's not really a complaint, just an obvious method to control the pace. For once I will restrain from talking about characters because it would be spoiling, though.
Art? Always one of those aspects that's very difficult [and subjective as well] to talk about due to not being able to show much to you much except out of context screen caps, but I think Joe Querio did a decent job on House of Glass. Certainly not the most mind-blowing drawings I have ever seen, but he strikes a good balance between establishing moody atmosphere with muted and drab colors with stylized and sometimes a bit too simplified character designs, mainly done for the sake of perspective. And productivity, I imagine. You can clearly see cutbacks were made on some pages, specifically when background gets sacrificed so we can get a clearer shot at figures, but this is balanced by larger sections and strips where you see just how much attention can go to backgrounds. Lack of spreads is also obvious, but considering this is not a high action work I can get around that.
I won't waste any more of your time so let's get down to the summary and some closing thoughts. Did I like House of Glass? Yeah, I liked it enough to recommend the comic to others but I would go out on a limb and recommend you still familiarize yourself with The Witcher before diving in. It is explained rather well for first-timers, but you'll get a much better idea about who Geralt is and why he does what he does beyond just the superficial.
Looking forward to checking out more of these.
First thing first – you don't really have to be familiar with The Witcher from anywhere else to enjoy this comic. Sure, it helps but throughout more-or-less first two issues Geralt himself, circumstances of the situation he finds himself in and other characters he runs across will explain all the really important bits to you. Geralt is a breed of mutant, man-made type cultivated through a diet of various alchemical ingredients and others, with superior training in combat and magic, but also in what really defines his calling of being a monster slayer – keen sense to intuit and parse situations because not everything can be resolved by simply killing someone nor is everything like it appears to be at first glance. His kind is needed to common people and kings alike who cannot practically solve crisis involving esoteric curses, monster on the loose, etc yet Witchers are also universally reviled for their abnormality and most would do away with them if only there was a equivalent substitute to be found...
It is this common knowledge that makes the opening scene where Geralt meets a hunter called Jakob distinct because Jakob does not pull back in disgust or fear. Instead, he offers the wandering Witcher to share a meal with him and Geralt responds in kind by pulling a flask of quality wine. Things escalate when a drowner hiding in, well, nearby river almost kills Jakob and Geralt saves him, but it's the good hunter's reason for being so deep inside the forest of Caed Dhu on his own that raises Geralt's interest – Jakob's wife was killed and he feels guilt having failed . Yet he also points back at a spot where she keeps silently staring at him from time-to-time followed by the sound of songbirds singing. He suspects something fouler is afoot and is determined to stay with her. Seeing as his magic-detecting medallion keeps vibrating like crazy ever since he's entered the first and even strongly after seeing Marta, Geralt extends a helping hand to poor hunter and we're on our way.
I have not spoiled much, if anything, that you won't find out in the first ten or twelve pages and first issues are pretty much always setting down some ground rules, anyway. Some sacrifices have to be made. Story actually goes places, although there's a very good chance you'll see WHERE it's going with the way Witcher stories develop or by sheer fact the comic is trying to red herring you pretty hard, but at times it's also strangely meandering. Every issue is of course punctuated by something abrupt happening in the eponymous House of Glass and still we find ourselves following Geralt and others discussing nature of things almost nonchalantly. Our protagonist might be used to all of this, but others not so much yet they take it in stride. It's not really a complaint, just an obvious method to control the pace. For once I will restrain from talking about characters because it would be spoiling, though.
Art? Always one of those aspects that's very difficult [and subjective as well] to talk about due to not being able to show much to you much except out of context screen caps, but I think Joe Querio did a decent job on House of Glass. Certainly not the most mind-blowing drawings I have ever seen, but he strikes a good balance between establishing moody atmosphere with muted and drab colors with stylized and sometimes a bit too simplified character designs, mainly done for the sake of perspective. And productivity, I imagine. You can clearly see cutbacks were made on some pages, specifically when background gets sacrificed so we can get a clearer shot at figures, but this is balanced by larger sections and strips where you see just how much attention can go to backgrounds. Lack of spreads is also obvious, but considering this is not a high action work I can get around that.
I won't waste any more of your time so let's get down to the summary and some closing thoughts. Did I like House of Glass? Yeah, I liked it enough to recommend the comic to others but I would go out on a limb and recommend you still familiarize yourself with The Witcher before diving in. It is explained rather well for first-timers, but you'll get a much better idea about who Geralt is and why he does what he does beyond just the superficial.
Looking forward to checking out more of these.
bookwormjls's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jmbz38's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
rakoerose's review against another edition
3.0
The Reading Rush 2020: read a book that starts with the word “the” ☑
This was good fun! With a pretty neat reveal to boot.
I liked how this tale discussed monsters of a different type - human ones. Deceptive, horrible people who can come to think their way is true and right. It’s good commentary on how monsters can hide in plain sight when hidden alongside all the more obvious ones Geralt hunts.
I’m not very well versed in The Witcher, but I still enjoyed this comic and the interesting world in which Geralt resides.
This was good fun! With a pretty neat reveal to boot.
I liked how this tale discussed monsters of a different type - human ones. Deceptive, horrible people who can come to think their way is true and right. It’s good commentary on how monsters can hide in plain sight when hidden alongside all the more obvious ones Geralt hunts.
I’m not very well versed in The Witcher, but I still enjoyed this comic and the interesting world in which Geralt resides.
itsdanysbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Uplny priemer. Nebolo to nic svetoborné ani nic katastrofalne. Pribeh dost taky nijaky, hlavne nedavali nejake veci zmysel, ale bolo to vtipne a take plne sarkazmu.
kamilaczyta's review against another edition
3.0
Plot twist mnie zaskoczył. Od razu innego znaczenia nabrała ta historia
kerry2046's review against another edition
4.0
awesome and cool. I'm a little more than obsessed with the witcher