The short comic follows a moment of mischief that must have been very common back when Campion and his brothers and sisters were younger. While playing with dolls that were lit up like torches, one of the children fell and ignited the field of crops, a potentially deadly mistake on this dry planet. Notably, the dolls were mock-ups of necromancers, the androids employed by the Mithraics in the planet-killing war on Earth. Readers learn in the comic that it was the atheists’ response to the deadly necromancers that made Earth uninhabitable, placing the blame for the ruin squarely on this particular class of android. Although Raised by Wolves makes it clear that the necromancers are extremely powerful, it wasn’t spelled out that the introduction of the new weapon was what finally broke things irreparably. The mention of a “fifth force of nature” seems to have motivated the advancement, whatever that means. Meanwhile, introducing a “boogeyman” to the children as a way of disciplining them, given that they know the androids could never truly punish them because of their programming, is a delicate decision for Mother and Father, since they are not as practiced at deception as humans are. However, Raised by Wolves fans will quickly note the irony of Mother saying “the necromancers will never leave what remains of Earth” given that she is one. That’s the main appeal of the Raised by Wolves comic. Given its nature as a prequel, the story lets fans see the developing awareness of Mother, Father, and the children with the knowledge of what will happen to them. This is a luxury that wasn’t afforded to us when we were watching the first episode, wondering why Mother was malfunctioning and why the children were getting sick. Hopefully as the comic continues, it will provide other insights that will contribute to the overall picture.
