Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artwork: Pop Mhan, Lovern Kindzieski (colours)
Release Date: 28th March 2018

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Raven’s miniseries continues with her combating the mysterious faceless girl as she attempts to drain the very life out of her.  She finally has a confrontation with Baron Winters, as well as a surprise visit from someone she has not seen for quite some time.

It is no surprise that we are treated to such a detailed and rich backstory when we consider that Marv Wolfman, one of Raven’s original creators, is the wordsmith for this tale.  Though this version of Raven is much younger and still trying to get to grips with her powers, she is every bit as formidable and fierce when she has a job to complete.  We are shown her father, the demon Trigon and the events that lead to her birth and we also witness her compassion when she is caught out of time.  This incarnation of Raven is a complex teenager with the ability to become an angel or a demon in the blink of an eye and her journey has already been a fascinating one.

Pop Mhan and Lovern Kindzieski work well in creating the mysticism that permeates the book with Winter’s domain carrying an otherworldly feel and the flashbacks with Trigon taking on the appearance of a fiery hellscape.  Raven’s powers bring with them a blue and black glow, the very darkness within her forced to do the bidding of the light.

This is a new series that I would recommend you read from the beginning. It does feel like an everything-or-nothing approach, and if you are not familiar with this new version of her it is likely to leave you confused.  The book is very narrative heavy and feels like it meanders a little in the middle in an attempt to further flesh out Raven’s personality.  This is not necessarily a bad thing and will read much better when collected as part of the full story/trade, however it does mean that this issue is a lot slower paced than those that preceded it, which may potentially put some readers off.

I have been enjoying this series and I am likely to continue to do so, watching one of her original creators re-define who Raven is makes for a deeply fascinating experience.  I do question why this was not released as a standalone trade as it feels the type of storytelling deployed would be better suited to a single one-off book.

That said, Raven is definitely one of the most unique books DC is publishing at the moment and I couldn’t be happier to see one of my favourite original Teen Titans come back so strong, particularly with one of her original creators on board for the ride.

Rating: 4/5.

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[PREVIEW ARTWORK]

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The writer of this piece was: Dave MacPhail
Dave Tweets from @ShinKagato

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