Review: Raven #1

Hot damn! I didn’t realize this was out this week. This book appeals to me. I like this character a lot and I’m excited to see what a comic book mini-series starring this character looks like. Ladies and gentlemen, you’re about to read my review of DC Comics’ Raven #1, written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by Alisson Borges. We kick off the issue with Raven moving in with her aunt’s family. These are all normal girls and boys and about as vanilla as you can get. Some real two-point-four children type deal. It’s evident from the get-go that this family and Raven are completely different. Like the reverse Munsters (Raven being reverse Marilyn.) Raven’s trying her hand at getting to know her mother’s side of the family but she’s haunted by things from her dad’s side of the family in her sleep. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, she has to go to high school and try to fit in/survive. That’s when all the weird shit starts happening and that’s as much as I’m telling you. It’s interesting so far and I like the fact there’s a demonic/magic-centric book at DC now that doesn’t completely suck.

Marv Wolfman has a good chance to show us a little more of Raven with this series and I’m sure he’ll do it. I have faith in him, he’s written some of my favorite superhero stories before now and I know he can tell a good tale, so there’s not much else worth saying that hasn’t already been said. The man’s a legend.

But now to the artist of this book, Alisson Borges. Who the fuck is Alisson Borges…? I’ve just done a sweep of social media and cannot find hide nor hair of the guy (I’m assuming he’s a guy, I apologize if I’m wrong.) Anyways, I need to know because the art in this book is great. I love the way Borges draws Raven. The character’s design is excellent and Alisson does an excellent job of giving you a sense that Raven is having a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings purely through body language and facial expressions. Quite a feat! It’s a good time to mention Blond’s color work here is great, too. He does a really nice job of making Raven stick out like a sore thumb in every panel she appears. Great contrast, great work from the art team.

I think this is a good start to a mini-series and I’m pretty confident you’ll agree with that when you read it. It’s nice to see supporting characters like Raven getting their own series, I think it’s great that DC are doing it and I’m looking forward to reading the rest. Hell, it’s great that they’re doing a mini-series full stop. I would like more. As for this one, go grab yourselves a copy this Wednesday and see what you think.

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Raven #1 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Alisson Borges Colorist: Blond Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Format: Mini-series; Print/Digital

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Mayday from de Campi, Parker and Blond hits Image Comics

Critically-acclaimed writer Alex de Campi (NO MERCY, Grindhouse) teams up with artist Tony Parker (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, This Damned Band) and colorist Blond (Red Hood and the Outlaws, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) for the Cold War thriller MAYDAY, an all-new series launching this November from Image Comics. It's 1971, and two young Soviet operatives are sent to California to kill a defector and recover top-secret information. As the mission dissolves into a mess of good sex, bad drugs, and ugly violence, the young Russians face a new problem: they’ll need to rely on each other to escape America, but to survive Russia they’ll have to betray each other.

“MAYDAY is a very fast-paced, violent, 5-issue miniseries with a lot of sex and drug use (hey, they always say "write what you know"). But it's also got that early-1970s thriller thing going,” said de Campi in an interview in Image+. “You can tell a lot about an era by its criminals.”

“It's not the ‘70s that most people envision,” said Parker in the same interview. “Most people picture the late ‘70s and the Disco era. This was a disillusioned, dark, distrusting, dirty, and angry time.”

Blond aptly summarized: “the band is back."

MAYDAY is a Cold-War action-thriller unlike any other. Get ready.

MAYDAY #1 Cover A by Tony Parker (Diamond code: SEP160631), as well as Cover B, also by Tony Parker (Diamond code: SEP160632), will hit comic book storesWednesday, November 2nd. Final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, October 10th.