In Raven’s case acceptance comes via a broad jumble of the unexplained, including tarot readings, new age psychology and voodoo.
Kami Garcia’s background is in young adult fiction, her best known series being The Caster Chronicles, which has similarities to Raven in opening up a whole new magical world only apparent to those who truly see. When colour is used beyond that it seems random. Sometimes, however, this is undone by the universal drabness of the David Calderon’s colouring, which for most of the book amounts to glum grey with a few muted shades to draw attention to a particular object.
Picolo is key to this, his illustration deftly bringing through the necessary subtlety, expressions and the way Raven sits or stands speaking volumes.
New readers are just going to accept that for the quality it is, but the real talent is in convincing anyone who knows Raven from the Teen Titans that this is just an insecure and concerned young girl unsure what’s happening. Gabriel Picolo’s intuitive cartooning has an emotional resonance to it. The downside is the voice in her head asking to be set free, and there’s also the puzzle of what Raven did before losing her memory, the significance of passages highlighted in a book and impenetrable notes. Raven seems able to hear the thoughts of others and to influence what happens to the them. There are compensations, though, frightening as they may seem at the start of the process. This is Raven Roth, 12 th grade student, recently fostered with Natalia Navarro and her daughter Max after a car accident that’s robbed her of her memory. However, as with other DC characters involved in DC Ink titles, the Raven presented here is a troubled teen first and connected with her older version second. it makes her an odd choice for inclusion in DC’s young adult imprint. Given that to all intents and purposes in the mainstream DC Universe Raven is the devil’s daughter.
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