#IReadsYou Review: TEEN TITANS: Raven

TEEN TITANS: RAVEN
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kami Garcia
ART: Gabriel Picolo with Jon Sommariva and Emma Kubert
COLORS: David Calderon
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
ISBN:  978-1-4012-8623-1; paperback; (June 26, 2019)
192pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Rated: “Everyone”; Age Range: 12 and up

Raven created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

Raven is a female DC Comics superhero.  Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, Raven first appeared in a special insert in the DC Comics digest magazine, DC Comics Presents #26 (cover dated:  October 1980).  She was one of the new members of a revamped version of the DC Comics teen superhero group, Teen Titans, that launched in The New Teen Titans #1 (cover dated:  November 1980).

Raven was the daughter of a human mother and a demon father (named Trigon).  Raven was a powerful empath who could sense the emotions of others.  She could also project her “soul-self,” which took the form of a large shadowy, Raven-like figure.

DC Comics introduces a new version of Raven in the original graphic novel, Teen Titans: Raven, published under the “DC Ink” imprint.  Recently made defunct, “DC Ink” offered original graphic novels for readers 13-years-old and older.  DC Ink titles, according to DC Comics, featured coming-of-age stories that encouraged teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.  [DC Ink is now known as “DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults.”]

Teen Titans: Raven is written by bestselling author, Kami Garcia.  Garcia is the author of “The Legion” young adult novel series and with Margaret Stohl, is the co-author of the “Caster Chronicles” series (the best known being the 2009 novel, Beautiful Creatures).  Teen Titans: Raven is illustrated by Gabriel Picolo with the assistance of Jon Sommariva and Emma Kubert.  David Calderon colors the art, and Tom Napolitano is the letterer.  Teen Titans: Raven focus on a teen girl who moves to New Orleans to live with her late foster mother's family, as she struggles with memory loss and with the strange visions and voices she experiences.

Teen Titans: Raven opens in Atlanta, Georgia where we meet 17-year-old Rachel “Raven” Roth and her foster mother, Viviane Navarro, just before a tragic accident takes Viviane's life.  Three weeks later, Raven is in New Orleans living with Viviane's sister, Natalia Navarro, and her daughter, Maxine, also called “Max.”

Raven is trying to finish her senior year in high school, but starting over isn't easy – especially when you suffer from memory issues.  Raven remembers how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can’t remember things like what were her favorite songs, favorite books, or even her favorite candy.  Raven does not know who she was before the accident.  Luckily, Raven grows closer to her foster sister, Max, and Max's circle of friends accepts Raven.  There is even a persistent boy, Tommy Torres, who is crushing on Raven and who accepts her for who she is now.

Still, Raven hears voices in her head, and she can seem to make people do things she thinks about them doing.  Some of her dreams seem to be about things that people actually do in the waking world, and sometimes, a dark figure haunts her dreams.  And everyone around her apparently has secrets:  Natalia, Max, and even Tommy.  And worst of all, what secrets are Raven's lost memories hiding from her?

Including the two previous “DC Ink” graphic novels that I have thus far read. Mera: Tidebreaker and Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale, Teen Titans: Raven is the best written.  That is saying something because the Mera and Catwoman graphic novels were wonderfully engaging stories.  I think what I like about Teen Titans: Raven so much is that writer Kami Garcia focuses on the notion that what is important is what a person is now in the present.  What is less important is who you were, so while it is important that Raven regains her memories, she can be a good person regardless of her past and without her memories of her past.

Garcia also fills Teen Titans: Raven with so many wonderful supporting characters.  Garcia portrays Natalia, Max, and Tommy with such engaging personalities and with so many intriguing secrets that each could be the star of her or his own graphic novel.  Without spoiling anything, I can say that there is a female army (of sorts) that could carry a miniseries or a maxiseries or even an ongoing series.

Gabriel Picolo's art is so evocative, especially in portraying emotions and attitudes.  Picolo's graphical storytelling is at once a high school melodrama and then a tale of mystery and magic.  He balances the natural and the mundane with the supernatural and spectacular with the deftness of a veteran comic book artist.  Picolo's striking cover illustration also makes Teen Titans: Raven hard to ignore on a bookshelf.  Teen Titans: Raven doesn't have DC Ink's best art, but Picolo is good.  [I am still declaring “best art” for Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale.]

David Calderon's mercurial coloring adds to the sense of magic and mystery.  Calderon's use of two-color in some sequences and his juxtaposition of multi-color and two-tones matches the fragmented state of Raven's memories.  Letterer Tom Napolitano captures all the modes and moods of Garcia's story and Picolo's art, conveying the narrative while suggesting the ethereal.  That is a magic trick.

Teen Titans: Raven is the best Teen Titans-related comic book that I have read in several years.  After three DC Ink titles (and one DC Zoom title), I can say that, right now, DC Comics' best publications are its original graphic novels for juvenile readers.

9 out of 10

Teen Titans: Raven contains the following extras and back matter:

• two author biographical pages
• an 11-page,  full-color preview of the graphic novel, Teen Titans: Beast Boy, from Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo and David Calderon

Reviewed by Leory Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: UNDER THE MOON: A Catwoman Tale

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Lauren Myracle
ART: Isaac Goodhart
COLORS: Jeremy Lawson
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
ISBN:  978-1-4012-8591-3; paperback; (May 1, 2019)
224pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Age Range: 13 and up

Catwoman created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane

Catwoman is a DC Comics character that is part of the Batman line of comic books.  Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Catwoman made her debut as “the Cat” in Batman #1 (cover dated: Spring 1940).  Catwoman is Selina Kyle, and over her eight decades of existence, she has been a villain, an anti-hero, and Batman's love interest in addition to having a complex love-hate relationship with him.

Until it was recently made defunct, “DC Ink” was a DC Comics imprint that offered original graphic novels for readers of the “Young Adult” or “YA” demographic.  DC Ink titles, according to DC Comics, featured coming-of-age stories that encouraged teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.  [DC Ink is now known as “DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults.”]

Published in May of this year, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale is an original graphic novel (OGN) that focuses on a young Selina Kyle before she becomes Catwoman.  It is written by bestselling author Lauren Myracle (the “Winnie Years” series); drawn by Isaac Goodhart (Image Comics/Top Cow's Postal); colored by Jeremy Lawson; and lettered by Deron Bennett.

Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale introduces 15-year-old Selina Kyle.  In her short life, she has had to put up with the string of bad men that her mother, Gayle, picks up on the job at Carl's Tavern.  The worst of the lot is the most recent pick-up, the brawny bully, Dernell.  Soon, Selina figures out that she cannot stay under the same roof as Dernell, and she leaves home.  She also eventually quits attending Gotham High School, where she has friends like Angie and Tristan.

Selina Kyle, however, believes that, at heart, she is a loner.  Still, she connects with the mercurial trio of Ojo, the leader; Yang, the computer genius; and Briar Rose, a young girl who does not talk and really does not want to be touched.  And Selina can't quite get former classmate, Bruce Wayne, out of her mind.  But the streets are dangerous, and some kind of beast, known as the “Gotham Growler,” is terrorizing Gotham City.

Thus far, I have read the first two releases from the DC Ink imprint, the debut release, Mera: Tidebreaker, and now, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale.  Both are lovely reads, and Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale offers is a fetching coming-of-age tale about a young woman coming to terms with who she is.  Writer Lauren Myracle presents a teenage girl who says that she prefers caring about no one and no thing, and Myracle takes her on a journey to figure out how she can live to be a loner... with a few friends, of course.

The art team of Isaac Goodhart and colorist Jeremy Lawson deliver some of the most gorgeous comic book art that I have seen this year.  Goodhart's supple line work and lush inking are eye candy, and they make Selina Kyle's story a moody, urban fairy tale filled with a sense of mystery as much as it is filled with angst.  Lawson's colors make love to Goodhart's compositions, putting the moodiness in a jazz-accentuated mode.  Honestly, Goodhart and Lawson's work here reminds me of Daniel Clowes art for his classic graphic novel, Ghost World.

Letterer Deron Bennett, one of the best letterers in American comic books, changes fonts and graphic styles with subtlety and grace.  Bennett knows exactly the tone that is needed, when things should be quite, normal, and out-loud.

In the end, everything is topnotch in this hugely enjoyable read.  Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale is one of the best Catwoman comics that I have ever read.

9 out of 10

Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale contains the following extras and back matter:

• Website, phone numbers, and contact information for organization that help with stopping domestic violence, avoiding self-harm, and stopping animal cruelty.
• A page of character designs by Isaac Goodhart
• a three-page interview section in which Lauren Myracle and Isaac Goodhart interview each other
• two author biographical pages
• a  full-color preview of the graphic novel, Teen Titans: Raven, from Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: MERA: Tidebreaker

MERA: TIDEBREAKER
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Danielle Paige – @daniellempaige
ART: Stephen Byrne
COLORS: David Calderon
LETTERS: Joshua Reed
EDITORS: Ben Abernathy and Michelle R. Wells
ISBN:  978-1-4012-9339-1; paperback; (April 2, 2019)
208pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Age Range: 13 and up

Mera created by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy

Mera is a DC Comics character that is part of the Aquaman line of comic books.  She was created by writer Jack Miller and artist Nick Cardy and first appeared in Aquaman #11 (cover dated: September 1963).  Mera is “queen of the sea” and Queen of Atlantis to Aquaman's “king of the sea” and King of Atlantis.  Once a supporting character, modern versions of Mera emphasize her own super-human strength and magic power (to control water), and she is portrayed as a superhero.

DC Ink is a DC Comics imprint that offers original graphic novels for readers 13-years-old and older.  DC Ink titles will feature, according to DC Comics, coming-of-age stories that encourage teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.

Mera: Tidebreaker is the title that kicks off the DC Ink line.  It is written by novelist Danielle Paige (the Dorothy Must Die series).  It is drawn by Stephen Byrne, colored by David Calderon; and lettered by Joshua Reed.  Mera: Tidebreaker focuses on a teenage heir to the throne who believes that murdering a prince of a rival kingdom will allow her to rule her kingdom independently.

Mera: Tidebreaker introduces Mera, teenage royalty and heir to the throne of Xebel.  Once one of the seven kingdoms of Atlantis, Xebel now is oppressed by Atlantis.  Xebel seethes with the potential for rebellion against Atlantis.  Mera's father, Ryus, expects his daughter to marry Larken, the son of the ruler of “The Trench,” a kingdom allied to Xebel.

The Xebellian military plots to overthrow Atlantis and break free of its oppressive regime, and one of the most important moves in this rebellion is finding and assassinating Arthur Curry, the long-lost prince and heir to the throne of Atlantis.  Mera decides to take that mission on herself, as she believes that killing Arthur will allow her to sit on the throne of Xebel without having a man at her side.

Arthur lives on land, in the beach town of Amnesty Bay.  Mera not only takes her first steps on land, but she also gets sidetracked when she finds herself having unexpected feelings for the target of her assassination mission, Arthur.

I first came upon Mera as the dutiful, but powerful wife of Aquaman decades ago.  While the comic books I read depicted Mera as quite the fighter in her own right, I would never have imagined a Mera comic book like Mera: Tidebreaker.  This graphic novel explores the themes of duty, love, heroism, and freedom with depth and substance.  Mera is a strong, complex, and messy character in ways that makes it hard for the reader not to attach herself to this engaging young woman.

I think what makes Mera: Tidebreaker work is that writer Danielle Paige presents Mera's coming-of-age as a work-in-progress.  The hero, in this case, Mera, does not learn about herself and her place in the world, nor does she develop relationships with others.  Instead Mera is learning about herself and her place in the world.  She is developing relationships with others.  Mera's journey is ongoing; nothing is really complete, and there are few if any easy answers.  Every resolution is part of an evolution, so, without spoiling things, I can say that Mera: Tidebreaker looks as if it will be the first in a new original graphic novel series.

Stephen Byrne tells this tale in brawny, effective graphical storytelling.  [It is hard for me to believe that this is the same Stephen Byrne who drew the recent, detestable Wonder Twins comic book.]  Byrne tells Mera: Tidebreaker as if it were some hot, television teen soap opera, using intense emotions and powerful moments of drama and confrontation to shape the characters.  Byrne makes Mera: Tidebreaker a cover-to-cover read.  [I read it in one sitting.]

Colorist David Calderon uses his colors to accentuate Mera: Tidebreaker and to give it an unusual visual appearance.  I might describe that appearance as some kind of realism.  Joshua Reed's lettering is effective and effectively sized and placed to make the story flow smoothly.

Mera: Tidebreaker has an all-around excellent creative team, and they make this the high-quality launch an imprint needs, especially DC Ink, with its particular ambitions.  One might even argue, that Mera: Tidebreaker gives young readers the kind of select original graphic novel that older readers take for granted.

8 out of 10

[This book contains a preview of the original graphic novel, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale, from writer Lauren Myracle; artist Isaac Goodhart; colorist Jeremy Lawson; and letterer Deron Bennett.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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