Written by Rachel Freeman
Raven is published by DC Comics. It is written by Marv Wolfman with art by Ruy Jose and Diogenes Neves.
Here we are, the final issue in Raven’s mini-series. I am really excited for the finale, but I’m really sad to see her solo coming to a close. I honestly loved every issue of this comic. Maybe I’m bias because I just love Raven so much, but I think Marv Wolfman did a great job with her character going solo and with little to no interaction with the other Teen Titans or Justice League. I mean, he was her co-creator, so it’s to be expected he would nail her solo series. Anyway, this mini has given us more insight into Raven, her past, her thoughts, her feelings, even her powers.
For those who don’t know, this mini-series takes place following Raven taking a break from the Teen Titans. She moves to San Francisco to form a bond with a family she has never met before: Her mother’s sister – her aunt Alice – her uncle, and their two children. It’s with this new family in this new place that she will experience her toughest challenge: the social norms of high school. But that’s not all! Following a classmate’s strange disappearance, Raven is about to face off with something more sinister than she’s ever encountered before (and she’s the daughter of a freaking demon).
*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ RAVEN #1 – 5*
So, here we are. The final showdown with the…big…white…glowing…ball of fear and destruction. I don’t think they gave it a name, I’ll call it Glowy (I may write reviews, but I’m not the most creative). Alright, so we have Glowy sucking in people and terrorizing them in the form of an endless carnival. It’s not a happy carnival, it’s speeding roller-coasters that never end, it’s constantly swinging that huge hammer to try and get the weight to hit the bell, it’s a drop tower that you can’t get down from, it’s the carnival of nightmares is what I’m getting at. And Glowy is using this feeling of dread and terror to….I think drain out their souls? I’m honestly a little confused about how it works, but it’s clear that the goal is to accumulate souls. Raven finally makes it inside only to be smacked around and slowly begin to lose her own memory. She can’t simply unleash her power because people could die, so what can she do? Especially if she loses her memory!
Pros: We finally get to see how it ends. Mostly. I mean, I won’t spoil it, but there is definitely some stuff left open and I’m sure we’ll see something similar coming in Teen Titans. I really liked this villain because there’s still so much we don’t know, but at the same time we got closure for the story. We also got to see Raven discover her more human side and grow emotionally. She has learned more about love, family love, the “I love you and I welcome you because we’re bound by blood”, the kind of love she has never experienced. She also had to learn to have faith in herself, in her strength, in her ability to control her dark side, she overcame so much, not just a giant fear ball. I felt like I connected even more with Raven, it made her relatable in a new way.
Cons: While not knowing Glowy’s ultimate purpose leaves a nice segway into a future Teen Titans arc, it’s also kind of frustrating. I mean, Raven goes through all this stuff and she doesn’t even know why. We readers don’t even know why. We just know it used fear to consume people’s souls (still don’t really know how that’s all correlated either). I was also really hoping to see more from Mary-Beth. I mean, she charged in their armed with nothing but faith in her cousin and that just kind of didn’t go anywhere. I guess Raven was more motivated, but I was really hoping for her to get to do something cool, even though she’s just a human, something to show we’re all capable. I mean, Alice kind of does, but it’s not the same
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 / 10
I wish we had a little more information, but you can only do so much in 6 issues. Ultimately, I was very happy with this series and it makes me want to start reading the new Teen Titans. Make sure you pick up a copy from your local comic store!
Happy reading!
