Raven #1 Discussion Thread

[sifighter]

As someone who pretty much gave up reading Teen Titans half way through the new 52 I wasn't sure about picking this up just based on how bad Raven's new 52 version was, however it was also written by one of the best Teen Titan writers Marv Wolfman and I thought I'd give him a chance to fix the character. For a first issue I'd have to say that he did a pretty decent first issue that set-up Raven's new status quo, before she get kidnapped by Damian Wayne later this month that is.

Now I will say what's interesting is that it does not completely ignore the past few years of Teen Titans, she mentions her old team and even points out that the reason she decided to move was the lose of Tim Drake (read more about that over in detective comics). However beyond a few mentions of past heroics this is really just seeing Raven start over, we see as she moves in with her aunt and her family that she didn't know about while also starting high school. I will say that you should be warned that this is a very teenaged raven story that see the character once again trying to fit into everyday life with some new magical entity coming her way, which may or may not be some story beats that you've seen from the character in the past. However I found it to be enjoyable as it attempts to correct past mistakes with what I found to be decent humor and some actually pretty good art. I'd say that if you are someone who has never read raven before or have but felt like the past few years haven't entirely been great to her then I'd say this is a pretty good issue for you to pick up.

P.S They do reference the weird feather costume in a dream sequence and some weird spirit thing but she doesn't actually wear it outside of the dream scene if anyone was worried about that.

[AcesX1X]

wait how come raven doesn't have the rebirth banner if she's reference events in current detective comics???

[sifighter]

wait how come raven doesn't have the rebirth banner if she's reference events in current detective comics???

Probably because this is a only a 6 issue mini-series set after the events of the last teen titans run that just ended but before the events of Teen Titans Rebirth.

[AcesX1X]

oh it's a mini? nevermind

[Brave Sir Robin]

I really liked the issue. Most of it was set up but the writer did a good job with Raven, making her a victim of her childhood wanting to get more of a life then facing a threat immediately. So you had a decent natural tension to work through.

I used to watch the Teen Titans Go cartoon with my son when he was little. Raven was a great character, the sarcastic goth chick falling for emo boys. If we saw some of that Raven in future ones, that would be cool.

[Outside_85]

Quite liked it as well, though it feels like a redo of the old Raven mini-series, which also took place in a San Fran highschool.

But I will say I think the mini is also going to serve as a transitional book, moving Raven from the New 52 version to the upcoming Teen Titans relaunch. Which I think we saw a big part of on the last page where the 'bird-outfit' sort of took off on its own. Add to this the mention in the preview pages about the outfit actually being Raven's own soul rather than a suit... maybe this 'White Carnival thing will end up changing her a little bit?

The other thing I really noticed was Wolfman giving Raven the age of 17 when her mother first mentioned Alice... pardon me if I am over thinking this, but to my knowledge Raven hasn't actually seen her mother in years by this stage. Chonolgically Arella would have had to have told Raven this while on Azerath before Trigon destroyed it (as per Phantom Stanger), some time passes before the Stranger returned her to Trigon, her biological age obviously froze while she was there... even though she was there for an extended period of time (as per Teen Titans).
So in my head... wouldn't all of this make Raven something like 18 or even 19 years old? (I kinda pegged her as 16-ish due to how shes been depicted so far and still will be by next week).

[Desean101101]

Quite liked it as well, though it feels like a redo of the old Raven mini-series, which also took place in a San Fran highschool.

But I will say I think the mini is also going to serve as a transitional book, moving Raven from the New 52 version to the upcoming Teen Titans relaunch. Which I think we saw a big part of on the last page where the 'bird-outfit' sort of took off on its own. Add to this the mention in the preview pages about the outfit actually being Raven's own soul rather than a suit... maybe this 'White Carnival thing will end up changing her a little bit?

The other thing I really noticed was Wolfman giving Raven the age of 17 when her mother first mentioned Alice... pardon me if I am over thinking this, but to my knowledge Raven hasn't actually seen her mother in years by this stage. Chonolgically Arella would have had to have told Raven this while on Azerath before Trigon destroyed it (as per Phantom Stanger), some time passes before the Stranger returned her to Trigon, her biological age obviously froze while she was there... even though she was there for an extended period of time (as per Teen Titans).
So in my head... wouldn't all of this make Raven something like 18 or even 19 years old? (I kinda pegged her as 16-ish due to how shes been depicted so far and still will be by next week).

18 or 19 but she never finished school so technically she can still go to high school till she is 21

[Rakzo]

Thought this was decent enough although at times Wolfman had trouble writing young people's dialogue to the point they almost sound like caricatures.

Borges' art was fine.

[ZionAkeda]

Does anyone think that perhaps, if this new Raven title sells well and continues to get good reviews and positive responses from fans that DC just might keep this on as a "Rebirth" title? I love Raven and I want to see her with an ongoing comic.

[Incognito]

The Raven title, I thought it was quite decent. It's good to see Raven doing something other than the Teen Titans (even though we all know that she is going to be in TT Rebirth).

[Red obin]

I quite liked the issue as a set up issue,I will be happy if they go a different route then trigon. Were Ravens brothers ever found in the pre 52 universe and remember them draining trigon and disappearing, this is either me remembering wrong it wrong or they were not mentioned again. I hope the night mistress/ dark mistress is a minor mistake. I am fine with it as it is very minor but I hope it's fixed in the tpb.I was thinking weren't they called dark mistress before and for once I was right.

[ThePurple]

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. I'm not even a huge fan of raven's but story and art have convinced me to pick up the series. I liked seeing raven with her aunt and family. I also think she should have had the rebirth banner.

[America]

I'm relatively new to DC titles (beyond Nightwing which I've been reading for a while) and I think I've made an observation which I'd like to see if more seasoned DC readers think is true...

Is Raven DC's Hank Pym? It just seems that she, like Hank Pym, is constantly on the same narrative beats, and everytime a writer pulls her out, the next one just wants to bring her back into it.

[Earth-2 Refugee]

My comic shop actually recommended this book to me when I picked up my pull list. Don't regret buying it at all, same as Trinity, which they also recommended.

[Outside_85]

I'm relatively new to DC titles (beyond Nightwing which I've been reading for a while) and I think I've made an observation which I'd like to see if more seasoned DC readers think is true...

Is Raven DC's Hank Pym? It just seems that she, like Hank Pym, is constantly on the same narrative beats, and everytime a writer pulls her out, the next one just wants to bring her back into it.

I am not sure if Pym is a good comparison... since whenever he is mentioned, the first thing people think is 'wife beater'.

Seriously though, yes there is a lot of repetition going on with Raven, but I have to say the same is the case with many characters, especially characters that were born onto and defined as team characters.