Review: Teen Titans- Raven
Quick Summary
Pros: The main narrative contains a meaningful story about a young-adult discovering herself. The growing sense of suspense featured throughout this narrative is exciting and well-executed. The book’s artwork is wonderful and enhances the read.
Cons: The book’s conclusion feels a little rushed.
Overall: This is a book that excels in several different places. The main narrative is compelling, the characters are well-written, and the artwork is beautiful. The entire book also does a great job in balancing a touching story of humanity with a dark superhero story. Readers who are looking for a mix like this will seriously enjoy this book.
Full Review
Teen Titans: Raven, by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo, is charming and heartfelt while also having just the right amount of suspense and excitement. It tells the story of Raven’s memory loss and subsequent move to a new school. This comes with personal problems, as she deals with her relationships, and with some dangers as well, as she learns about the darkness that has followed her.
The main narrative in this book does a nice job in reflecting aspects of real, young-adult life. Raven has to deal with fitting in when she doesn’t even truly know herself. Though Raven’s problems are more intense than the average person, they serve as a metaphor for the journey of self-discovery that leaving high school typically involves. This is where the book is both charming and heartfelt, as this journey is well-written and the characters introduced along the way are great.
Raven also has a narrative that adds in the supernatural elements of Raven’s character. This is evident from the very start, when it is clear that something is not quite right, and builds as the book progresses. This adds a growing sense of suspense to the entire narrative. The way this is written works out well and gives the book just enough excitement without distracting from the grounded, human story.
Gabriel Picolo’s artwork suits all of this very well. Each character also has a unique style that serves as an extension of their personality. The colors help emphasize specific moments or add to the development of themes. And the book is well-structured. All in all, the visuals here look good and make this a better book.
The only problem with this book is that it feels a bit rushed at times, particularly near the end. Within the book’s last few pages it feels like every big reveal happens all at once. This isn’t a huge problem, as the conclusion is still very enjoyable, but makes me wish the book was just a little longer.
Continuity
Teen Titans: Raven does not continue the storyline from any specific comic. Instead, it presents a new version of DC’s Raven (Reading Order) character.
The story here continues in Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven. Beast Boy Loves Raven also continues the narrative from Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Review).