When a tragic accident takes the life of seventeen-year-old Raven Roth’s foster mom—and Raven’s memory—she moves to New Orleans to live with her foster mother’s family and finish her senior year of high school.
Starting over isn’t easy. Raven remembers how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can’t remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. When strange things start happening—things most people would consider impossible—Raven starts to think it might be better not to know who she was in her previous life.
But as she grows closer to her foster sister, Max, her new friends, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she’s ready to face what’s buried in the past...and the darkness building inside her.
My first introduction to Raven and the Teen Titans was via the Cartoon Network show which ran from 2003 to 2006, while I was in high school. I loved the action, the comedy, and all the characters, but especially Raven—who had the perfect amount of snark and intelligence to appeal to teenagers, plus a ton of drama and angst to keep you invested in her story—and Beast Boy—the shapeshifter and goofball. So when I saw they each had a new book/graphic novel out, I knew I had to jump in on that nostalgia and see what my fave Titans were up to.
From watching the show way back when, I knew some of Raven's backstory. She's the daughter of a demon who is awaiting her powers awakening to free him so he can destroy/conquer reality, but she's been trained by some magical society to contain/control her magic through intense meditation, which she in turn uses to fight evil/crime. So going in, I had my hunches that this amnesia of hers would be covering basically all that magical training she went through, and her powers coming out (from stress & emotions) would trigger her memories coming back.
I didn't expect Trigon to get a starring role already.
But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. This story has some things in common with the history I'm familiar with, but takes a less mystical approach. Instead of being raised & trained on the planet Azarath, she's instead surrounded by people with a familiarity with spirits and the supernatural. It's not clear how much magic will be involved in the future, but for now most of the abilities/powers we see are fairly grounded (by comparison).
I enjoyed meeting Raven at the beginning of her journey. She's got a lot to learn about herself—starting with what food, candy, and music she likes—all while navigating a new school, a new home, and new crazy mind powers. It was a bit wild seeing a character I idolized as a kid suddenly half my age and going through teen angst about boys and high school, but in a good way. It was nice having a bit of normalcy to relate to instead of just (at the time) age and attitude. Even if there were still supernatural issues to conquer, Raven dealing with bullies, flirting, and questioning if she's a good person for occasionally wishing bad things would happen was as riveting to follow, if not more-so. I mean we know the bad guys usually fall, but will Raven be consumed by her own guilt when her powers malfunction? That's what relatability really means for stories like this.
But Raven wasn't alone—Max, her adopted/foster sister was a great addition to the story. Being somewhat knowledgeable of Raven's situation (at least as far as knowing supernatural stuff is real) and familiar with the mundane school environment, Max serves as a sounding-board for her problems. But Max isn't just a BFF, placed there only for Raven's benefit, she's got her own problems and drama to deal with. Admittedly I would have liked to see more of her situation, but I get keeping things vague for the big reveal at the end, so I can't begrudge it too hard for that. Still, Max's relationship issues get built up, and built up, and then completely blown off for Raven's ending, so that was disappointing. Not sure if she'll get her own book in the future, but I'd definitely be up for it.
The rest of the characters, unfortunately, suffered from the limited time/space allotted for the book as a whole. The entire story seems to take place over the course of a week, and at just under 200 pages, even that feels way too short. In under 200 pages we get setup and establishing Raven's amnesia, her discovering and working through her powers, her romance, introducing two antagonists, revealing her past, and setting up where she goes in future books—PLUS introductions to Raven's new family, fleshing-out Max's personality and romantic drama, an LGBT+ couple, a cute shopping episode, and supernatural stuff that Raven's not present for. Now you see where I'm coming from? There's just a lot to get through, and unfortunately a lot of the other characters were left in the lurch.
Obviously the book's pacing is fast, but that mostly worked in its favor. The speed of the story kept me reading non-stop, getting me through the entire book in one sitting of maybe an hour of so. There was a point that really confused me at one of the later chapter breaks—reading it as an e-book on a tablet I only had one page at a time instead of the typical double-page spread, so when I flipped from one page of a battle to suddenly talking to other characters, I had to read it through a couple times before it clicked. But, that aside, the fast pace didn't really throw me aside from that. As I've already said, I would have loved for more time to have been given to other characters' stories. But for a quick introduction to Raven's story and setting up her next adventure, it was succinct and snappy.
The art style took a bit of time to warm up to. Well, the coloring, to be more precise. Most of the story's panels are done in grayscale, with only Raven and maybe one or two other things/people in color. While this really did make the magical elements pop when they were depicted, it did make much of the book a bit dreary, even when the scene wasn't. One example is when Raven's on a date—one she calls literally the best day ever‐and apart from the 2-page montage of the day, the rest of the date has only Raven in color. Not even the guy is in color, and he's supposedly kinda important in those scenes.
Maybe the coloring choice was because of Raven's detached nature? Like, maybe she's shielding herself so much that she's not even able to perceive reality to the fullest? But even when she gets her memories back, the grayscale still remains on backgrounds and other characters, so... Yeah, still not fully sure what they were going for with that (especially since the preview for Book 2 doesn't have that coloration), but I guess it did make it stand out?
Speaking of future installments, I'm definitely hooked for the long haul. I already stated that Raven and Beast Boy were my favorites of the team, and considering Book 3 is titled after both of them (one of my first ships) I literally cannot wait. Add in the intrigue that a certain creeper offers and Raven's continued family drama and power exploration to the possibility of seeing more Max development, and you've got a winner in my book. Hopefully Book 2 will be in from my library shortly!
Overall, I really enjoyed the introduction to this world of the Teen Titans. I think familiar fans will enjoy this new take on Raven's origin along with some Easter-eggs pointing toward future developments, while newcomers will enjoy getting to know a relatable character in an extraordinary situation. The artwork is really great in bringing the characters and action to life, and while the coloring isn't always understandable, it certainly does its job to draw the eye where it needs to focus. I'd definitely recommend this to any DC comics/movies fans, as well as those interested in YA heroes & heroines. It may be a quick read, but that just means it'll take less time to hook you and get you excited for more.
Sorry it was a bit too short for you, but it sounds like you enjoyed it overall and will continue the series! That's great. I don't know much about these characters, but I am curious about the books.
ReplyDeleteLauren
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