Review: ‘Teen Titans: Raven’ by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo

17 year old Raven has to start over after an accident that cost her foster mother’s life also costed Raven her memory. She has trouble figuring out who she was before it all happened and is unsure whether finding out is a good option at all, as she suspects something sinister at work. She settles into her new routine amongst new friends and family and she needs to decide whether she’s ready to face the truth with the help of her new companions.

I picked up ‘Raven’ because I am a huge fan of Gabriel Picolo’s artwork, I have followed him for a little while now. Teen titans in general would be something I’m vaguely familiar with from my childhood days, I used to watch the cartoon.

Raven was never my favourite character but this graphic novel provides a lovable background to her story. I do wish it was done in more details, not being familiar with her origin story myself, I have found the storyline to be lacking explanation in key aspects of the novel.

It is difficult, I feel, to rate this read in general terms because of the huge discrepancy between the artwork and the writing. Gabriel Picolo did a fantastic job and did not disappoint, however the plot left a lot to be desired. It is not the Raven I’m familiar with and this story is not linking the two together as of now. Hopefully, it is just a first part of what could be a series to give its readers a satisfying, well rounded story of Raven as a character. I do understand that it is the author’s own spin on the character but I felt as if too much of her is not there and only the broad and vague points remain the same, it’d be missing the point of Raven then so.

The plot line also felt rushed, bits and pieces weren’t connected in between, the storyline jumped ahead a couple of times with readers left to just assume the unsaid.

A lot of improvement can be made to make this storyline more gripping and well rounded, I hope to see it in the next instalment, otherwise it’d be a great shame. I am personally not that disappointed with it, I came into it for artwork and I got everything I wanted and more, but as a graphic novel in whole, it has failed on many levels.

Thank you for reading this review! Let me know what you thought in the comment section below and until next time, dream on, Dreamers!