A Spellbinding Origin Story That Soars!

Kami Garcia's Teen Titans: Raven is an absolutely captivating and emotionally resonant origin story that breathes fresh life into one of DC Comics' most enigmatic characters. As a long-time fan of the Teen Titans and graphic novels, I was eager to see how Raven's complex past would be explored, and this book exceeded all my expectations, earning a solid five stars.

From the very first page, Garcia pulls you into Raven's world with a masterful blend of mystery, vulnerability, and burgeoning power. The narrative is incredibly compelling, focusing on Raven's journey to understand her true identity and the dark forces that threaten to consume her. What truly sets this graphic novel apart is its deep dive into Raven's internal struggles, making her incredibly relatable despite her extraordinary abilities. The art, by Gabriel Picolo, is simply stunning – expressive, atmospheric, and perfectly captures the mood and emotion of every scene. It's a visual feast that enhances the storytelling beautifully.

The pacing is flawless, building suspense and emotional intensity with every turn of the page. The supporting characters are well-developed and add meaningful layers to Raven's journey, from the quirky foster family to the intriguing new friends she makes. The themes of self-acceptance, finding your chosen family, and confronting your inner demons are explored with nuance and sensitivity. The mystery surrounding Raven's past is expertly woven, keeping you guessing until the very end, and the revelations are genuinely impactful.

Overall, Teen Titans: Raven is a triumph. It's a beautifully crafted story that is both deeply personal and universally appealing. It's a must-read not just for Teen Titans fans, but for anyone who loves a compelling character-driven narrative with a touch of the supernatural. This book doesn't just ignite the stars; it becomes one. I can't recommend it highly enough and am eagerly awaiting the next installment in this brilliant series!

I've been following Kami Garcia on instagram for years and have always loved his take on the Teen Titans characters, as well as his OCs. Hit interpretation of some of DC's most iconic heroes feels somehow both nostalgic and fresh. I love this collection.

Teen Titans Raven was by far my favorite. Her origin story that Garcia created was intriguing. Raven is catapulted into an situation where she has to leave with her foster mom’s aunt and daughter. In a tragic accident, her foster mom was killed and she no longer remembers who she is. The reader is left with may questions as well. As the story unfolds, Raven comes to realize that she has the power to hear others thoughts and can make things happen just by willing them to. Her aunt and cousin know something is happening being voodoo witches themselves but have yet to reveal themselves to Raven. Demonic forces as well as an unknown human entity are after her. The question becomes; can Raven remember enough to save herself?

Told in a majority of black and white with highlights of purple when Raven is around and red when her demonic father is present is a startlingly contrast for the reader. The forward by the author is a great eye opener as to how she approached creating the origin story of Raven. The characters ring true not only to all the comic book connections but also to teenagers today.

I loved this graphic novel. While a quick read, the illustrations were gorgeous. Raven was a great character, with lots of bite. But you get her back story and understand what she's dealing with. I was sad when it ended. Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This DC Ink title works as a self-contained graphic novel and also interweaves enough DC characters and lore to make it recognizable to readers of the comics. Raven felt fresh and has appeal to general graphic novel readers, not just DC comic fans. Gabriel Picolo's art style is a true standout and felt the limited color shading worked well. Excited for the next in the series

A familiar story -- girl finds out she's special, with powers, but they come with a cost -- told with style and freshness. Really nice use of color, too. I very much appreciated the changes made from the original origin story of the character, adding in more women. Very readable, and one of the best of this line.

I loved this arc. Growing up, my brother and I obsessed over the Teen Titans series. For me, I was obsessed with Raven specifically. I loved her sarcasm and her darkness and her heart. This graphic novel was such a heartfelt look into Raven’s life. This Raven was nothing like I’d known and loved before, and I related to her even more. The story WAS full of angst, but I’d be a bratty, broody teenager too if I lost everything I held close. The illustrations were toned and beautiful. I can’t wait until more of these issues come out.

I receive this book in exchange for an honest review, which has not altered my opinion of this book.

For those who were wondering: this is not cannon to the comics. But...that being said many things were taken from the story of Raven, down to a lot of her personal facts. I appreciated the shout outs to that and I think you would too if you didn't look at it from the New Teen Titans aspect.

This was an absolutely wonderful novel. There were so many small points that just fit the character of raven as a teenaged girl, full of hormones and emotions while also dealing with amnesia and (re)discovering her powers. There were several themes that were touched on that I think were done wonderfully and that I really enjoyed. Raven has always been a character that I loved and this book didn't change that at all!

Highly recommend this series and I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5.

A graphic novel full of heart and thought, I found this version of Raven's story endearing in its early pages and look forward to seeing where her and her sister's journey leads.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Teen Titans before this and I'm still not sure if that helped or harmed my reading. I would call this good, not great, though I really enjoyed the art style.

A beloved childhood hero comes to life in the fantastic art style of Gabriel Picolo! As someone who has followed Picolo's art online for years, I was super excited for him to get this opportunity, and he did not disappoint!

First things first, the art is just incredible. The characters are so vibrant and expressive, and there are some gorgeous compositional shots that only Picolo could create. His black-and-white ink style with pops of color works so well.

In terms of plot, the story is pretty standard. It's a coming of age story for Raven, who has to deal with the natural adolescence procress while dealing with some very unnatural powers, While the story itself isn't very interesting, it's the little character interactions and beautiful art that really bring this to life. I appreciated Raven's character journey as she came into herself and developed relationships with the people around her. The romance, though, was a little underwhelming.

All in all, I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to see some of Picolo's stunning artwork and is a fan of Teen Titans.

I have quickly become obsessed with everything about this series. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment and have mentioned it more than once on several of our readers advisory socials.

Love, love, love it! What a great story about Raven. Definitely for fans of Teen Titans shows, but anyone can pick it up and read it and fall in love with Raven.

The illustrations are amazing, the story line is amazing. This graphic is all around really good. The illustrations really bring the story to life and draw you in. Honestly so good.

A fresh new look on the backstories of Raven from the Teen Titans! Amazing art by Gabriel Piccolo who is known for drawing modern Teen Titans on Instagram, this story focuses on Raven allowing readers to get to know her before bringing in the rest of the team. Raven was always one of my favorite characters on the Cartoon Network show and learning about who her father was and how she got her powers was exciting. I loved every minute of this and hope everyone else does too!

Origin story for the X-Men, Raven. Story features how she came to be the character that we know now. Not as strong as other DC graphic novel origin stories, but good nonetheless. My middle school students enjoy it.

I unfortunately did not get the chance to read this. But I’ll pick up a physical copy one day, because I love Raven.

I somehow lost this in my list, and when I went to read it was no longer available. However, my daughter was very interested in the title, so she went out and purchased it for herself. Sorry to miss this one, but I will catch up on it later with her copy. Thank you. She loved it, so I am adding her rating.

I had such high hopes for this one, and I wish I could give it a higher rating. Raven is one of my top five favorite DC characters, so when I first heard that she was getting her own YA origin story, I freaked out just a bit. Though, because of that fact, my expectations were probably a bit too high to realistically meet (hence my three-star rating). I did enjoy the plot, the overarching character development, and the world that Kami Garcia had built around Raven while staying true to the source material. However, I kept wanting a bit more of everything - more of Raven discovering her powers, more of the mystery, more of her friends and adopted family.
The saving grace of this novel was the art. I loved Gabriel Picolo's art throughout this entire graphic novel. His style lends so well to the strange balance between whimsy and severity that the Teen Titans comics and TV show has established over all these years. I cannot wait to see what he does with the rest of the gang.
Overall, this wasn't a bad graphic novel by any means, but it didn't quite meet my expectations. I will keep my eye out for the future books in this series and how they'll interconnect later. So, hopefully, my desire for more story will be satiated the farther along the series goes on.

I love anything that has to do with Raven . The art was beautiful with purple, gray, and black tones. I just didn't like that it was focused on a romance instead of figuring out who she truly is