2.5 stars

brief summary
After a car crash wherein Raven loses her foster mother along with her memories and is placed under the care of her foster mother's Voodoo priestess sister just as Raven's demonic father begins to take an interest in her in this alternative take on the background of the gloomiest Teen Titan

full review
The easiest thing to remark on in this graphic novel is the art because it is very good. Gabriel Picolo uses minimal colors to great effect and takes advantage of characters' wardrobes to reveal a little more of their personalities. Stylistically, it looks like the original Teen Titans animated series, but softened after the fashion of 90s Disney movies. The style works for the narrative, as the Raven presented here is much more about family and friendship than the Raven many television fans are familiar with, who took ages to relate to any of her teammates.

This narrative will probably feel very odd to fans of Raven-the-Teen-Titan, because the girl presented here is very little like her. She appears to be a far cheerier, far more human character, which is in keeping with the re-imagining of her backstory, but it still feels like well-written Alternate Universe fanfic. It would not have surprised me to have characters from Rowling's Wizarding World show up, in other words. The whole point of this graphic novel was to re-imagine Raven's story though, so it seems churlish to harp on the fact that the story and the character seem like very loose interpretations of the source material (at least as far as the animated television shows go - I have never read the comics).

A few other things on the setting: the term metahuman is used once or twice in this piece, and we do get to see Slade in costume, but otherwise there are few indications that this story takes place in the DC Universe at all. (I think there's a Wonder Woman poster on someone's bedroom wall.) There's nothing inherently wrong with that, and other iterations of DC stories have certainly taken greater liberties, but without the occasional appearance of Raven's father in spectral, telepathic forms, there is no real reason why this couldn't be any random new-girl-with-powers story.

The story itself is nothing tremendously original. An amnesiac girl who is secretly special is placed with a loving not-quite-family that has its own secrets to keep. She goes to school expecting to be an outcast, but finds a niche and a love interest. It turns out there is more to the love interest than first meets the eye, and meanwhile spooky supernatural things start to happen around her, all of which come to a head on prom night. Unexpected allies are brought in to face down the threat and eventually the girl leaves her home to face her demons and discover her inner strengths. Garcia tells this story well (which she ought to do by now - it follows a very similar plot to one of her more famous books, Beautiful Creatures), but there is nothing especially memorable about this telling.

ARC from NetGalley, all opinions here are honest!
I had a lot of fun with this story! The art in this book was especially beautiful to experience; I am very much looking forward to seeing the finished form the art will take. I didn't know Gabriel Picolo before reading this book, but I am now looking forward to seeing his art elsewhere.
My Teen Titans background is not extensive, I watched the TV show casually as a kid but had never been an active participant in their stories. I now look forward to reintroduction into this world.
I had also never read anything by Kami Garcia! She is such a well-known person in the YA community. I am not sure how I hadn't encountered her books before.
I found a lot of the story elements interesting, I thought the interplay between the words and the illustration was very strong, but the way the story concludes wasn't the most exciting ending for a visual medium. I also wanted a little more information before we got to the end, this is obviously the beginning of a series, but I would have liked a more solid foundation to jump off into the rest of a series.
I really liked the setting and the characterization; these factors were done quite well. Sometimes with comics and graphic novels, I can forget precisely who a person is, but I had a pretty good grasp on all the characters from the jump.
I will totally be continuing with this if it is a series, it was such a fast fun read.

I have to confess, I had no clue who Raven was before deciding to read this. But now, I definitely want more. It's a great origin story, and intro if there's more to come. (I hope.)
The images are amazing, if this was a non-colored copy I can not imagine how great they'll look completed.

Teen Titans: Raven shows Raven's origin story. The artwork is great, but I never really got interested in the story and the ending was disapointing. There are a lot of good elements in the story, but they don't all pull together in a satisfying way.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC of Kami Garcia’s Teen Titans: Raven, illustrated by Gabriel Picolo, in exchange for an honest review. The book releases on July 2.

I know next to nothing about the Teen Titans, other than what I learned when watching of Teen Titans Go! to the Movies with my boys. Kami Garcia and illustrator Gabriel Picolo’s graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven does a beautiful job communicating the backstory of Raven . . . even to the uninitiated like me. Rachel Roth (also known as Raven) is a complex protagonist who has been stricken with amnesia after a car accident that killed her foster mother, Viviane Navarro. The only hint about Raven’s powers is her declaration that she’s dangerous and her mother’s reassurance that she’s strong enough to handle herself. Then, the crash ends the conversation and Raven’s understanding of her identity.

Viviane’s sister Natalia and Natalia’s daughter Maxine take in Raven, supporting her as she struggles to recover her memories and her sense of self. She also balances the travails of high school, where she takes on mean girls, a romantic interest in Tommy Torres, . . . and a realization that she is hearing both strange voices and other people’s thoughts. Oh, and her shadow sometimes looks like a raven. The mystery of Raven’s past and powers grows as she comes to rely more on her new family, whose support and love for Raven was my favorite part of the book.

As Raven works to reconcile the slow emergence of her memory, the reader comes to know her snarky personality, sympathy for the underdog, and total girl power. The narrative is layered with humor, a respectful treatment of voodoo, and nods to the greater DC mythology. Garcia and Picolo have created a great merging of story and art, with the beautiful purple wash of the book providing a gorgeous reinforcement of the central story’s tone and as a nod to its protagonist. Solid graphic novel introduction to this superhero backstory.

I love everything Kami Garcia. I'm not a reader of comic type books but I loved this story. Thank you for the Arc

I really loved the art in this one, but I think the story was a little lacking? It was interesting to see Raven coming into her powers, but I felt like this struggle with Trigon was a story we've seen in every iteration of Raven and I wish we could have seen something new here.

Max was a great character and I love how close the two of them got and the sisterhood between them. I really loved Tommy and need to know more about him, because he and Raven were adorable together. And I'm rooting for Max and Eman, because they were so great.

I loved both Viviane and Max's mom and how they both worked to protect Raven and help her deal with Trigon and her powers. But it also just felt like Max's mom spent most of the story in the cemetery, yelling at a stone and not getting any answers. I just felt like a lot of the story was very slow and could have flowed a little better.

5 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

Raven, born Rachel Roth, has superpowers she was unaware of. Her foster mom, Viv, has just died in a fatal car crash and Raven is sent to live with her Aunt Natalia and cousin. After the accident, at first Raven’s powers display themselves at school where she realized she can read people’s minds. Then, she starts to have disturbing nightmares. She’s new to the school in New Orleans, but things start to look up when cutie Tommy Torres shows an interest in Raven and asks her to the prom. But things are never what they seem in superhero’s stories are they? Who has ulterior motives, and why can she make bad things happen to people through her thoughts?

A quick, enjoyable comic book with captivating and illustrations that pop off the page by Gabriel Picolo.

Raven’s origin story gets a retelling and a revamping in Teen Titans: Raven. We start in tragedy, as all good backstories do. Originally, Raven is raised in an alternate dimension with full knowledge of her powers and spends her life training to keep them and her emotions under control.

In the redux, Raven can’t remember anything before the car crash.

And it’s working. This characterization of her still works with the rage and the angst that we came to know, love, and sympathize with when we watched Teen Titans.

Kami Garcia’s Raven has questions and the drive to get them answered, and she’s drawn beautifully for her recent adaptation by Gabriel Picolo.

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Really loved the art in this one as well as the story! I don’t read a lot of comic book type things but I found this one wonderful!

I loved this book. The artwork was great and the story flows well. I really wanted to learn more about the Teen Titans and this was a great starting point.

I was a big fan of the original Teen Titans tv series so when I saw this book I was very excited and I loved it! The illustrations were amazing and I loved the way it used colors to focus on Raven. I was very interested in her back story and enjoyed learning that information. I hope we see more books in this series.

I've always been curious to know how they were going to establish this new era of Teen Titans and I was not disappointed.
Gabriel Picolo's art is AMAZING. He was able to give all the characters a lot of expressions and you could relate to them.

Kami's writing is very similar to what we've had before (with BC). But nonetheless, very good :)

I enjoyed it very much and can't wait for the others!

Garcia and Picolo come together in this short and captivating comic that tells what could be seen as the beginning of Raven, aka Rachel Roth, who is one of the members of DC's Teen Titans. I personally loved devouring this comic and the story that developed through it as it was dark and fully engaging. As a big fan of Gabriel Picolo's art, I can't deny that this was beautifully drawn and I loved every single detail of it—especially Raven's famous raven jacket. Now I can't wait for this to be released and to continue growing with this wonderful artistic duo!

When a tragic car accident takes the life of 17 year old Raven's foster mother-- along with her memory--Raven is sent to live with her foster mother's family in New Orleans. While there, Raven starts experiencing strange occurrences of hearing the thoughts of those around her and being able to cause injury to bullies with the slightest thought. She starts to think maybe it's best that she doesn't remember who she used to be, and maybe she needs this clean slate. With the help of her foster cousin, Max, and the charming Tommy Torres, Raven must decide whether to stand up to the darkness inside her or let it consume her completely.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It was such an interesting take on Raven, and the story itself played out really well. I flew through it because I was just completely sucked into Raven coming into her own and discovering who she is and the powers she possesses. The whole take on voodoo magic was also cool to see. My favorite thing though was the art style, it was so fresh and made the story that much better. Definitely check this out if you're a DC fan!

I've been a fan of Teen Titans for a while - I remember watching and loving the cartoon both as a kid and more recently as an adult, and the stories stand the test of time (and of maturing) - so was beyond excited to see an origin story for one of my favorite comic characters, perhaps my favorite DC character. I'm pleased to report the issue holds up, at least for the most part.

The only negative thing I have to say about this is really the story. While the major plot beats worked well, the in-between felt like only filler. The story itself wasn't anything new to comics - though definitely a Raven backstory new to me - girl gets amnesia, has no idea what her powers are, or what's going on, has people around her who know somethibng but don't say anything, meets a guy, but there's something sinister going on in the background. It's interesting, but not new. It wasn't poorly written, though, and I'd definitely still recommend it. It's a good intro to a new series - not much infodump about the main character, sets up the plot and the cast well, and gives both personal and, well, supernatural drama.

What really shone for me, though, was the art. The style was lovely, and the coloring choices in the issue I receved (digital, of course) were fascinating. I know Goodreads says the coloring isn't final, but I hope they keep the almost watercolor/sepia style, with pops of color for certain characters and certain moments. It's not common, but it fits the story, and Raven's character, so well.d

Whether you and Raven are new aquaintances or old friends, this comic is a win for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I've now read all of the new DC YA titles and this is by far my favorite one. The art style was unique, the characters interesting, and the story kept me entertained until the end. I would love to see more with Raven or possibly the other Teen Titan from YA authors in the future!

I really enjoyed the story of Raven. Before reading this graphic novel/comic I wasn't aware of the story of Raven or her character. I don't have much knowledge of the Teen Titans in general but I loved this little glimpse into their world. I look forward to reading more of her story and the story of the other Teen Titans.

In this ARC there were a few speech or thought bubbles that looked like they were coming from the wrong person, where it didn't make sense for that person to be saying it in that situation. There were also a few spelling or grammatical mistakes, one time a speech bubble had the same line repeated, which didn't seem purposeful.

My only other comment is I have no knowledge or experience with the world of spiritual guides, tarot card readers, or empaths so I can't speak to that aspect of the story. I just hope that what is portrayed in this story is accurate to that world.

On the NetGalley page it says this copy isn't in the final full color, which makes me really intrigued in what the final version will look like. I really enjoyed the illustration style and have heard many great things about Gabriel Picolo.

Can't wait to read the final print copy!

This was awesome! I love getting to see Raven a little more vulnerable. The art is fantastic too! I hope that this connects with the Titans eventually.

I am so excited to see the finished book in color! The illustrations are incredible and Kami Garcia is such an amazing writer. I love everything that she does so I was so excited to hear that she is venturing into the comic book world (similar to Rainbow Rowell with Marvels Runaways).