“Raven – Mother Blood”
Artist: Eleonora Carlini
Color Artist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Review by James Attias
Tales of the Titans #2 Takes us on an adventure with Rachel “Raven” Roth, who’s struggling with the fact that she and her friends aren’t TEEN Titans anymore.
Let’s portal in…
Daughter of Trigon
Raven’s come a long way since she was first introduced, way back in the 1980s. Her ever-receding hairline from that era puts Lex Luthor’s to shame. Now, though, she’s a cool, goth, young adult who has embraced who she really is. However, seeing her friends and former colleagues growing up around her, has brought her to the question, when did the Teen Titans grow up?
Like all good adventure stories, we start at the baby shower of a former Teen Titan, Pantha… who even I can’t remember. After the first issue in this series, and now this, I think each of these one-shot tales will give readers a coming-of-age tale for each Titan in a way.
Here we see Raven and Starfire at the baby shower. Kori’s giddy about babies and friends and fun, and Raven’s thinking about her own mother. This is where our story truly begins. This is a tale about how Raven remembers her mother and tries to show the same strength that she once showed, by standing up to a demon!
In parts, this issue wasn’t easy to follow, as we jump around a bit from scene to scene and location to location. I did find myself wondering if I missed a page when reading on more than one occasion. You can tell that the author wanted to tell more of this story and flesh it out, but a lot seemed to be left on the cutting room floor due to page count constraints.
That’s So Raven
This issue shows us the woman that Raven’s become. No longer a broody moody teen, now a broody mature young woman. The art did portray her as someone who wouldn’t look out of place at a séance but also would fit right in at a Black Sabbath concert. This is a healthy balance. Some of the other characters felt like they were rushed, though, and didn’t have the same development as Raven. I wanted more.
Conclusion
Tales of the Titans #2 was good but not as good as the previous issue. I look forward to the next in the series as Donna Troy is one of my favorites!