February 06, 2007

Preview of THE RAVEN

Jay Odjick & Matt Austin Revisited!DK: Also, Jay can you bring us up to speed with what is happening with "The Raven"?

JO: Yeah, for sure. The Raven...was originally a mini-series that I was self publishing AND self distributing...a LOT of work. So, what we have done is, we have moved the series over to a more accomplished, more established publisher--we signed a deal with Arcana Studios, the Shuster Award winner as Canadian Comics Publisher Of The Year and we will be relaunching the series with an all new #1 issue this year. 36 pages--full color.
Comment:  See also The Raven Preview. Judging by this preview, the series features a lone avenger against a mad-scientist type of conspiracy. I'm guessing the Raven is the latest human incarnation of the age-old Raven god, or something like that. See Red Wolf, Coyote, Puma, Black Condor, Super-Chief, et al. for variations on that story.

Ho-hum. Other than the nifty raptor-like costume, I don't see much here. No points for the name "Raven" either. Here are a few of the characters and titles that have used "Raven" before:

Red Raven
Little Raven
Raven
Raven Darkholme (Mystique)
Manitou Raven

The Chosen One:  Legend of the Raven
Red Raven:  Lore of the Time Before
Rocking Raven
Rocking Raven:  A LOUSY Tale
Raven's Children

In short, if the Raven idea hasn't been done to death yet, it has been done. It reminds me of the creator I know who came up with the stunningly unoriginal name "Nighthawk" for his Native hero. Try again, people.

2 comments:

voyageur said...

Is it just me, or is it a bad angle, or are this Raven's head and neck really too large and out of proportion to the rest of the body?

Rob said...

The head is a little large, but not exceptionally so. The pose is a bit awkward too--not the one I would've chosen for the first issue.