Raven Daughter of Darkness #7 Review and **SPOILERS**

A Gathering of the (Night) Forces

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Pop Mhan
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover Artist: Philip Tan
Cover Color: Elmer Santos
Assistant Editor: Michael McCalister
Group Editor: Marie Javins
Shadow Walker: Joey Cavaleri
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: August 22, 2018

Heyyy, it's Raven.  For a hot minute I thought this one was gone for good.  Oh well, it's here... so let's talk about it!

By the by, is that Klarion on the cover?  I gotta concede that I'm behind on my recent DC Comics, but... isn't Klarion popping up in like three books a month at this point?  Ehh, whatayagonnado?




You remember those Shadow-Riders, right?  Betcha wanna know all about 'em?  Hey, hey, hey!  C'mon, don't hit backspace already...

Ya see, back in the long ago... these Shadow-Riders hunted down all of the "Arcanes", and brought forth an era of Darkness... and they're back to do it all over again!  This is all coming from Baron Winters... who, over the past several months swore by the fact that Raven was gonna bite the big one on Christmas Eve... so, we might wanna consider the source.

This issue features Baron Winters recruiting for his new Night Force... almost exclusively.  When he's not annoying Raven a la Max Headroom, he's inviting other young magic-folk into Wintersgate.  We do get a super-intense scene of Raven using her powers to cheat on a test... but, this is mostly a "gathering of the (night) forces".

I bet you thought you'd seen the last of the Girls With the Anime Eyes?!  Well, lucky you... they're (at least one of 'em) back, and are kinda the reason Raven ultimately decides to throw in with Baron Winters and Sassycat.

What I've learned here is... I guess it is possible to write an issue of Raven without relying (and dwelling) on the fact that she is the daughter of Trigon the Terrible... the trick to it is, to only feature Raven on a couple of pages!  Which is to say, if you bought this because you just love the character of Raven... well, she's here... but this isn't just her story anymore.

The art continues to be the strongest part of this series, and is doing plenty of heavy lifting.  It was neat to see some of the young Arcanes, but I'm still having a difficult time getting excited for what's to come.

Bits and Pieces:

We interrupt your previously scheduled Raven: Daughter of Darkness #7 for this special presentation of Night Force (Vol. 4) #0.  We apologize for the inconvenience... and for the next five issues.

5.5/10