Tales of the Titans #2 // Review
Panthra is having a baby. Everybody’s happy for her. Even Rachel Roth is happy for her. Really. She is. However, Rachel isn’t there for the oversized baby shower. She’s present, but her mind is elsewhere as she is reminded of her mother and all of the issues that thoughts of her mother conjure. Those thoughts will send her on an adventure in Tales of the Titans #2. Writer Tini Howard tells the story of the Titan known as Raven. Italian artist Eleonora Carlini and colorist Lee Loughridge rendered the story for the page.
So many choices had been taken from Raven’s mother. She heads off to Gotham City to look at the church her mother attended. Something about the place calls to her...and then an angel arrives. It’s an angel that knows her even if it doesn’t know her mother. The angel’s name is Amadeus. The angels taught Raven empathy when she was a child. He’s there to ask for her aid in protecting another woman, just like her mother, from exploitation by the same demon who took so much from her mother. Raven is reluctant to get involved, but how can she NOT?
Howard casts the narrative in the voice of Raven. She’s the one who is narrating the story. She’s the one who is obsessing over her mother. And she’s the one who will have to confront a situation that she’d rather not. It’s a deep interpersonal journey that Howard puts Raven through. Howard’s dialogue is sharp and to the point. Her sense of pacing is perfect for a one-shot story. Everything comes together quite well for one of the Titans’ most endearing and relatable characters. Howard seems to be getting everything perfect from cover to cover.
Carlini’s work is gorgeous. The opening scene at Panthra’s baby shower has a rich interpersonal warmth. Raven is given a pleasantly brooding, slightly aloof presence that articulates the direction of emotional warmth in a delicate and multi-layered page rendering. Carlini’s work in the realm of magic feels particularly resonant as it is amplified by some beautifully radiant color work by Loughridge. Howard doesn’t give Carlini much room to move with the action...and there IS some significant action at a critical point in the story. Carlini nails that action with a scalpel’s precision as the panels hang on the page at odd angles amidst the intensity of what’s happening.
Howard does an excellent job with a reluctant hero. Carlini’s work is breathtaking. There’s no reason they can’t work together on an ongoing Raven series. Raven’s a difficult character to hit just right, but Howard and Carlini have done an excellent job hitting all the right points in a standalone Raven story. She thinks of herself as a Titan. It’d be interesting to give her a bit more room on her own...get the character out of her comfort zone just a bit more to explore her in greater depth.
