Raven, Tome I : Némésis

Raven #1

by Mathieu Lauffray

Au XVIIe siècle, alors que le pavillon de l'Union Jack flotte sur la mer des Caraïbes, Raven, un jeune et impétueux pirate décide de mettre la main sur un prétendu trésor, promis à l'infâme gouverneur de Tortuga qui fait appel à lady Darksee, une redoutable femme pirate, en échange du pardon royal.

Mais Raven, qui assiste à la scène, décide de les devancer et d'agir seul grâce à un plan de l'île où se situerait le trésor.

L'île volcanique, perdue dans les Caraïbes et peuplée par une tribu cannibale, s'avère pourtant dangereuse... Et c'est précisément sur celle-ci que le nouveau gouverneur de Tortuga et sa famille, venus de France, ont échoué après un long voyage...

Genres: Comics, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels, Pirates, France, Historical Fiction, Fiction

54 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 2020

Reviews

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a kid, The Pirates of the Caribbean was my favourite movie franchise. Even now, I tend to love reading about pirates and sea adventures when they’re present in stories. This is why it’s especially unfortunate that this graphic novel didn’t live up to my expectations.

Nemesis follows a pirate named Raven, who is known for his bad luck. He embarks on a journey to steal the governors treasure, and finds himself in a lot more trouble than he bargained for when he meets the prisoner Lady Darksee.

I expected this story to be at least partially inventive or unique, but sadly it was quite ordinary compared to other adventures I’ve read. The characters felt two dimensional; I could hardly distinguish any of their personalities aside from the protagonists Raven and Darksee. Several scenes felt unnecessary in terms of plot development, and I found myself ultimately bored with the whole thing. The art was decent, but otherwise I was left feeling pretty disappointed by this graphic novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the arc!

[Shannara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore books and graphic novels about pirates. Something about pirates is so interesting, dangerous, and wild. But this is not something I loved. In fact, I was a bit disappointed with the storyline. It just wasn’t super interesting.

On the plus side, I really enjoyed the art. Very dark and detailed. But then once you start reading it’s just not as good as I wanted it to be. The first half was downright dull and I was wondering when we would get to the point. By the time I was starting to get pulled in, the volume just ended.

I gave two stars just for the art and then one star for the pickup at the ending... But, my recommendation is to wait until there are more volumes to read. This first one alone was just so unsatisfying.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the story was pretty by the numbers swashbuckling sword fighting pirates (which makes sense since it is loosely based on a short story by Robert Howard, creator of Conan), but the art - the art was amazing! I see traces of Hugo Pratt, Frank Miller, and Milo Manara in Lauffray's art. The backgrounds are lush, the characters are well drawn and differentiated, and the action is kinetic. Annoying that this first volume is so short, but this was a fun read.

**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kadi P · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. It wasn't amazing and yet it wasn't bad. It was, for want of a better word, meh.

The art was alright, the colours were ok, the story was middling, the characters were not very memorable. The protagonist was like a pale imitation of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow but without all the likeability. He was hardly even an anti-hero and I very much wasn't rooting for him.

The suggested ordering of rape of a captured girl by a female leader was very triggering and also, I felt, completely unnecessary. They'd already shown the female pirate leader to be a ruthless woman, now she's shown to be a despicable one too. So, if you can't root for her, and you can't root for the protagonist who's just looking to save his own skin, who can you root for here? And that is where the issue lies in this comic. The story can't benefit from characters who all seem to have the same selfish characteristics.

Of course, this was only the start of the story so maybe the story progresses in a better way. I'd say this wasn't so bad that I wouldn't be interested in reading more as there is potential for everything to turn around and improve greatly.

[Javier Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta es la típica historia de piratas con su aventura, sus combates a espada, sus batallas navales, su isla con tesoro escondido... resulta entretenida y el dibujo está muy bien, el que haya leído Long John Silver se hará una idea de lo que se puede encontrar en una historia de piratas dibujada por Lauffrey, lo que pasa es que esta historia no tiene a Xavier Dorison de guionista

Este es sólo el primer volumen y aunque tiene su miga parece que la cosa se puede alargar al menos dos o tres álbumes más, creo que la espera merecerá la pena.

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underdeveloped basic characters who do nothing to spice up a tragically bland treasure hunting story. The attempt at humor with Raven's infamous bad luck falls flat and the dialogues kinda suck. I’ve seen Lauffray more inspired.
Even the art and storytelling aren’t worthy of Lauffray’s talent. It feels rushed and is definitely subpar. Still, subpar artwork by Lauffray is way above your average in-house hack; hence the 2* rating.

[IdleEmma · Rating 2 out of 5]

* Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Raven, a pirate known for his bad luck, chances on a map to a legendary treasure and so begins a race to get to it on a volcanic island filled with vicious natives before Darksee, a legendary and ruthless pirate captain, can.

I wish I could give this pirate tale a good review but in the end ‘it was fine’ probably best sums up my experience of this first volume. It wasn’t so bad that I gave up on it but I’m not sure it was good enough to entice me to continue reading.

The story is a very typical pirate story of a search for a mythical treasure. It’s fine. It’s nothing amazing but a solid base for a pirate story and I’m fine with predictable stories usually if the characters stand out and can make it something special.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. I love interesting characters but I didn’t really find them here. A lot of characters pop up briefly in this first volume and most of them are bland and indistinguishable from one another. It doesn’t improve much for the main characters. I found Raven to be forgettable in appearance and somewhat hollow while Darksee showed promise but fell short of the mark (I thought one scene towards the end where she offers to 'free another woman from her shackles' by having her sexually assaulted to show how ruthless a pirate she is was trying too hard and entirely unnecessary). Maybe these characters will improve in future volumes but just taking into consideration this first volume, I would have liked more character depth and complexity to be shown to make up for the simple narrative.

The art style was nice enough however and did fit the pirate narrative well.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

CW for this review & book : sexual assault & gore

This graphic novel follows an unlucky pirate named Raven who sets off to steal some treasure from some powerful people. I had my hopes way high for this one with its classic artwork and pirate story, but I'm honestly so disappointed.

For starters, it's 2021 and we can retire the typical "the natives are savages and cannibals" thing. Do I even need to explain? Second of all, at the end of this volume there's an evil lady pirate who literally orders a woman to be r*ped and says things like "your womb will also have a part to play" and "you are a trophy wife, nothing more. An obedient offering who is expected to provide". I get that the woman ordering this is evil or whatever, but this just disgusted me and it felt so unnecessary. There's even a panel showing the woman about to be r*ped in front of her dad. And this is all done so that the MC can swoop in and save her. Yeah, no thanks.

Just... don't read this. There are so many better graphic novels out there that you could read instead.

*Thank you to Netgalley & Europe Comics for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review*

[Aina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Raven has a promising description. I read about a clumsy pirate who couldn't do anything right, and I thought it was going to be a fun, quirky or even an endearing story about a pirate.

It was none of it. 

At first, I thought about not even finishing it, but since it was a short story I decided to force myself to read it. 

The story is messy, confusing, and it wasn't interesting. A pirate looking for a treasure? Classic and overused. It's a pirate who get beaten around 5 times, almost gets killed and still was able to climb trees, houses, and all kinds of stuff. He memorizes a map in 2 minutes from the roof of the house where the map is, and then travels around South America in a little boat with one single man. 

It was boring, and I wanted to skip many parts, when I felt that there was too much information at once or that the information was irrelevant.

I couldn't feel any kind of attraction towards any character. They all felt shallow and uninteresting, and I couldn't relate to their motivations. Raven is moved by spite, apparently, Darksee by gold, and the other characters who knows, they don't even have personalities.

Still, the art is great, the character design is amazing. I loved the design on Darksee and Raven, the two main pirates, and the backgrounds were  well done and beautiful. 

I finally decided to give it 1.5 stars, since I didn't enjoy it enough to go up to 2 stars.

[Ana Lopes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC in change of an honest review through NetGalley, all the opinions are my own. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

My Rating: 2.5

I love pirates movies and pirate stories, always have since I was a kid. But this was not for me.

The plot focuses on Raven, an unlucky pirate that is know for causing trouble. We mainly follow him and I felt he was a very hollow character and there's no substance to him.
Raven goes on an adventure to try and find a secret treasure whilst trying to avoid the infamous pirate Darksee.

I felt the story itself was rushed and the scenes that were shown could have been better and more interesting.

The art style is of this comic is definitely not a style that I like and that made it even more uninteresting.

[Salomée Sérol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le dessin est sympa, j'aime bien les pirates, c'est juste vraiment dommage qu'il ne se passe pas grand chose dans le tome 1 quoi...

En 54 pages, on ne sait presque rien et c'est sûrement voulu, mais pour avoir envie de lire la suite, il faut que je sois au moins un peu investie, là on a rien ou presque.

On connaît à peine Raven mais il est pas très sympathique, Darksee est sûrement volontairement entourée de mystère mais du coup y'a pas tellement de différence avec les autres.

Le cadre proposé est sympa, mais on reste sur sa faim niveau intrigue et personnages, je trouve ça dommage.

[sassyspines · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely love stories with or about pirates, so I was excited to read this. We follow Raven, who is seen as crazy and brings bad luck wherever he goes. The story starts to take off once we land on the Isle of Tortuga.

While on the island, Raven overhears a conversation about a treasure hidden away on an island with a volcano. So, by nature, he literally drops into the conversation in front of Lady Darkness. Raven gets into a confrontation with her men, and they leave him for dead. He stows away on a boat to find the treasure before them since he remembers the details written on the map.

Once he lands at Devil's Peak, he is immersed in the forest and runs into real-life people. This is strange for him since only cannibals are known to be living on the island. These people, including a Count and his family, are shipwrecked on the island due to a storm. They have built a home for themselves. Then everything goes haywire when Lady Darkness arrives on the island and starts taking everything over.

The story ends with Raven coming back to free the people captured while destroying things in the process. The story seemed to fly with various information in a relatively short period. The story does have a cliffhanger ending, so keep that in mind.

I kind of liked the art style throughout the story. I do wish the story was a bit more in-depth, both character-wise and storyline-wise. I might read the second volume and see how it varies compared to the first volume.

I understand pirate stories, especially ones based around original tales, will contain some darker and outdated humor. However, the one character kind of jokes about "freeing one from their shackles". This is a joke told in an assault-type manner, and that did not settle well with me while reading. So, warning about that before you start reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy and the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pirates, lost treasure, cannibal island, pretty good anti hero. This books scratched itch for that kind of adventure story that I like. Unfortunately, it's only first album, which serves as exposition for things to come...but it looks promising.

[CESAR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un cómic de piratas.Los dibujos están bien pero la historia carece de interés y me parece confusa.

[Alyssa (HeartwyldsLibrary) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I snagged this on a whim due to the cover and the obvious pirate, which this in in fact a pirate story. Although I wasn't overly impressed, the story isn't great but its also not terrible, I has just enough to create an interest. It is a first volume in a series so it does leave on a cliff hanger, but I don't know if the cliff hanger is strong enough to entice me to come back.

The story overall is pretty simplistic, pirates, treasure, cannibals on an island, the usual, so nothing all that different or inventive. The characters are pretty normal run of the mill and no one really stands out, this includes our MC Raven. I was liking the female pirate captain, she seemed interesting up until she encouraged the rape of another women to "FREE" her of her chains to her virginity, that was just gross and killed the vibe all together.

The art was good, the style used fit the story and theme, and the colors where well used, and it was easy to determine what was going on in each panel. Overall nothing negative about the art.

Thank you Netgalley For an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Ceraeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une bonne introduction, en attendant la suite. Un personnage principal et une antagoniste charismatiques, des jolis dessins, une chasse au trésor... tout y est. Sauf peut être l'originalité et ce quelque chose en plus qui fait les grandes oeuvres. Un bon moment néanmoins

[Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raven: Nemesis is one of the new releases fro Europe Comics, and brings swashbuckling pirate adventures to the graphic novel market.

Set in the 1660's, the story follows Raven, a pirate that's considered unlucky by other outlaws, and it doesn't take us long to see why. When the crew of the ship he's on tries to capture a Spanish galleon things seem to go well at first. The pirates defeat the crew, Raven bests the Spanish captain in single combat and gets a fancy new sword, but when Raven discovers a young woman on board he tries to protect her from being raped by his fellow pirates. A noble endeavour for sure, but when he stashes her in the armoury for her protection, and the woman decides that blowing everyone up is the only way to save herself from sexual assault Raven's idea comes back to bites him, as both ships are blow to pieces in the subsequent explosion. The only survivor, Raven makes a raft from the remains and sails back to the pirate port of Tortuga.

As far as introductions go it's a pretty decent one. Not only do we get to see Raven in action and learn that despite his bad luck he's a pretty good pirate, but we also learn that Mathieu Lauffray isn't planning to pull any punches with this book, and that some pretty nasty things are going to happen. A young woman blowing herself up and killing dozens of people to save herself from being raped by a load of pirates is some pretty grim stuff.

And grim is probably the tone for most of the book. If you're looking for some fun and over the top pirate high-jinks like Pirates of the Caribbean, this isn't the book for you. There are brutal beatings, murders, and sexual assault in this books, and none of it is treated as fun. The fights are given a brutal feel to them, in part thanks to the style of art, and the characters really feel like they're getting hurt and suffering. I'm not sure how accurately the story is portraying life in these times and as a pirate, but it's certainly not sugar coating things or making it seem romantic.






Sadly, this brutality prevented me from really feeling like I connected with the characters a great deal, and by the end of this volume I didn't really have a huge sense of who Raven was. He seems like a man with a degree of morals to him, he did try to protect a woman in the introduction, but I don't know why. It shouldn't need to have a reason, protecting someone from rape should just be a given, but considering he's supposed to be a brutal pirate I wanted to know more about his sense of morals, the lines he won't cross, and the reasons why. Hopefully this will be explored in future volumes of the series.

The only other character that we really get to know in any real way is Lady Darksee, the main antagonist for the story. She's a pirate captain that's making shady deals with the local governor, and she's not adverse to really hurting people. There's a point where she consigns Raven to a brutal death, one that would have worked if not for the last moment intervention of an ally of his, and even uses sexual assault to harm an innocent woman, ordering one of her men to rape her in front of her father.

This scene is one of the most interesting insights into her character, as she's making this grand speech about being free, and how the young woman's only value is to be sold off to a rich husband and have babies, and that by taking her virginity she'll be freeing her from that life; but it's a horrible moment, and one that people could find quite triggering. I can't help but feel like this is supposed to mean something, to be some kind of insight into Darksee other than just showing her to be 'evil', but because we don't really have her backstory or motivations explored in this book it just makes her look like something of a monster.

But, this book is only the first volume, it's setting the table and laying out the pieces, and a lot of this character development and dives into their back stories could be coming later, so it's not a huge deal breaker here. However, if this isn't something that Lauffray picks up on later I will be a bit disappointed. Only time will tell how the series ends up, but for now it's a pretty decent start that could deliver some really great moments later on

[Theodora · Rating 4 out of 5]

For: fans of POTC, pirates, adventure stories
TW for book: mentions of assault, mild violence and blood

This is a very splendid and enjoyable comic book with script and art by the French author and artist Mathieu Lauffray, published in France by Dargaud, in in Europe by Europe Comics.

The year is 1666 and the book features the young pirate Raven, who is the sole survivor of an explosion at a Spanish ship, when Captain Black Vane and his crew annex the ship.
When Raven arrives at the Isle of Tortuga, the other pirates are angry with him. They are convinced he brings bad luck, and do not want him on the island. But when he hears of Captain Lady Darksee’s plan to find The Treasure of Chichen Itza, he decides to make it to the island before her and discover the treasure for himself. But will time be with him, and what obstacles might come in the way?

What I especially enjoyed about this comic books, was firstly – of course – the pirates. I always love a good pirate story, but what I particularly enjoyed in this one, was the rough drawings. I would not call the drawings beautiful, however they had a roughness to them, which seemed so realistic, that it became enjoyable. Pirates are not pretty, pristine, or clean. They are pirates, brutes and bastards.
Secondly, I thoroughly enjoyed the female pirate, Lady Darksee. Again, because there was nothing ladylike about here at all, which is also realistic. To become a female pirate is no easy job, and like any other pirate she is not nice, or pretty. She is evil, mean, and brutal. Furthermore, I enjoyed how her hair was not sleek, or gathered into a hairdo. It is rather one big tangle, darkish, and big.
All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable book and I could definitely see myself continuing the series, once a sequel is published. Trigger warnings for mention of assault (and one scene where assault is implicated, but no graphics), and mild violence and blood, however nothing is very graphic and most is shown with milder red stripes.

If you enjoy pirates in general, or adventure stories, I would definitely recommend this comic to you.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adventurous tale takes place in 1666, it follows a young pirate known as Raven who is known to be bad luck and is therefore shunned by those around him. This doesn’t stop the young pirate from having big aspirations and a taste for dangerous adventures. A treasure, a dangerously wicked pirate known as Lady Darksee and an island filled with cannibals is bound to bring about a very exciting tale!

What really drew me to this book was the beautiful cover art, not only was the colors stunning but it was also very attention grabbing. I have always been a very huge fan of anything having to do with pirates, so I had to know what this story was all about! If you’re a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Sails, then I’m sure you will love this book as well!

This book was filled with interesting characters; Raven is reckless and charming, he appears to be very headstrong and refuses to let anything deter him from his goal. Then there is Lady Darksee, a dangerous and cunning pirate who is in search of a royal pardon, her character is fascinating and leaves me wanting to know more about her.

The pacing of the story was very well done, it got straight to the point and left me curious to know what is going to happen next. So, if you’re looking for an adventurous graphic novel with stunning artwork, then this is the book for you!

[Shaelene (aGirlWithBookss) · Rating 3 out of 5]

With such a short first volume, it leaves a reader wanting more.

We follow Raven, an ostracized pirate who many avoid as he has survived more than a few precarious situations and many believe caused the death of an entire crew. When a ruthless and enigmatic female pirate captain comes to town, Raven listens in on a business proposal in which a map is presented that leads the seeker to a lost island with cannibalistic natives and an active volcano protecting the treasure left by the conquistadors. Unfortunately for Raven, things go south very quickly.

—
I thought this was ok, it was just becoming very enjoyable when we're left on a cliffhanger.
I thought the writing and storyline was slightly cliche and not anything very original, and I didn’t particularly care for the art style.
However, I loved the female pirate character, even though she was the villain type— she was the only character keeping my interest. I was also quite curious to know where the treasure plot was going, which kept me wanting more.

Overall it was a decent graphic novel, I’d read the second volume given the chance.
3 stars.

**ARC provided by Europe Comics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Yo, ho a pirate’s life for me!” Pirate stories are a guilty pleasure for me so I grabbed this read with joy. Raven is a legendary fighter but has a ton of bad luck so when he goes off treasure hunting, things don’t quite go as he planned.

It is a typical pirate story. The characters are a bit stereotype but this is only the first volume where a lot of characters are introduced and the stage set, plus it is not that long. There is plenty of time for development. Also, this is based on a story of an Irish pirate who is set on revenge against the English oppressors. How closely this does and will follow that, I don’t know, but the answer to that answers how much this develops into something unique.

But as I said. It is fun. And I really liked the illustrations and color. It added to the story. If you like pirate stories give it a try.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Psychée Délik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je ne connaissais ni le travail de Mathieu Lauffray, ni la nouvelle écrite par Robert E. Howard qui a inspiré le dessinateur. Ce fut donc une totale découverte pour ma part.

Le talent de dessinateur de Mathieu Lauffray est indéniable. Les planches sont très belles et j'ai trouvé que le style allait parfaitement avec cette histoire de pirates.

Quant à l'intrigue, je reste un peu sur ma faim avec ce premier tome. Le ton est plus léger que ce à quoi je m'attendais et le côté un peu "bouffon" du héros ne me l'a pas rendu plus attachant. L'histoire est intrigante mais elle m'a paru un peu clichée. Elle n'a pas engendré un enthousiasme particulier pour cette lecture.

Si j'ai l'occasion de trouver la suite en médiathèque, je la lirai peut-être. Toutefois, cela ne fait pas partie de mes priorités de lecture.

Ma chronique : https://psycheedelik-unehistoiredemot...

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in English.

Hmmm... Pirate stories don't seem to have gained much since the days of, well, the pirates themselves. This latest, that feels exactly like all the other stories in the genre, has a pirate become persona non grata, having been the sole survivor of one act of boat-snatching. We aren't supposed to worry why this wondrously skilled loner actually needs a crew to be a part of, mind, for there's more swashbuckling to be had instead. A sexy woman pirate (who is seriously boring, one-note, and is definitely not written to her full intelligence) is told where some treasure is, and the two of them get a love/hate relationship, but end up pairing up for the capture of it from a nasty volcanic island of cannibals. Like I say, nothing new – and seeing as this is based on Robert E Howard, that too is no surprise.

[Misa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

A new pirate adventure book that got me so captivated. I love pirates and this book was not a disappointement. It was fascinating and the art was good . The first adventure don't take many many pages to start with a lot of nonsense. The main character is an anti hero called Raven, who is a total daredevil completely reckless and you don't get bored with him. We don't know all Raven's story just that he was rescued by a pirate as a kid from a merchant ship . There is a treasure that everyone is looking for but mainly the dangerous Lady Darksee who is a merciless pirate captain of the Capricorn, she wants Raven's death because he stands between her and her chance for a royal pardon.
I really enjoyed reading this first chapter of Raven's adventures and I want to discover the next coming ones.

[Dean Asquith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A swashbuckling adventure full of piracy, treasure hunting, fighting and boozing! What more is there to say! The first entry ‘Nemesis’ pits the bad luck creating pirate Raven against a pirate captain named Darksee in a race to a fabled treasure.

This is my first venture into anything published by Europe Comics and I was not disappointed. This is also my first read of anything by Mathieu Lauffray, I can safely say that I wish I had done so sooner. Mathieu has a great ability to keep me reading which I know may seem like the base minimum but with some writers, I struggle in terms of desperately wanting to carry on reading. Mathieu has written a great first entry into the Raven series, setting up a few superb characters, great rivalries and most importantly an engrossing story. 

The art in the story oozes pirate style, I’m aware that sounds very strange but if you read it, you’ll understand what I mean, there’s a sort of roughness to the artwork that makes me feel like i’m reading a story written on an old treasure map or something, it’s very fitting!

I’m really looking forward to the next installment and reading more from the great Mathieu Lauffray and Europe Comics.

Drink up me hearties yo ho!

“That stuck-up harpy and her lapdogs will be stuck here for weeks. That gives me plenty of time.” - Raven

[EyrisReadsTheWorld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sympathique, a voir la suite

Mots Clés: bande-dessinée, pirates, aventure, fiction historique

J’ai d’abord été attiré par la couverture de cette bande-dessinée, tellement bleue et prometteuse. De plus, j’aime bien les histoires de pirates. Finalement, j’ai bien aimé ma lecture mais ce n’est pas un coup de cœur pour l’instant.

J’aime bien l’idée que Raven, notre pirate, est connu pour porter malchance à ceux qui voyagent avec lui. Par contre, je n’aime pas trop ce personnage pour l’instant, mais je pense que cela pourrait changer dans les volumes suivants donc je vais lui laisser sa chance. En effet, Raven est plutôt un anti-héros au charactère bien têtu. En tout cas, les dessins sont très sympathiques avec de jolies couleurs.

Je recommande à ceux qui recherchent de l’action et des pirates.

3/5

Merci Netgalley pour cette eCopie en échange de mon honnête opinion

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

RAVEN is a graphic novel with a pirate theme.

RAVEN is a young man who is a pirate who has escaped certain death when the ship he was on, as well as the ship they were attacking, both go down. When he finally finds his way back to Tortuga, the other pirates think he is unlucky - a jinx, and they want nothing to do with him.

He is cocky and doesn't seem to have a filter on his mouth - which gets him in a lot of trouble.

RAVEN makes a plan to get rich without needing the other pirates. The problem is that everywhere he goes and everything he does seem to get him in ever worsening situations.

The illustrations are terrific and capture the essence of the pirate heyday.

I rate RAVEN Volume One as 5 out of 5 Stars and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Paul Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received this book as an eARC from Europe Comics via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

This graphic novel is all PIRATES! It definitely has that Pirates of the Caribbean feel to it. This book was difficult for me to follow. I didn't really connect with any of it. There are too many characters. And too many storylines. That didn't connect in ways that interested me. The pirate-y-ness of this book is done in a pretty cliche way, I thought. Nothing seemed to be done in a new or interesting way.

This book didn't feel like it was written in modern times. It felt very old-timey to me. I give this book a 2/5. I didn't like it and won't be continuing with the series.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Europe Comics, and Mathieu Lauffray for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I mainly requested this as I am writing my own seafaring novel and like to see what others do when it comes to pirates. I didn't really get into this novel at all. I don't really feel invested in any of the characters. I kind of like the governor's daughter and son, but that's about it.

Despite that, I did really like the very last two pages of the volume and it did actually make me want to read more. I also thought the art was great, but the type font is horrible to read. It was a rather short book, only about 50 pages or so. I could continue this series, but I also don't feel the need to. I feel very neutral about this graphic novel.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing I liked most about this graphic novel has to be the artwork. It was colorful, super detailed and very eye catching. The story was ok for me, felt like there were a couple holes in the story line and would have liked a bit more formation and back story. I loved the pirates, they have always been a draw from me when picking up books, having beautiful art pieces were great to help bring the story to life. I also really liked the badass female pirate, until one scene and then I hated her. Overall I liked it, it is definitely a good one for people just beginning to get into reading graphic novels and would recommend.
Trigger warnings: Cannibalism, fighting, attempted rape and blood
I received this ebook, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.