Quoth the Raven… ‘Whatever’ #1 review

With the coming of a new season, the arrival of a new DC anthology with a jokey title. Inside, the jokes should be few, as Quoth the Raven… ‘Whatever’ is a Hallowe’en special.

Kicking off the issue, unsurprisingly, is New Titan Raven, sent by Nightwing to solve a murder case and teamed with John Constantine. After a dizzyingly dumb cameo by Swamp Thing…

… our heroes sort out some cultists. For reasons I can’t fathom, the protagonist seems to be original Teen Titans baddie Mr Twister, but he’s strictly civilian here. And Raven smiles at John as she realises he wants to kill Bromwell Stikk as a sacrifice to her demon father, Trigon, which he does.

I don’t know who this Raven is. She endorses murder and doesn’t make a move without imagining advice from Nightwing. Stikk’s plot involves him using magic to frame magic uses because he says they’re evil – or something. I don’t really get what writer Rosie Knight is trying to do here, but the art by Noah Dao is gorgeous, I especially like Raven travelling by hearse.

There’s more gorgeous art by J Bone as Deadman deals with a haunted house while a babysitter looks after a couple of oddly knowing kids. Deadman’s revelation that despite being a daredevil acrobat in life he was scared every night, and the inclusion of lines like ‘Rage is just fear pretending to be brave’ has me thinking it was pitched for YA use. I didn’t understand the haunting at all, but Lucas Lowman’s script is tough to dislike.

Vixen is sent by Justice League Unlimited to rescue a tribal priestess and ambassador in Africa and moans because it’s a ‘local dispute’ and she’d asked for a ‘fun mission’. Charming. It turns out she’s been set up by her own patron god, Anansi the spider.

This is the penultimate page, further on in the story than I usually show, but this clunky meta commentary on Vixen’s position in comics cries out to be seen. And I’m not giving anything away, as the story just stops, with Anansi challenging Vixen to free herself without powers. Domo Stanton handles both words and pictures, Katie Kubert edits with, apparently, the lightest of touches – what the heck is a cliffhanger doing in a one-off anthology comic? Given Stanton apparently reckons Vixen’s star in the comic book firmament needs elevating, he might have shown what an amazing heroine she is, and had her save herself and Anansi’s prisoners. The art is pretty decent.

Things improve as Doctor Thirteen and daughter Traci, apparently in her early teenage years, untangle the secrets of a sinister house. Rebecca Mock’s stunning full-colour storytelling brings bags of atmosphere without drowning the pages in dark tones. Her words work well too and she gives us the issue’s one freaky ending. Outstanding.

Comic shop staffer CK, AKA Superboy Prime, is helping out at a Hallowe’en promotion when potential girlfriend Rebecca – the superheroine Witchfire – reminds him to dress up. The look he goes for perfectly complements hers, just in time for an old enemy of Witchfire’s to attack.

The action is fun but the heart of this story from DC editor Chris Rosa is a message of community, convincingly delivered by Prime, ever striving to live up to Superman’s ideals. Beautifully drawn by veteran Pop Mhan, it’s lovely stuff, a nice coda to CK’s recent starring role in Superman. Extra points to Rosa for referencing Witchfire’s Power Company days, but I’m taking them away for far too many references to DC sports teams. Sport, bah.

Yet another creator provides script and art as Nina Vakueva has Catwoman possessed by an Egyptian deity, fighting the thralls of a rival in one of Gotham’s six dozen museums. The dialogue could have done with another pass – would an ancient spirit say ‘You have fought great tonight’? – but the visual storytelling is first rate, with Selina moving across the page like liquid lightning. And boy, can Vakueva draw a great kitty.

Two thugs dump a body in the bayou and find themselves in a house built by Swamp Thing as a tribute to his wife Abby, where they are thoroughly spooked. The younger of the two seems to be gay and there seems to be a visual link between the corpse he’s helping disappear, and his mostly unseen other half… something to do with hands and blood and electrodes. Or not, Patrick R Young’s script isn’t the easiest to parse. There’s no ambiguity with Francesco Tomaselli’s art, though, it is beautiful, with intense images aplenty.

There are some nice moments as John Constantine and Zatanna are possessed by ghost lovers in a spooky old castle, and writer Tini Howard conveys the chemistry we’re always told these two have. (Honestly, I do not get why Zee would ever kiss him without first proclaiming ‘Dicnar gaf htaerb enogeb!’) It’s a fun romp with joyful art by Isaac Goodhart, who knows how to frame a sequence.

There’s a load of talent in this issue, but the art has a bigger hit rate than the stories. It’s been said a million times, but it’s true, short stories are hard; these anthologies should be overseen by some old stager who has bags of experience in the form, to tighten up and clarify the scripts, a Paul Levitz or Kupperberg.

Sweeney Boo’s cover is fun, which is fine, because that’s who Raven is these days… how I miss the mysterious Goth girl of old. And the production design of Julia Rago and Sandy Alonzo is terrific – you can get a taste of their work as I give a shout-out to the excellent colourists and letterers.

Headscratching moments apart, this is a cut above most quarterly DC anthologies – definitely worth a look at DC Infinite Ultra, where it appeared on the day of publication. Happy Hallowe’en!