Ray: The first long-form narrative to come out of the DC young-adult graphic novel line concludes this week, with crime writer Kami Garcia and fanartist-turned-pro Gabriel Picolo uniting one more time to finally team up their two heroes. We first met Raven as a troubled teen who recently lost her mother and gained a new foster sister, as well as some creepy powers and a tagalong demon. Beast Boy, meanwhile, joined the story as a vegetarian teen with an odd medical condition and very secretive parents. Neither of them are really the characters we know yet—but that’s part of the appeal.
Kami Garcia has mostly written for adults before, which is why it’s surprising just how easily she slips into the YA format. This is a very deliberately paced book, following Beast Boy and Raven as they make separate trips to Nashville to meet up with the common thread between the two books—Slade, the mysterious handler who no doubt has sinister intentions for both of them. The book starts off with little action in sight, save for Max following Raven to try to keep tabs on her sister while not being seen. We follow their train journey and their early awkward days in Nashville, which will be familiar to many flat-broke teen road-trippers.
The problem is, this segment goes on essentially for most of the book. The two meet-cute in a restaurant, where a misunderstanding involving Gar’s monkey leads Raven to think he’s a creepy. As if it wasn’t hard enough to try to find vegetarian options in a BBQ joint. That rough start leads to one meeting after another where he finally convinces her he’s worth the time of day. With several days until they meet their mysterious benefactor—who neither knows is the same person—they start to bond.
The first half of the book is almost leisurely, with the first dates and sightseeing only broken up by occasional interruptions by Slade’s henchmen and appearances of the two leads’ powers. Both of them are struggling to hold a dark secret inside, and that parallel experience makes their bonding more compelling. There’s little explicit romance in this story, it’s more about a growing trust between the two, which is refreshing. I kind of wish Max had a bit more to do before they meet up again—she’s almost a third lead.
But not the only remaining lead, and that’s part of the problem. As soon as this book hits the two-thirds mark, it becomes a completely different story. Not only are BB and Rae thrown into a terrifyingly intense scenario, but a major new player enters. This was originally created as a Teen Titans book, but three are missing until the last act. When Robin enters, it’s not the Robin we expect and even this version of him seems radically different from the character we know, including his backstory.
Ultimately, this works well as a soft, romantic meeting for the two leads, but the plot elements are rushed. How much this affects things depends on one big question—is this truly the end of the trilogy? A lot is unresolved and it feels set up for a sequel, including a very specific character’s introduction. Overall, fans of the first two installments will find another winner here.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
This post was last modified on September 27, 2021 3:42 pm
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