DC Ink

Raven by Kami Garcia

I believe this is the start of Garcia’s Teen Titans books for DC Ink. Well they were the start for me at least and it gets right into the action of a fatal car crash. Raven has amnesia, and her mother is dead. Luckily, she still has her aunt and cousin even though she doesn’t remember anything at all. Least of all, her powers or the importance of her necklace.

Garcia does a fine job with the suspense, letting readers slowly come to their own conclusions of Raven’s powers, how much her family knows and what Raven is trying to figure out herself. Plus Picolo’s art is amazing. I love the visual representation of Raven’s empath powers and the invasive mind reading that she can’t quite control.
Additionally, I enjoyed the addition of what I believe is Santeria or at least New Orleans vodoo in regards to Max and her mom’s powers. Raven is so lucky to ave such a cool family in that regard.

Beast Boy by Kami Garcia

Like above, Garcia does a good job in defining Garfield’s personality as a regular, joking kid who aspire to bulk up and ask out the girl of her dreams, be a little more popular than he is. Though it sounds like a classic loser boy-realizes-popularity-isn’t-all-that-cracked-up-to-be, it isn’t. Garfield never turns into a jerk, oblivious but not a jerk.

First off he has two friends that keep him grounded, and second, his love of animals shines through as he takes drastic measures to save lab animals during his epic prank. The latter is excelllent forshadowing about what is to come regards his mysterious powers surfacing when he stops taking his supplements. Once again Picolo’s art shines in depicting the rough animal changes Garfield goes through.

Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kim Garcia

As before, Gacia’s mystery is the bets part as Raven and Garfield end up in Nashville to find shady Slade who claims to have answers to their powers. While waiting, there is some cute tourist exploration with the two that allows them ample time to bond.

However, the romance feels a bit forced. Even though I believe that they can come to care for each other and have a crush on each other in two days, the “I love you’s” seem too soon. Again, it was two days, let’s slow down people.

Meanwhile, Max continues her covert babysitting which allows her to bump into Robin! I know, awesome surprise and nicely sets up the next book and the eventual team up. So excited for the next one.

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger

Poison Ivy is always a fun villain as her eco-terrorism seems more needed now than ever. Okay maybe not the terrorism part but the concern for the enviroment against greedy idustrialists, yes.

The biggest strength is how Keplinger connects the surpression and possession of woman’s bodies and undermining agency through Ivy’s interactions with her father and classmates that explains her deep seated mistrust in humans. And though she does find one who understands her, she has inherited her father’s tendency for drastic measures (yes, I’m taking about murder) that she will not give up for what she sees as the greater good.

Sara Kipin’s art perfectly matches the austure gothic creepiness of the Isley house and polluted enviroment that surrounds the characters. Though I do wish there was more detail in the faces.

It’s just a really good origin story for anyone who wants more insight to one of Gotham’s famous villains.

The Lost Carnival by Michael Moreci and Sas Milledge

This was a lovely little prequel story for Grayson, long before he became Robin, illustrating his family, his longing for more and his life as part of the circus. It has a bittersweetness to it with Dick so eager to leave and see the world, when you know the whole time what his fate will be and how in the future, he’ll miss the circus so much. The underlying magical mystery was good, very spooky and I really enjoyed the art deco style of the cover.

Gotham High by Melissa De La Cruz

Take a good look at the title as De La Cruz explores the whole world of Gotham, not just Bruce’s story. She gives readers a peek inside the world of underbelly gangs and rich heirs and how their lives intersect with one another.

Also to get the elephant out of the room, I know others have taken umbrage about De La Cruz making Bruce Wayne Asian in this story, I find not much of an effect on it. It adds a little cultural flavor which I think makes the story richer in making Gotham more of a real place in my mind.

What’s really important is how she interprets the characters and I think she did an excellent job on each one. Bruce, Harvey, Selina, Jack, Pamala, you name it. She manages to pinpoint Bruce’s trauma that holds him aloof yet compells him to help others. Selina’s flirty deceptive nature hiding a dark home life.

And Jack. I love how she weaves in those little Joker hints such as the love of pranks, the constant poker game nights with his Flush Gang, his tendency towards aggression when someone doesn’t get his jokes. I just loved it all. Same with how she dealt with Harvey’s impending obssession.

And the underlying msytery in regards to the kidnappers has a twist that I had not seen coming yet makes perfect sense when you put together the motivations of the characters. There’s more but this spoiler free so I’ll just say, go read it!

Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story by Lauren Myracle and Isaac Goodhart

This such a romantic almost Mary Shelley sort of tragedy which ecapsulates the Freeze’s love story. Nora is dying of a rare inherited disease that will slowly rob her of speech, movability, breathing. It’s a hard death sentence to live with and Nora doesn’t plan to.

But then she meets Victor who is going through his own grief after the death of his older brother. With his work at a research lab, he believes he is so much closer to conquering death with crynogenetic freezing. He is a bit obssessed but then he meets Nora.

Together, their shared experiences with death and grief give them a lot of philosphy to discuss as they converse on what it means to live and love each other.

But they differ about the final solution. Nora would rather have a short life full of living but Victor will doing anything to save her, freeze her until he finds a cure which she finds horrifying to contemplate as it is too similar a fate to her disease.

Goodhart’s color palette is dreamy and dark that perfectly suits this tale and readers will surely enjoy the complexities here for a romance that was never to be.

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp and Manuel Preitano

This story explores a teen Barbara Gordon’s recovery after a robbery gone wrong leaves her paralyzed. She’s frustrated by her new body as well as everyone else who seem not to know how to treat her including her dad as he sends her to the Gotham Recovery Center.

It is just like a gothic asylum which makes sense since it used to be one, well it was a mansion, asylum, hospital, you get the idea. It has a lot of ghosts and when patients seem to be disappearing, Barbara is on the case.

The big strength of the story I believe is how it focuses on Barbara’s very real, very complicated feelings toward her paralysis. She doesn’t want to do the therapy to get better because she wants to act as she always has done. She’s not the only one who doesn’t know how to deal with herself and the feeling she lost something when she lost the use of her legs. While the mystery is great, the human side is what drew me into it the most.

Under the Moon by Lauren Myracle and Issac Goodhart

This was a rough story but a good one as it reallyy illustrates the less than ideal upbringing of Selina Kyle who has to contend with her mother’s revolving door of abusive boyfriends. But the latest one takes the cake and seems like he is staying. Really I can’t emphasize how awful he is. There’s animal abuse/death here so if you don’t like that, don’t read this. Like I said, rough stuff which is echoed by the glum color palette. So it’s understandable why Selina runs away to join her own street family led by Ojo who teach her how to survive on the streets and steal what’s needed.

More than that, it’s about family and survival. You can see that despite the hard knocks, Selina cares so much and you can easily imagine how she grows into the conflicted, flirty cat thief we all know in the future.

Shadow of the Batgirl by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux

I didn’t really know anything about Cassandra Cain in the comics so this was my learning experience about her origins. She was raised from birth to be an assassin, a top assassin that her father forbade her to speak so she can better analyze her opponents’ moves. However, on one such job she falters and can’t go through with it. Now on the run, and surpressing her horrible memories she retreats to the library where she makes friends with Barbara Gordon and Echo.

This was a good book in general as you get a sense of Cass’s conflict, how unsure she is to embark on superheroing and if she’s even capable. Plus a not so subtle speech on the power and vitality of libraries (who cares. It’s true). The art just felt at odds with the darker story and sometimes felt like it was holding back how dark it could be.

So good for any teen who wants an intro to the Cain mythos I believe. More hardcore fans might be disappointed.

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden and Jacquelin De Leon

As cliche as it is, I can’t think of any word to describe Zatanna’s story but magical. Seriously setting it in the magician attraction and hotel-casino of Coney Park was a perfect choice on part of . As Zatanna says Luna Park is ruled by illusionists, Mermaid Avenue is run by the mystics (which are completely different from illusionists as they have actual power), and Brighton Beach by the Volkov’s (totally “not” a Russian mob). Z is up for a casual summer while avoiding her father, Ezra’s attempts at coaxing her to the stage with her mom as part of the Starr family magic show.

You might be shaking your head as you must know Zatanna is Zatanna Zatara, daughter of Giovanni Zatara. Well that’s the big mystery as Zatanna finds out the truth of her origins as her powers begin to manifest themselves. does an excellent job in not showing her hand (hehe I had to make the pun) in regards to who is on Zatanna’s side be it her boyfriend, Alexi’s competitive mother mother or her limelight chasing father, Ezra. I was kept guessing right till the end as leaves off with a intriguing cliffhanger. I really do hope there’s a sequel to this as there is so much more to learn about Z’s search for her parents.

De Leon’s artwork is lovely blend of colors that fit the setting while also leaving enough to distinguish the illusions from the real magic. Overall with the mermaids, illusionists, sorceress, fortune tellers and burlesque dancers all on the stage of Coney Island, it was a bewitching tale that I can’t wait for more.

Wonderful Women of the World by Laurie Halse Anderson

Unlike what the title implies, this isn’t a Wonder Woman tale. rather it is inspired by a column in the original Wonder Woman comics that would tell the biography of an inspiring woman in a few pages. So edited by the award winning Anderson, she brings the column to the twentieth century with 45 amazing writers and artists, some that I have mentioned above.

What I enjoyed about this book is that while it has some of the typical role models like the Williams sisters, RBG, it has a lot of new ones that I had never heard of before like Leimony Maldonado, Judith Heumann, Khatijah Yusoff and more. Good for anyone who wants to add to their woman’s history library and enjoys graphic novels.

Dear Justice League by Michael Northrop

This is a cute comical tale that serves some good life lessons for youngsters with several puns while also getting them into the DC universe.