New Project! The Renaissance of Raven
I'm writing one of the first three original titles for DC Comics' new platform... DC GO!
The news is out in the wild! I’m writing a series for DC’s new vertical scroll platform, DC Go! Read more on that here, if you’re interested. The other two original series (Harley in Paradise, Nothing Butt Nightwing) are both soooo cool looking, and I feel incredibly lucky to have my story besides those rad creators.
Like any new project, I have no clue what I can share besides what’s in the press release (Raven gets sent to the renaissance to deal with magic hijinx), so I’ll just tease you with the VIBES I went in with for this project.
My Raven will be a mix of the icon so many people grew up with from the cartoons, as stylish as the Kami Garcia + Gabriel Picolo YA version (but a tiny bit older/ wiser), and will carry the major landmarks of the main continuity Raven’s origins (just with waaaay less lore/ back stabbing/ seducing/ etc). We got to craft our own Raven, and you’re gonna love her.
The Story is one where I pushed myself constantly to up the emotion, up the magic, and up the intrigue. When I first started, I was totally paralyzed by some of the historical considerations of a story that takes place in the Renaissance, but then I remembered… this is a world where there have been Amazons and magic users for centuries (if not longer, yadda yadda yadda), HAVE FUN. I’m so grateful my editors reflect two different generations of comic book reading (love you Michael McCalister and Sabrina Futch!), so we had a fantastic time collaborating on landing the right tone for the project.
The Soundtrack I had in my headphones while working on this thing contains a lot of tracks from Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, Garbage’s Version 2.0, Bat For Lashes’ Fur and Gold, and the music stylings of a band lost deep in the indie sleaze era, BlackBlack. My Raven sits somewhere between moody witch and Daria, so I wanted the music to match that.
The Art will be done by Nico Bascuñán, Katherine Lobo, and more. Everything I’ve seen so far has been soooo rich with detail and love. They get how to take the vertical scroll format and really show off beautiful magic fight scenes, sell the emotional beats, and deliver on wild new character designs. There’s a ton of world building going on, and no one is cutting corners. When DC editors told the team they wanted some sword and sorcery realness, everybody brought their A+ game. It’s such a cool looking story.
The Logo is so damn sexy and I am so angry they didn’t show it with the press release today.
Suffice to say, working on The Renaissance of Raven has been the thing that’s kept me giggling and giddy the last few months. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to do something new with a beloved character, and I can’t wait for you all to read it next month! While I will not be at New York Comic-Con this weekend, DC has some cool stuff planned for the whole DC Go thing, so please keep your eyes peeled and take pictures if you see anything with the Raven cover image on it!!
More soon!! Xx
