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.

Pirates? Beautiful pirate ladies? Absolutely was sold from the get go.

Very reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean, which is one of my absolute favorite movies series.

The art was also extremely stunning and I thought it captured and kept my attention extremely well. Another thing I enjoyed was the ending. It set up the next volume to come super well. However, it did not make me mad. Normally I tend to not get along with cliff hangers with books unless I have the next one to read immediately afterwords. However, I think this was done super well.

Very excited to continue on with the story when the next volume comes out!

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.

DNF - I actually couldn't get into the story enough to continue reading. I was interested in Raven because I love pirate stories and enjoy reading graphic novels, but this was just not for me. I didn't feel the story was compelling enough and couldn't connect with any of the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.

I received an ARC copy of Raven from #EuropeComics via #NetGalley

Raven is a pirate adventure graphic novel. The art on the cover is what drew me to the book in the first place. The story, however, was very hard to follow due to the numerous plot lines and the over abundance of characters. It was very confusing. I gave up reading it about a quarter of the way and instead looked at the artwork, which was surprisingly top notch.

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.

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.

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.

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

Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc, however I can’t give this book a nice review.


The art style is the only thing that kept me going while reading this. The whole thing felt like a drag, and the characters did nothing to help. Each character felt undeveloped and plain in my eyes. Even Raven, this legendary pirate we meet in the summary, seems like a basic pirate in this comic. I’m not planning on finishing the rest of this series.

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.

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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.

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

If you love pirates and grand art, this one is for you.
The story is so-so, but the images are phenomenal and make it a worth-while read in my opinion. There is a bit of brutality and one scene of attempted sexual assault in it, nothing explicit is seen.

I thank Netgalley and Europe Comics for an Arc to read and review.

Super exciting and fast-paced, this graphic novel is perfect for fans of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies or Assassin's creed! I enjoyed it so much!

A fun swashbuckling pirate adventure, quick read and the main character is cool!

I liked the main antagonist, she was brutal! Proper pirate!

I absolutely love the art-style and how vibrant the colors are! Very eye-catching and immersive drawings!

Unfortunately, the story is a bit lacking and I can't quite place my finger on why. I didn't feel fulfilled story-wise with this graphic novel.

Though, I definitely recommend giving this one a try if you like pirate graphic novels as it was a fun, quick read.


Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this graphic novel.

Many thanks to netgalley and Europe Comics for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this graphic novel's art, just amazing, what a talent. The story was good I liked it a lot but the art stole the show for me.
I had a bit of a problem with reading the text on my phone, it was tiny and blurred but over all a very nice experience.

“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.

This is an archetypical pirate story. The main character is Raven, a great warrior that is more feared by his fellows pirates for being a jinx. After a shipwreck caused by his misfortune he arrives at Tortuga island were he hopes to find a new pirate ship to enroll in, but his bad reputation seems to be a problem. Anyway, he gets to know about some map that describes the whereabouts of the treasure of Chichen Itza and he would start a quest to find it, competing whith the pirate captain Lady Darksee.

This is not the most original and innovative pirate story, but is fun and the art is great, this is just the first volume so the story still has room to evolve.

For me, this book was hard to read an follow. The colors were exploding all around the place making it hard to focus on the story, and the story itself seemed to have a hard time deciding on what it wants to be and follow.

I liked the classic format of this comic, something that takes me back to my childhood and reading my Dad's childhood comics in the attic. It's hard to explain, but apart from that nostalgic feeling, I liked nothing about this piece.