Raven Nevermore

At its inception, this blog was focused on Canadian comic book characters primarily.  I eventually directed some of my attention to Canadian talent and/or publishers, but I admit I sometimes have to remind myself to do so.  Such was the case with Raven Nevermore.

I first came across it months ago on Comixology.  I wasn't drawn to it because I believed there may be Canadian content; there was actually no reason to suspect such a thing.  I was drawn to it because it looks so friggin' cool.

It wasn't until I located writer/publisher Nuno Texeira's Twitter account that I found out that Xei Books is based out of Waterloo, Ontario.

And what has Nuno put together here?

Corvan Moore always had a purpose in life: to stop the bad guys. He was raised in the Cog Town Central Precinct by his step-father, the dwarf, Sheriff Gearwall. Instead of taking a much needed break from the Nightwatchers, and the case against the Mortoni Family, Corvan gives it one more night of service before taking a long holiday. 

One extra night is all it’ll take. Corvan’s life will turn inside out. While up against Mortoni’s men, led by a mob captain named Big Arm, something deep within Corvan Moore stirs and awakens. There will be many questions Corvan will ponder, but the most profound one will ultimately be: who am I?

Here are the first couple of pages of issue one.

I asked (again, on Twitter) about the book.  Nuno explained that the first volume will be nine issues long and that there are plans to collect them in print format down the road.

As a result of that brief "conversation", Nuno made the current issues available to me in pdf form, an unexpected, generous surprise.  I tried to limit myself to reading just the first issue so that I have plenty of new material when I ultimately acquire the trade and...I failed.  After completing it, I walked away to do something else...and 15 minutes later I was diving into the second.

We are introduced to Corvan Moore's friends, families and enemies, and a mystery in his background, but also shown the setting in pieces, whether in the form of the Victorian era fashions, high-tech weaponry mixed with fantasy races, etc.  To me, seeing Cog City revealed was as interesting as the story itself.

And so I'll try to fight the urge to "read ahead" further too much but I will, for what it's worth, recommend the book to those who want to step away from traditional masks and capes for a bit.