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.

My Rating: 2.5

I love pirates movies and pirate stories, always have since I was a kid. But this was not for me.

The plot focuses on Raven, an unlucky pirate that is know for causing trouble. We mainly follow him and I felt he was a very hollow character and there's no substance to him.
Raven goes on an adventure to try and find a secret treasure whilst trying to avoid the infamous pirate Darksee.

I felt the story itself was rushed and the scenes that were shown could have been better and more interesting.

The art style is of this comic is definitely not a style that I like and that made it even more uninteresting.

This adventurous tale takes place in 1666, it follows a young pirate known as Raven who is known to be bad luck and is therefore shunned by those around him. This doesn’t stop the young pirate from having big aspirations and a taste for dangerous adventures. A treasure, a dangerously wicked pirate known as Lady Darksee and an island filled with cannibals is bound to bring about a very exciting tale! 

What really drew me to this book was the beautiful cover art, not only was the colors stunning but it was also very attention grabbing. I have always been a very huge fan of anything having to do with pirates, so I had to know what this story was all about! If you’re a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Sails, then I’m sure you will love this book as well! 

This book was filled with interesting characters; Raven is reckless and charming, he appears to be very headstrong and refuses to let anything deter him from his goal. Then there is Lady Darksee, a dangerous and cunning pirate who is in search of a royal pardon, her character is fascinating and leaves me wanting to know more about her. 

The pacing of the story was very well done, it got straight to the point and left me curious to know what is going to happen next. So, if you’re looking for an adventurous graphic novel with stunning artwork, then this is the book for you!

This was absolutely amazing. The art is beautiful, and it’s the perfect pirate adventure story. It seems to be well researched and be historically accurate. I would definitely want read more of the comics.

As a kid, The Pirates of the Caribbean was my favourite movie franchise. Even now, I tend to love reading about pirates and sea adventures when they’re present in stories. This is why it’s especially unfortunate that this graphic novel didn’t live up to my expectations.

Nemesis follows a pirate named Raven, who is known for his bad luck. He embarks on a journey to steal the governors treasure, and finds himself in a lot more trouble than he bargained for when he meets the prisoner Lady Darksee.

I expected this story to be at least partially inventive or unique, but sadly it was quite ordinary compared to other adventures I’ve read. The characters felt two dimensional; I could hardly distinguish any of their personalities aside from the protagonists Raven and Darksee. Several scenes felt unnecessary in terms of plot development, and I found myself ultimately bored with the whole thing. The art was decent, which is the reason for the extra star, but otherwise I was left feeling pretty disappointed by this graphic novel.

For: fans of POTC, pirates, adventure stories
TW for book: mentions of assault, mild violence and blood

This is a very splendid and enjoyable comic book with script and art by the French author and artist Mathieu Lauffray, published in France by Dargaud, in in Europe by Europe Comics.

The year is 1666 and the book features the young pirate Raven, who is the sole survivor of an explosion at a Spanish ship, when Captain Black Vane and his crew annex the ship.
When Raven arrives at the Isle of Tortuga, the other pirates are angry with him. They are convinced he brings bad luck, and do not want him on the island. But when he hears of Captain Lady Darksee’s plan to find The Treasure of Chichen Itza, he decides to make it to the island before her and discover the treasure for himself. But will time be with him, and what obstacles might come in the way?

What I especially enjoyed about this comic books, was firstly – of course – the pirates. I always love a good pirate story, but what I particularly enjoyed in this one, was the rough drawings. I would not call the drawings beautiful, however they had a roughness to them, which seemed so realistic, that it became enjoyable. Pirates are not pretty, pristine, or clean. They are pirates, brutes and bastards.
Secondly, I thoroughly enjoyed the female pirate, Lady Darksee. Again, because there was nothing ladylike about here at all, which is also realistic. To become a female pirate is no easy job, and like any other pirate she is not nice, or pretty. She is evil, mean, and brutal. Furthermore, I enjoyed how her hair was not sleek, or gathered into a hairdo. It is rather one big tangle, darkish, and big.
All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable book and I could definitely see myself continuing the series, once a sequel is published. Trigger warnings for mention of assault (and one scene where assault is implicated, but no graphics), and mild violence and blood, however nothing is very graphic and most is shown with milder red stripes.

If you enjoy pirates in general, or adventure stories, I would definitely recommend this comic to you.

Really liked the overall premise of the story, will be a super intriguing plot once all the volumes are available. As it was in this first volume, the story felt a little scattered. The main character Raven was quite underwhelming to me, but Lady Darksee has huge potential. Stunning art style, which really suited the story.

Raven, by Mathieu Lauffray is another excellent addition to the Europe Comics line.  The artwork and storyline are interesting and well done.  Buccaneer stories are always a favorite and this one has good characters and a great storyline.  I can't wait for the next chapter in the story.