Rosy Higgins

Freed from captivity in a tower by Princess Adrienne and her sidekick Bedelia, the pirate princess Raven Xingtao, “The Black Arrow” convinces her rescuers to join with her to win back a ship from one of the brothers who betrayed her. Having won the battle and evicted the ship’s crew the victors part company. Now it’s up to Raven to find a new crew for her liberated ship. Her first recruit is the pickpocket nicknamed “Sunshine,” that steals her purse. The pursuit of this miscreant leads Raven to the tavern of an old acquaintance and an opportunity to do some recruiting. Following a raucous barroom brawl several of the victorious female fighters join Raven’s crew. Her next recruits are a pacifist navigator who was a former captive of Raven’s father and a young woman accused of being a witch due to her interest in chemistry and explosives.… (meer)

I was super excited about this. I am in utter love with the main Princeless series, and loved Raven from Volume 3. Hey, she's a kick-ass pirate princess of Asian descent. Hell yes.

It looks like Raven: the Pirate Princess is for an older audience than the main Princeless title. The artwork reads older, for one, and the violence is more... it seems silly to say violent, but it's true. It's depicted as actual violence instead of something silly. You sometimes see blood, even.

Also, the jokes are much more nuanced and subtle. And many of them are extremely meta. I mean, there's a "Not All Men" joke that made me fistpunch the air. And a cameo appearance by some of the most famous contemporary women in comics today (hey, G. Willow Wilson! And Kelly Sue! and Marjorie Liu!). In fact, the entire volume seemed to be a tongue-in-cheek nod to some of the things that women have faced in geekdom in the quest for more diversity, representation, and inclusivity.

I loved that Raven continued what started in Princeless, and introduces readers to strong women of all walks of life, backgrounds, and appearance. It's diversity without hitting you over the head with it, which is awesome. Also, the subtle way Whitley handles the reveal that Raven isn't heterosexual is wonderful. It's not a big deal, there isn't a giant OMG reveal, but it's just handled naturally, as a progression of the story. This is how you handle diversity - it's not a big deal to have non-white and non-straight characters in the story because it's not a big deal in real life.

I'm so looking forward to the the next story arc. This is everything right in graphic novels today.… (meer)