An Unkindness of Ravens #3 // Review
New Girl Wilma’s she’s been invited to spend a little bit of time with the most popular girl in school. What could possibly go wrong? Wilma’s about to find out a little bit more about her new home in An Unkindness of Ravens #3. Writer Dan Panosian amps-up the mystery in an issue that expands a little bit on the backstory of magic in the town of Crab’s eye. Artist Marianna Ignazzi captures the shadowy, dramatic world that Panosian is developing. The story might be better suited for live-action or staged drama, but Panosian and Ignazzi render it for the page in an appealing way.
Wilma has felt like a fly stuck to a web ever since she moved into the tiny town of Carb’s Eye. She’s just had a run-in with a group of outsiders from her high school. Now she’s heading out to have a little bit of a conversation with the richest, most popular girl in the school. She’s one of the Survivors. The outsiders are Ravens. There’s a hell of a lot of magic floating around in the tiny town. A blackbird gets shot over the house of the popular girl. One of the Ravens is wounded. Wilma’s nestled in the middle of a rather large conflict.
Panosian is playing with elements that have been firmly established elsewhere in several other teen horror dramas set in and around high schools. Wilma may be the one element of the story that feels fresh and original. As a very confident and resourceful intellect, Wilma seems to be quite actively aware of the mystery that she’s fallen into. She’s a fun person to hang out within the midst of all the horror intrigue because Panosian makes her seem like a casually interesting character. The rest of the story might feel a bit dull as it is populated by the types of characters who usually haunt this type of story, but Wilma’s fun.
Ignazzi maintains an interesting visual world for Crab’s Eye through very dense pages featuring many, many dramatic close-ups. In other hands, all the talking heads might have seemed dull, but Ignazzi finds the pulse of Panosians story for an engaging comic book drama. While there is a LOT of intimacy with the main characters in the ensemble, Ignazzi is occasionally allowed to open-up the page to big atmospheric architectural shots. Some of these end up being beautiful...partially because of the way that Ignazzi frames them, but mostly because of all the detail that she leaves out. Crab’s eye is a very moody world. Ignazzi allows the reader just enough detail to let the reader engage with the atmosphere. Any more and it would feel far too settled and far less interesting.
There’s really no specific reason why this particular teen horror drama should work in a comic book format. Panosian and Ignazzi conjure it for the page with its own distinct fingerprint. An Unkindness of Ravens part of a long, distinguished tradition for the sub-genre. It manages to settle quite cozily into its own corner of the genre with a smart sense of poise.
