Issue four of Raven: Daughter of Darkness is here, and the creative team, consisting of writer Marv Wolfman, artist Pop Mahn and colorist Lovern Kindzierski, delivers another stellar issue. Thus far they have sent Raven through the ringer, yet shown that she has the tenacity to pull through even the most dire situations. With the reintroduction of Raven’s mother to her life, things will only get more complicated from here on out for the hero.

Series writer Marv Wolfman adds even more layers to the ever evolving character that is Raven. Thus far, he has shown the dynamic of Raven’s relationships with her friends and even her foes. Now, with the Raven’s mother coming back into her life, Wolfman explores the mother daughter relationship for the first time in this issue. What follows is a tense back-and-forth mom and daughter argument that seems normal until Raven’s world of supernatural elements gets involved, and there enters a whole new dynamic to their relationship. Later, after even more tense conversations, Raven uses her emotion-reading empath powers to reveal her mother’s history. These panels give readers some truly heartbreaking moments, thanks to the craftsmanship of Wolfman. In this issue, it’s also revealed that Azure is only one of many clones like her and they all share a connection with Raven. The parts of the story that feature these clones are very action heavy, as they only speak in one or two word phrases, however that is where artist Pop Mahn gets to exercise his craft.

As the clones assert themselves into Raven’s life more, Pop Mahn will no doubt be kept quite busy with all of the action taking place. Large explosions and gun fights, mixed with supernatural powers, make this one exciting issue. Mahn is able to unleash hell in many different pages that meshes beautifully with the dangerous situations that Wolfman helped build between the characters. Mahn captures the desperation of these characters with ease, and helps drive home the sense that things are going downhill quickly for Raven.

Of course, the explosions, gun fights, and supernatural powers are beautifully and chaotically on display by colorist Lovern Kindzierski. Throughout this series, Kindzierski has utilized the colors blue, purple, and black to create haunting twilight skies and supernatural powers, without making them feel overused. He has also made the use of fire in this series seem so much more important with how bright and vivid the red and oranges are, from Baron Winters’ crackling fireplace to a helicopter shot down with an energy blast.

With issue four, Wolfman and the creative team have once again raised the stakes with the introduction of Raven’s mother. Even though she has longed to have her mother back in her life, this will no doubt make even more trouble for the heroine. Sometimes in comics, when new characters are introduced, it can detract from the story; however, with a creative team like this, it only heightens the already palpable tension.  

Grade: A