Fresh off her adventures in the pages of Princeless, Raven is ready to set out on her quest for revenge against her brothers. They've stolen everything that should be hers and now she's going to get it back. But first, she needs a crew. Share the laughs, action, and adventure as Raven assembles the fearless crew of awesome ladies who will help her get her revenge.
How do I love Raven? Let me count the ways...
1) Raven herself is a badass. She's been raised to take over for her father, the Pirate King, which has given her both her title (Pirate Princess) and a whole set of physical and strategic skills that she's determined to use to regain control of her family's pirate empire. (Long story short - her brothers are jerks.)
2) Raven is a heroine with flaws. She's written as a badass (see point 1) but also as a character with some issues to work out. She's impulsive, careless of her own safety, and sometimes unwilling to consider alternatives suggested by her crew. She's in love with one of her crewmates, but can't admit her feelings to the object of her affection or to herself. It's a whole thing. Yet, for all of these "masculine" traits, Raven is unapologetically female and uses her position to lift up women of all persuasions.
3) The crew. In a hilarious and pointed bit of social commentary, Raven decides to populate her crew with only women. The men who "apply" are lecherous, dismissive, or otherwise useless. At least this way, she and her crewmates won't be subjected to harassment or worse on their journey. The crew Raven assembles is comprised of, among others, a character reminiscent of a marshmallowy Brienne of Tarth, a black chemist skilled at blowing things up, a cartographer/navigator (this is the aforementioned love interest), and a thief who kinda falls for Raven herself. Writer Jeremy Whitley plays them off each other for comedic value, but also for surprising episodes of pathos and edge-of-your-seat adventure.
4) The love story. This is a slow burn, since Raven and Ximena have a complicated history that includes a serious betrayal. At the end of Book Three, some stuff happens that finally pushes Raven to admit, out loud, that she loves Ximena. Of course, in true Raven fashion, Ximena isn't nearby and Raven is having the hell beaten out of her by another woman at the time... but it still counts. The two of them have several obstacles to overcome, but I'm really rooting for them.
Speaking of 4... Arc 4 of Raven just started, which means you have three books (or a whole bunch of issues) to catch up on. If you're a completionist, you can start with Raven's introductory arc in Princeless, which is an amazing comic of its own, just without a romantic subplot. We've passed this series along to our daughters and several friends, but I do think it's aged up a bit from the original Princeless series. (Princeless is rated "All Ages" and Raven is "9+.")
TL;DR - Raven is amazing and everyone should be reading this. If you have the slightest interest in lady pirates kicking ass and falling in love, this is the series for you.