Stark Raven

(Endless Horizons, 2000-2001)
™ and © Endless Horizons

A mysterious group of supernatural figures are taking over San Francisco mob families, employing an even more mysterious group of ghost-like assassins as its enforcers. This secretive group is suspected of having ties to a covert government operation, an operation that gave birth to its own mysterious and one-time agent, Stark Raven.

Ken Smith’s year-old comics series itself has already given birth to a line of action figures with a direct-to-video cartoon series on the way. Licensing for mainstream audiences is probably why the character designs are reminiscent of the ’90s grim-and-gritty and “Bad Girl” phases, but Smith and artist Walter McDaniel at least show they can do this kind of thing with the best of ’em. And what the storyline lacks in creativity is made up for by its rich complexity.

The pacing is erratic. Smith often lets the already slow-paced story get bogged down by page after page of detailed explanations about the characters’ findings in their quest for answers. None of them are extraneous, but they sometimes threaten to kill the flow of the story. Some word balloons look ready to burst, and some pages even resort to a smaller text font to fit in everything.

A good friend who talks your ear off, though, is still a good friend. Despite its wordiness, this is an enjoyable title with otherwise excellent production values and proves it’s more than an excuse for tie-ins to cartoons and action figures.

— Jim Johnson

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