The Gift

(Raven Gregory, 2003-2006)
™ and ©2003 Raven Gregory
Image begins as publisher from #8 and onwards.

With its catchy verbal introduction at the start of each issue and the episodic nature of the story, it’s easy to think that Raven Gregory might have pitched this as a television series before he started self-publishing this book last year. And, while it would have been nice to catch this on NBC Wednesdays, it works just fine as a comic book.

Each issue, a mysterious traveler known as The Ancient One bestows a gift of power to someone in need. As formulaic as this sounds, Gregory keeps it surprisingly fresh by avoiding freak-of-the-week clichés and focusing on each recipient’s varied reactions to this new “gift.” The chapters thus far have seemingly been standalones, but nothing within the story postulates that these diverse events will remain unrelated, an observation Gregory goes so far as to point out in one of the issue’s text pages.

It’s a little reminiscent of projects like J. Michael Straczynski’s Rising Stars but it remains nothing short of an intriguing and beautifully drawn introduction to a story whose grand scope has yet to be revealed.

— Jim Johnson

Jump to issue: