Not all the witches burned during the Salem witch trials. Now, generations later, their descendants protect their ancient secrets. An Unkindness of Ravens tells the story of Wilma, a teenage girl who gets caught up in the witchy ways of the Ravens.

Preview issue #1 here and check out our review below.

An Unkindness of Ravens #1 Review

Mystery…

First issues are hard. Like the pilot to a TV show, you need to establish the characters and the story in a relatively quick way. It can feel like a lot of exposition at once – and a lot of work for the reader.

An Unkindness of Ravens certainly does a lot of set up work in its first issue. However, the handling of the exposition was very well done. It never felt like the story was throwing too much at you at once. The story flowed naturally, even though a lot of background information was established.

This story’s premise immediately lends itself to both magic and mystery. First, we’ve got the Ravens. As the witches’ descendants, they bring the magic for sure. But their aloof nature also lends them a bit of mystery. 

Plus, there’s the missing student, Waverly. A mystery in itself, but the fact that she looks just like Wilma? An even bigger question mark. Meanwhile, the magic and mystery stays grounded in a standard high school story – the new girl struggling to find her place. 

…and magic

The first issue doesn’t hit you too hard with magic. (That’s something I’ve admittedly complained about in other witchy stories.) But I think it’s actually a good thing for Ravens. With the locker message and the eyepatch reveal we get a good taste of the magic to come. It makes you eager to see more.

Plus, the careful, secretive way magic is handled feeds back into the central theme and plot of the series. The witches of Salem burned for their powers, after all. It makes sense their surviving descendants would operate magic a bit more covertly.

An Unkindness of Ravens #1 does a great job of setting up the mystery, conflict, and magic of the series. There’s definitely a lot of potential here. I can’t wait to get my hands on issue #2.

You can get your copy of An Unkindness of Ravens #1 from Boom! Studios now.