Hey guys,
I’ll be posting a new seven page mini shortly and I wanted to give ya a taste of things to come. The lovely lady above is named Danni Doomsday, and she’s here to save the world. Or maybe destroy it.
Stay tuned!
-Ray

Hey people! It’s been way, way, WAY too long. Brian’s been doing that thing called ‘life’ for the past three months, and so DarkRaven and the Blue Tit had been on a little vacation. We’ve both been so busy between work and home life that these silly little webcomics had to take a back seat.
Fear not however; DarkRaven and the Blue Tit WILL return. Shortly. We have about fifteen more pages to wrap up the current story line, and there’s no way we’re gonna let the story end like we did on the last page. I’ll keep you up to date on when those new pages will be coming.
But in the meantime, I’ve been working with another artist on a completely new story that is not in any way, shape or form related to DarkRaven. While Tales of the DarkRaven is a comedy based on some semi-factual historical events, this new story is a tale grounded firmly in the traditional superhero genre similar to what you’d see in Marvel and DC comics. However, instead of following a hero around as he tries to balance his costumed life and personal life, I wanted to flip the traditional story narrative around and show things from the villains perspective. This new comic, Malevolent, is an introduction to the characters that make up this story, and it gives you a taste of the darker side of superhero comics.
Please don’t think I’m glorifying the violence in the story or that I’m ‘anti’ heroes. I love superheroes! I just think that realistic and effective villains can make very compelling characters (Tony Soprano, anyone?). In fact, extremely dangerous villains demand a better breed of hero to counter them, and I look forward to seeing who steps up to the plate.
I hope you enjoy this little tale. It’s only seven pages long, and I’m updating a page a day so that you can enjoy the story without long pauses between pages. Let me know what you think.
-Ray Claxton

Hey peoples! Hope you’ve all had a good couple of weeks. I’ve been watching a lot of TV and movies lately. The wife and I saw “Clash of the Titans” this past weenend, and it was enjoyable if a bit expected. Melisa and I are totally obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race, and I’m upset that “Pandora Boxx” got voted off. (Brian is now questioning my masculinity because I watch RuPaul and “Glee”. Whatevs.) Watched the first episode of the Season 1 DVD of “Fringe,” which was also cool. Trying to get the children into Season 1 of Buffy, but that will take a little bit of work.
So what have you been watching lately? Anything good? Nerdy? Good-and-nerdy? Lemmeknow.
-R

Hey fans! I don’t have a lot of time this week to post, but I just wanted to say thanks again for sticking with these two crazy guys. Hope you like this week’s page. Until next time!
-R

Hey people. So Brian and I figure we’re gonna get a lot of crap from people about this week’s page. Now, I understand the use of the word ‘retard’ is considered rude and offensive by some, and I kinda fall into that group. Allow me to explain why Brian and I are went there.
This week’s page is meant to be a homage to one of the great comic book creators of our time, Mr. Frank Miller. If you don’t know who he is (and I’m thinking this is more for my older female family members), Mr. Miller is credited with helping bring about the modern age of comics as we know it. He helped introduce adult storylines to an industry that typically pandered to the under-12 crowd, and he brought a level of sophistication to graphic storytelling that is still revolutionary. Some of his groundbreaking works include: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again, Sin City, and 300. If you haven’t read any of this man’s stories, I suggest you get to it.
Anyway, most comic fans get the reference in this weeks strip. The “Goddamn Batman” meme has been going around since Frank introduced it in the pages of “All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder” in 2005.

Brian and I are kinda late to the game, but we don’t care. Brian just wanted to have the Blue Tit yell out “I’m the Goddamn Blue Tit!” and now he has. Good times…
Please don’t hate us.
-Ray

Oh. Hello there. It’s been so long since we posted I had forgotten what you looked like. Sorry for the super long delay between pages. We’ll try to do better in the future. In the meantime, enjoy the newest page. I would just like to add that my wife really isn’t a crazy, jealous person. She’s very sweet and accommodating of my nerd tendencies. MWAH! That’s for my lady.
Until next time, I remain,
Ray

Hey again. It’s a brand new year, and a brand new DR page! Hope you enjoy Brian’s take on the stylings of Sir William Shatner. I know I do.
I’m stoked that DarkRaven has made it to the fabled “Year we make contact”. 2010. Wow. We’ve been doing this little comic since in one form or another since early 2007, and I’m still loving it. And while there’s not a huge number of pages completed in those three years (87 is still a respectable number), each and every one of them has been crafted with love by Brian and I.
So here’s to the next three years (or more!) and hopefully many, many more pages of DarkRaven and Blue Tit fun!
BTW, I wanted to share with you a Christmas gift I received. My friend John Ragone is builds model cars as a hobby, and he created the ultimate DarkRaven-inspired vehicle.

This guy put in untold hours constructing this most special of gifts, and I thank him deeply for it. John, you rock! Now only if I had the money to get a full-size Blackbird…
See ya next time.
-Ray

Hey people!
I realize that it’s been over a month since our last post and for that I want to apologize. Life and work have sucked up all the free time Brian and I would have otherwise dedicated to the comic, and updates have suffered as a result. We’ll try to do better in the future. Hope you enjoy the new page. See you soon!
-Ray

Hey again. I hope all of our US service members are having a good Veterans Day! I had to work today but Brian, with his cushy government job, did not. Jerk.
I’m a little bummed that I missed the Astronomicon sci-fi convention held in Rochester this past weekend. A friend was on a panel discussing vampires vs. werewolves, and that sounds like it would be totally awesome, but I was too busy painting my kitchen. I should hand in my geek card.
BTW, if anyone wants to buy me a Christmas gift early, the new Justice League Complete Series on DVD came out yesterday. It’s only $67 bucks at Amazon. Don’t I have a rich uncle out there who can make this happen for me?
Okay, enough shameless begging. See ya next week.
-R

Hello again! This week’s page is a fill-in by yours truly. Go easy on the critiques, as this is my first attempt at actually penciling a page. I’m nowhere near the penciler that Brian is, but who is?
This week’s comic is especially comic-geeky, so don’t worry if you don’t know what the Blackest Night is, or why there’s a zombie Superman up in the top right panel (a quick primer can be found here). Just enjoy this brief glimpse of what it would be like if the DarkRaven existed in a world full of real superheroes.
See ya next week (hopefully).
-Ray