I’m going to give an overview of the first three issues all at once. This isn’t a new mini-series for BloodRayne, basically it’s just what its title says! Raw! These issues show off some behind the scenes art and sketches to see. This is great if you’re really interested in art and so forth. My girlfriend, who’s an illustration major, loves to see how comic art is developed and seeing all the different stages. Personally, I just like looking at the art. They really spared no expense on this and everything is printed on high quality paper.
“Raw I” pretty much covers the issues up to just Dark Soul and issues “II” and “III” seem to have touches of the “Prime Cuts” issues and some preview material for “Tokyo Rogue.” Some of the sketch art is really cool to see, especially before it’s colored. Some of the sketches are really tight and there are a few elements we don’t see when it’s colored. Another cool thing is that it also has some full color art that wasn’t featured in the issues by different artists or fans. The most interesting to see is in “Raw II” though, where they feature some Manga styled art. Strangely I’ve been getting into Anime as of late and Manga isn’t too far off from that. I personally didn’t think Rayne would look as good in that style… but seeing these, I think they might have some potential. Maybe I’ve just been watching so much Anime as of late I’m more used to that particular artistic style. I’m not quite sure what they’re planning on doing with those sketches and concepts, but maybe we’ll see something in the near future. Another thing I found incredibly cool in issue “II” is the Queen Ferril model pre-renders from the video game. If you’ve ever wondered what an unrendered video game character looks like… now’s your chance to find out.
If you’re really into seeing what comics look like behind the scenes then you will probably find these issues extremely worthwhile. Some panel’s even feature notes from the writers and artists. Some of this information might be invaluable for aspiring future comic writers. I personally enjoy looking through these and I hope they continue to print them.