DETECTIVE JACOB RAVEN

Real Name: Jacob "Jake" Raven

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Detective

Group Membership: Salt Lake City Police Department

Affiliations: Louise Kennedy, Stunner (Angelina Brancale), Connor Trevane

Enemies: Animen (Buzzard, Crushtacean, Flying Fox, Komodo, Spinneret), Janine Godbe, Kaine, Ben Reilly, Vincent Tannen

Known Relatives: Helene Raven (wife, deceased), Matthew Raven (son)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Salt Lake City, Utah

First Appearance: Spider-Man I#53 (December, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Raven is a skilled detective.  He carries a sidearm.

Height: 5'10" (approximate)
Weight: 180 lbs. (approximate)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond, greying

History: (Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1 (fb) ) - Idealistic police detective Jacob Raven took down Salt Lake City mobster Vincent Tannen almost single-handedly.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#3 (fb) ) - Raven somehow discovered that there was a connection between Janine Godbe, a waitress at a local diner, and wanted murderer Elizabeth Tyne. Reluctant to arrest her, he checked and re-checked the facts for months.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1) - Raven talked with his partner, Louise Kennedy, about the Tannen case, then went down to the diner to make his usual order, chatting with Janine and new arrival Ben Reilly. On his way home, he missed the bus; while walking home, he was abducted at gunpoint by Tannen's men and bundled into a car.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#2) - Clad in a makeshift mask, Ben Reilly tore through Tannen's men and rescued Raven. The police soon caught up with him, and Louise told him that Tannen had also blown up his house, killing his wife and wounding his son. Raven was left emotionally deadened by the news, and was unable to bring himself to visit his son in the hospital.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#3) - Learning that Tannen had kidnapped Matthew, Raven cursed God and tried to renounce him, but held on to a small sliver of faith - faith that was rewarded when Reilly rescued Matthew. He learned from them that Tannen had escaped prison - and that Louise Kennedy had been on the scene. Later, at the police station, as he went over his files on Janine, Louise joined him. They both left for the diner to arrest Janine, but when they found Reilly there with her, Louise recognized him as Matthew's rescuer, and pulled her gun on him, claiming that he was one of Tannen's men - an act that made Raven realize that it was her who was on Tannen's payroll. Reilly swatted Louise's gun away, told Raven to leave them alone, and fled into the mountains. As they gave chase, Raven tried to confront Louise, but she raced ahead. As she tried to shoot Reilly, her lover and Reilly's nemesis Kaine snapped her neck and marked her face with a disfiguring burn - the Mark of Kaine. Raven arrived to find Kaine gone and Louise dead, and assumed that Reilly had killed her. Unable to convince Raven of his innocence, Reilly knocked him unconscious and left with Janine. Later, Raven went fishing with his son.

(Web of Spider-Man I#121 (fb) ) - Raven agonized over Louise's murder for two years.

(Spider-Man I#53) - At the Salt Lake City police station, Raven received notice that a murder victim had turned up in New York City with the same markings that had been found on Louise's.

(Spider-Man I#54) - Having travelled to New York City, Raven met with Detective Connor Trevane, who took him down to the fingerprint lab to cross-reference the fingerprints found on Louise with the NYPD's database.

(Web of Spider-Man I#121) - Raven and Trevane found that the prints seemed to belong to Peter Parker, and set out to find him.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#398) - Raven found Parker at DeCarlo's restaurant with his wife, and thought he recognized him as Ben Reilly; when Parker had a dizzy spell, Raven suggested that his wife get him home and left without revealing who he was or why he knew who the Parkers were.

(Web of Spider-Man I#122) - Raven talked to J. Jonah Jameson at the Bugle about Parker; as he left Jameson's office, he found Parker having another dizzy spell, and helped him up. Before they could talk, Peter departed.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#222) - Raven and Trevane presented their case to the district attorney, who was impressed with their work. He told them that he'd have warrants for them within the hour.

(Web of Spider-Man I#123) - The DA informed Raven and Trevane that the judge was holding up the paperwork, as their target had never been convicted of a crime.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#400/1) - Raven and Trevane showed up at Parker's aunt's house to arrest him. As they took him away, Raven advised his wife to get him a lawyer.

(Spider-Man I#57/1) - Raven brought Parker into court, where he was denied bail. Later, Raven visited him in his holding cell, where he was surprised that Parker didn't seem to remember him or Louise's murder. Later, in his hotel room, he brooded, and began to doubt that he had the right man. He went to see Parker's wife, but was abducted by Kaine, who insisted that he'd arrested the wrong man - and to prove it, burned the Mark of Kaine into Raven's face.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#223/1) - Trevane visited Raven in the hospital; Raven now believed that Parker wasn't Louise's killer, and removed his bandages to show Trevane the Mark of Kaine.

(Web of Spider-Man I#124) - Raven, his face still bandaged, attended a press conference on the impending Parker trial. Later, as he pondered the case, he was grabbed by Stunner, the lover of Kaine's latest victim, Dr. Octopus. She suggested that they find the real killer together.

(Spider-Man Unlimited I#9) - Raven stood by as Stunner interrogated mobster "Tough Tony" Prescott, Kaine's last employer.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#402) - The Scarlet Spider (actually Peter Parker, having switched places with Ben Reilly in prison) visited Raven in his hotel room, and told Raven that he'd arrested the wrong man. Raven showed the Spider the Mark, and promised that if Parker was innocent, he wouldn't rest until he'd made amends and brought the true killer to justice.

(Spider-Man I#59) - Raven came to see Trevane in his office, and asked for his help in proving Peter Parker was innocent.

(Web of Spider-Man I#126) - Raven and Stunner waited outside the courthouse where Parker's trial was being held, hoping that Kaine would show up. When he heard about a scuffle between Kaine and Spider-Man at Lexington Avenue on the police scanner, he and Stunner drove over there, but when they arrived, he learned that Stunner planned to kill Kaine. Before she could do so, however, Judas Traveller teleported both Spider-Man and Kaine away.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#403) - As Stunner raged, Raven tried to calm her down, explaining that he'd lost someone he'd loved, too. Before long, however, she faded into nothingness, leaving Raven baffled.

(Spider-Man I#60) - Raven came to the courthouse to hear the prosecutor's closing statements, and readied his sidearm when he learned that Spider-Man and Kaine were in the building. Spider-Man entered the courtroom, preparing to unmask to clear his name, but instead, Kaine confessed to Louise's murder and to framing Parker, and burned the Mark of Kaine into a table to prove it.

(Spectacular Spider-Man II#226) - As Kaine tried to kill "Peter Parker" (actually Ben Reilly), Raven pulled his gun on him and placed him under arrest. Later, Raven watched, satisfied at last, as the police interrogated Kaine, who made a full confession.

(Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1/Spectacular Spider-Man II#231 (fb) ) - After Kaine escaped, Raven tracked him down to the Jackal's now-abandoned Brooklyn lab, unaware that Kaine had since been killed by Spidercide; Raven was unaware that he himself was being tracked by Muse and Mosh, who wished to recruit Kaine for the Great Game. Finding the World Health Organization canvassing the building, Raven grabbed a hazmat suit and snuck in. As he searched the lab, he stumbled across a containment pod, and was shocked to learn it contained the body of Kaine. Raven cracked the pod open to kill Kaine once and for all, but instead he was set upon by the Animen, who wished to cover up the links between the Jackal and their master, the High Evolutionary. Spinneret webbed him to the wall, and the others prepared to permanently silence him, but they left to deal with the Scarlet Spider instead. The Spider found Raven and tore him out of Spinneret's webbing just before the Animen returned. Raven attacked Flying Fox with a screwdriver, but she knocked him out. The Animen and Scarlet Spider were teleported away, leaving the unconscious Raven behind. When the Scarlet Spider returned, he woke Raven, who realized in horror that Kaine was gone, stolen by Muse and Mosh.

Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis and John Romita Jr.
    J.M. DeMatteis confirmed that he and John Romita Jr. created Jacob Raven for the Lost Years series, but that that series was published after a number of other appearances.
    --Snood

    As one might expect from a resident of Salt Lake City, Raven is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better-known as the Mormons. He's one of the rather few Mormons I can think of in comics - I think it might just be him and Utah's Initiative team.

    Matthew Raven's name may be an homage to Matthew the Raven, a supporting character in Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

Profile by Minor Irritant.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Detective Jacob Raven and his family have no known connections to:

Helene Raven

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1) - Wife of Salt Lake City detective Jacob Raven, Helene was at home with their son Matthew when it was bombed by mobster Vincent Tannen. Ben Reilly rushed into the burning house and pulled both of them out of the flames. They were both rushed to hospital; Helene barely clung to life.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#2 (fb) ) - Helene didn't survive the night.

--Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1 (1, 2 (fb)

Matthew Raven

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1) - Son of Salt Lake City detective Jacob Raven, Matthew was at home with his mother when it was bombed by mobster Vincent Tannen. Ben Reilly rushed into the burning house and pulled both of them out of the flames. They were both rushed to hospital; Matthew was in stable condition.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#2) - Tannen's men abducted Matthew from the hospital and took him to the warehouse where they had also captured Reilly.

(Spider-Man: The Lost Years#3) - Tannen told his men to kill Reilly, but Louise Kennedy (Jacob's corrupt partner) insisted that the boy not see it. Tannen had his nephew take the boy away. When Kaine attacked Tannen's men, Reilly escaped and took Matthew back to his father. Later, Matthew went fishing with his father.

--Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1 (1, 2, 3

images: (without ads)
Spider-Man I#59, p9, pan2 (main image, with scars)
Amazing Spider-Man I#400/1, p34, pan5 (with badge, unscarred)
Spider-Man I#57/1, p15, pan4 (receiving the Mark of Kaine)
Spider-Man: The Lost Years#3, p32, pan5 (with Matthew)
Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1, cover (Helene)
Spider-Man: The Lost Years#3, p9, pan2 (Matthew)

Appearances:
Spider-Man I#53-54 (December, 1994-January, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#121 (February, 1995) - Todd DeZago (writer), Phil Gosier (pencils), Sam DeLaRosa & Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#398 (February, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#122 (March, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (plot), Todd DeZago (script), Steven Butler (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#222 (March, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Mark Powers (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#123 (April, 1995) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#400/1 (April, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt & Randy Emberlin (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#57/1 (April, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#223/1 (April, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#124 (May, 1995) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), Randy Emberlin (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Spider-Man Unlimited I#9 (May, 1995) - Tom Lyle (writer), Ron Lim, Ron Garney, & Tod Smith (pencils), Tom Palmer, Randy Emberlin, Tim Tuohy, Al Milgrom, Jimmy Palmiotti, Klaus Janson, Sam DeLaRosa, & Don Hudson (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#402 (June, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt, Joe Rubinstein, & Al Milgrom (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#59 (June, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Sam DeLaRosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Web of Spider-Man I#126 (July, 1995) - Todd DeZago (writer), Roy Burdine (pencils), Randy Emberlin & Don Hudson (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#403 (July, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Larry Mahlstedt & Sam DeLaRosa (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spider-Man I#60 (July, 1995) - Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Lyle (pencils), Scott Hanna & Joe Rubinstein (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#226 (July, 1995) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Spider-Man: The Lost Years#1-3 (August-October, 1995) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Scarlet Spider Unlimited#1 (November, 1995) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Tod Smith (pencils), John Nyberg (inks), Eric Fein (editor)
Spectacular Spider-Man II#226 (February, 1996) - Todd DeZago (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Eric Fein (editor)

First published: 09/05/2016
Last updated: 08/31/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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