Why do people always get so close to dark holes in the ground?
Creative Staff:
Story: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art: Karl Kerschl
What They Say:
If you thought getting detention was a pain, just wait till you see detention Gotham Academy-style!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Gotham Academy was a bit of a rough start for me with what it was doing because I felt like I had missed something and it took a bit to really start drawing me into it. I loved the design of it and the academy itself has the potential to be a huge character unto itself, which is really a big part of the appeal for me. The second installment worked better as the narrative started to grow and we got time with Pomeline and saw some of the secrets that exist within there, secrets that could go back quite a ways and have their own secrets within. Olive is still a bit hard to connect with, but as we learn more about her and the mystery of her summer with the memory loss, the exploration is something that can draw us into her all the more. Or at least that still remains my hope because there’s an open-ended nature about her.
With this installment, events are certainly progressing and more of the mystery is unearthed in a pretty good way. Because of what happened in the previous issue with the Order of the Bat and Olive’s involvement, she’s ended up in detention with Colton, which is its own special hell for her. More interesting are Olive and Pomeline’s interactions after that because Pomeline keeps expecting Olive to rat her out, but Olive is really curious about what’s going on and is trying to “save” Pomeline from being involved in the Order. While she wants to do this, she’s also drawn further into the mystery of Millie Jane Cobblepot as Lucy is seeing the ghost out there and Pomeline talks about how Olive’s interrupting the ceremony has caused it to not be bound as it should be. Olive’s getting further involved in it all for a variety of reasons and there’s a bit of her that’s curious as well, particularly because of that much older mystery of Millie Jane herself,.
There’s a lot of good character stuff that comes out of this issue that helps to further cement the characters and make them more accessible. Pomeline and Olive aren’t friends here, but seeing how they get along now and understand each other a bit is great. There’s even a few panels given over to Olive and Kyle to sort things out, though Olive is just giving him a story instead of the truth that even she doesn’t know. Kyle hasn’t come across badly so far, but you feel for him more, especially in his being protective of Maps. Even Colton gets a decent bit of time being humanized as they draw him into the mystery of the North Hall where the sightings are, as he has the skills to break them into it. That whole segment is just plain intriguing as it hints more of Olive’s own past and how connected to the burned out place that it is and for the overall mystery that deepens with it.
In Summary:
Gotham Academy is still very much revealing itself and we get a few more tastes here, which may be memories surfacing for Olive or her mind playing tricks on her. The uncertainty works well and you have to connect with her just in the way she’s so unsure herself of what’s really happened, but is also fearful of really finding out. This issue works well in establishing the characters more and building up an interesting group of people that could end up working together in the way high school kids do. But it’s also a book that I just find endlessly fascinating to look at because it feels like animation – theatrical animation at times – playing out as stills across my tablet. It’s beautiful artwork, from the design and line work to the coloring itself.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 3rd, 2014
MSRP: $2.99
