Secrets revealed as events solidify.
Creative Staff:
Story: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art: Karl Kerschl
What They Say:
Holy cow, it’s Taco Tuesday! Oh…and Olive battles Batman!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As Gotham Academy prepares for its two month break as the Convergence event gets out there, it’s something that I certainly hope works well because it give the art team here a breather and a chance to get ahead a bit I hope. The series continues to be an utter delight in the story and characters, but it’s elevated by such a significant degree by the artwork that I fear that it’ll lose a lot of its magic with a different team. And after putting in six gorgeous issues of material so far, if there’s a group that deserves some rest, this is them. This installment really does take all that’s been done with the artwork so far and just runs with it in a great way as it brings Batman into it, and with the wide range of interpretations we’ve seen of that character over the years, he fits in perfectly with this particular dynamic.
As this issue largely wraps up certain events and provides different aspects of closure, it follows a standard pattern that works well because it ties things up without making it too firm. Batman’s arrival in chasing after Croc makes plenty of sense and it leads to a minor scuffle, but the real result of it is that while all the kids run, as makes sense, Olive stands firm and knows that Croc isn’t a bad guy. Well, he is, we’ve seen the bad things he’s done over the years, but he’s also done good things that Olive knows about and he doesn’t deserve the beating that he’s getting. So seeing her find a way to throw confusion into the mix and escape into the tunnels with him is pretty nice, though you know Batman is always a step ahead. What we get here though is a very good sequence that expands on Olive’s mother and her issues, which are significant since they landed her in Arkham Asylum, and we also get a handle on the kind of upbringing that Olive had with her at times and why she’s so upset with Batman over it. It doesn’t lay out all in bullet point form, but the intent is there and seeing Olive stand firm against him is great.
Of course, she also lies to him about the Cobblepot diary, and we get a look at more of that past when the girls do their report, but I’m amused by where it can potentially go as we see that Damian is enrolling at the school. Having not cared for the character in a long time, I’m definitely interested to see if they can make him more engaging for me here. Largely though, this issue gives us the solid resolution for where things stand with Olive and Croc, with him escaping, and the formalization of a detectives club with Olive and her friends as they really get that there’s a lot of interesting mysteries to be had at the Academy. This may be a long way to go to get to that point, but it was six issues of exploring a lot of things and bringing together a really interesting group of diverse people and experiences that are young in age and potentially able to really explore the past and present of Gotham in a fascinating (and beautiful) way.
In Summary:
I haven’t been picking up too many DC Comics books in the last couple of years, but I tried this one when it first came out and have fallen in love with it. I do try to temper my enthusiasm for it since I know I’m practically fanboying about it in some ways, but this first six issue run here is the kind of book that when it does hit in trade, you want to make sure copious copies flow to kids so they can get in on a comic book that’s closer to their ages with the cast and with a great, creepy lense through which to look at the world. There’s plenty of Harry Potter feelings to this series in a lot of ways and if DC Comics isn’t looking to figure out how to mass market this series, then they’re failing horribly at attracting younger and newer readers to their properties. This is a fantastic book from a great team that has a ton of potential ahead of them, potential that I can’t wait to see more of exercised. Very recommended.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: March 25th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
