Creative Staff:
Story: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art: Karl Kerschl
What They Say:
The gang is going downtown! Olive and Maps use Kyle’s tennis tournament as an excuse to explore Gotham City and investigate the mysterious appearances of Calamity. Could Olive’s mom really be alive?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Gotham Academy has had a lot of fun in playing various angles of Gotham and the characters that it has to work with. As I’m not reading any other Batman books at the moment, I’m a bit disconnected from a lot of things but still able to enjoy this fully since they provide any necessary information. With the series having done some decent reveals as of late, it’s now feeling like we’re moving closer to more answers while also opening it up to some wider and more interesting things for Olive in particular to work with. But the cast in general all have their moments in this series though this installment is more about Olive and Maps than anyone else. Having the two of them together for a bit works very, very well.
With Olive intent on learning more about her mother, the opportunity arises as there’s a field trip to Gotham for the tennis team that’s going up against the Metropolis team. With Kyle a part of that, the girls get to tag along as support, though it’s all about Olive and Maps going to the records department in order to find out more about the Silverlock family. I rather liked that Hugo Strange gets his moment to try and warn her off, simply because I’ve always liked him and having him in this seemingly rehabilitated role feels utterly creepy and appropriate. The best though is that once the group separates from the field trip, Maps proves she’s totally ready for this mission in a big way with a highly detailed map of what they’re doing – and a mask with which to do it. She’s totally in the zone and demanding praise in an adorable way from Olive as they move into the action phase of the plan.
The plan itself plays out in two different ways. Olive’s discovery of the Silverlock past is really intriguing since it essentially puts her in the position of either being like all the others that became Calamity’s over the years or she has to try and forge her own path and fight it off. That opens a lot of possibilities for the character in the years to come. What we do get is some good backstory about Calamity, and Olive, as Red Robin shows up doing his own research. He and Maps are priceless throughout this as it plays to the We Are Robin series with Maps being a pseudo-Robin of sorts without realizing. She’s got serious idol worship and he handles it well while also warning them on their path. Naturally, Calamity does show up briefly and that reinforces Olive’s desire as one would expect, but she has a lot to grapple with now that she understands more of her own past and Maps gained a better idea as to why Olive ended up in the Academy.
In Summary:
Gotham Academy has been working Olive’s past in a really good way throughout the run so far and each new reveal and tidbit of information has been enticing. Things take on a greater scope here with what’s revealed in the records room and it uses a really good connection with Batman and Robin that doesn’t feel forced as it adds more to the overall narrative. There’s a lot of great little bits throughout this, especially with Maps and her enthusiasm and mask, but also some nice touches with Red Robin. The artwork continues to be strong though the more muted color tones this time around just made it feel a bit less engaging than it has before.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 21st, 2015
MSRP: $2.99