A book imagineered by the creative team of Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl. Debuting as part of the ill conceived DC YOU initiative, it stood as one of the few bright spots of the branding. To say the least, Gotham Academy was the epitome of a square peg in a round hole. The group solved mysteries, fought ghosts, and uncovered some of Gotham’s secrets buried so deep they even illuded Batman himself. Over dozens of comics readers got to meet the enigmatic Olive Silverlock, her best friend the plucky Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi, tennis playing heart throb Kyle, prankster/fireworks salesman Colton, and the occult fascinated Pomeline Fritch. GA was the story of a group of young kids attending Gotham’s version of Hogwarts, a school with supernatural spooky elements that became a living character of its own. ![]() It’s not only the final issue of this run but as far as we know the final issue of Gotham Academy for the foreseeable future. If they can pull that off, this is a book that will pay dividends for DC down the road.Today sees the release of Gotham Academy Second Semester #12. The spotlight will be on when the tease is paid off with Olive's lineage and how satisfying that feels to the readers. The soap operatic nature of the plotting so far, reminiscent of Claremont's best work on the "X-Men" titles, shows that this is a creative team willing to take chances and discover how to find that sweet spot. What will keep this book gripping is finding the balance in the mysteries - how long to tease them, when to introduce new ones, at what point to resolve them. Everything about the book screams youthful, which is sorely needed in DC's repertoire right now. The designs are anime influenced mixing sharp and soft contours in the characters faces and bodies. It's Gotham so the palette will never get brighter than "street light overlooking dead parents" but that also means a lot of moody under lighting and candles in wall sconces. As a result, coloristsGeyser, Dave McCaig and John Rauch are a very important part of the visuals. The flat designs are given depth and shape by the colors rather than rendering within the linework, like animation cels with word balloons. Kerschl's art lends itself well to digital formats. Mystery books are a difficult balance in that regard. ![]() That's understandable as the book still needs to tease the reader a bit longer as it builds its foundation, but it's the type of aspect that would make for a frustrating read a dozen issues from now. Being the second issue, there is still a lot of talking around issues instead of addressing them directly. Fletcher and Cloonan have amazing chemistry as a writing team and are creatinga rich tapestry of characters and a campus full of intrigue in which they cay play. Characters are given great moments to shine throughout, especially the very funny and very inquisitive Maps. The dialogue feels alive and crackly with youthful energy, be it brooding or jovial or curious. ![]() Later, she and Maps see several people in Batgarb stealing away across the campus grounds towards the cemetery, and what they find there may tie together who is Olive and what is the secret of the tome found in the library. After finding an old book with a mysterious map, Pom takes a powder, leaving Olive to contemplate her lost homework assignment and lost love under the bleachers by the tennis courts. Olive is assigned her History of Gotham report and is forced to work with Pomeline Fritch, a sass mouth in a hoodie and ripped tights, the surefire signs of a bad girl.
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