Review: GOTHAM ACADEMY #1

October sees a lot of Batman comics and “Gotham Academy” is one particularly good comic from DC Comics that you will want to check out. What is noteworthy about this one is it really strikes an authentic girl power chord. Every page rings true. You can thank the writing team of Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher. I recently interviewed Cloonan and, as you may know, she’s sure to deliver with girl street cred. Art by Karl Kerschl; Colors by GeyseR; and Cover artwork by Karl Kerschl. Everyone delivers the goods here.

Olive Silverlock is our main character, a teenager at a prep school housed in an ancient castle, Harry Potter-style. We see much of the action through her eyes: boy problems, self-esteem issues, dealing with bullies, major square-peg-in-a-round-hole issues. What’s a girl to do? Well, if you’re attending Gotham Academy, there’s always Bruce Wayne and Batman looming over the proceedings. But Olive is hardly a girl who will just live in the shadows.

Olive is a hero, if she realizes it or not. Her first steps into such a role begin with her being assigned to show a freshman around campus. As is the tradition at Gotham Academy, a upper classman will act as a “nanny” for a wet-behind-the-ears frosh. This isn’t something that Olive finds appealing in the least. Well, at least, in theory. Poor little Maps proves to be a decent sort. She does have the unfortunate privileged of being the little sister to Kyle, who is Olive’s ex-boyfriend. Well, they may get back together. So goes life at Gotham Academy. But the place also happens to be haunted so it seems. And that could prove a problem that really tests Olive’s mettle.

GOTHAM ACADEMY is a new monthly teen drama, set in the shadow of Batman and the craziness of Gotham City, with new characters and old plus a secret tie to Gotham’s past. It is available as of October 1. What more could you ask for? Visit our friends at DC Comics right here.