Gotham Academy #6 Review

Written by: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art by: Karl Kershl, Mingue Helen Chen, Msassyk and Serge Lapointe
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 25, 2015

A Croc of...Love

I'm not going to pretend that this review is anywhere near being on time.  Nope, no backdating going on here.  Not on my watch (which may or may not look like a Cylon...oh wait, not that kind of watch).  This review is over two months past due and for that, I apologize.  It started out as a protest, morphed into extreme laziness and then got buried under the avalanche that was the  Convergence Event.  With Convergence over, however, the excuses have to stop.  So without further ado, I present my review for Gotham Academy #6 and may God have mercy on your soul.


This issue opens with something that you don't see much in this book...a fight.  This is no 60's Food Fight (which my son told me involves fruit), no this is fisticuffs between Batman and Killer Croc. While the rest of the group heads for the hills, Olive stands transfixed on the proceedings.  If you read last issue, you know that Croc has been at the Academy watching over Olive and she pays him back by causing a distraction of the fire works kind.  With Batman and the GCPD looking to bring Croc down, him and Olive head off into the tunnels because that's what Olive's mom would want.

I love Croc and Cloonan and Fletcher have done such a great job of making him a sympathetic character in such a short time.  What other book have you hoped that Croc would get away from Batman?  This may be the first.  It doesn't hurt that Karl Kershl draws such a great cartoony version.

While they escape, Croc tell Olive a little about her mother, Sybil.  It was brief, but emotional and I'm sure that every fan of this book loved it.  Loved it for the story, but the art may be a different matter.  I am not a fan of Mingue Helen Chen's computer animated art.  It felt flat and sucked a bit of the emotion out of the scene for me.  Kershl's art reminds me of the hand drawn Disney classic, while Chen's looks more direct to video.  Thankfully, it doesn't last long (though she will be on the book full time for a bit come June).

After Croc says goodbye, Olive is reunited with Pomeline and Maps and I was reminded again why I love this book so much.  Cloonan and Fletcher nail the varied relationships Olive has with her friends and Maps is just the nicest, coolest character in all of comics right now.  She's like the coolest little sister you could ever hope to have.

The issue continues with Olive remembering more about her Mother than ever letting on before and getting a visit from Batman.  Again, I give kudos to the writers for not making Batman the savior of everyone, but actually having Olive pretty much hate him.  Their history is not sunshine and lollipops and Olive blames him for a lot of her problems.

Pomeline and Olive then give their Millie Cobblepot presentation and the school has an all you can eat pizza bar.  It's awesome.  I'm talking about the pizza bar, the presentation was a bit of a bust but only because they couldn't rightfully tell everything they learned.  The issue ends with a bit of a rush job where everyone (including Kyle!) agree to form a Detective Club.  Sure, it's all Map's idea, but everyone agrees to join.  Yeah!

I kind of lied about the ending, by the way.  There is an epilogue that introduces a great new student, but also made Bruce Wayne look like a bit of a jerk.  I can't wait for this book to continue in June.

Bits and Pieces:

Gotham Academy is one of my favorite books and this issue does more to set up the series going forward than wrap up the current arc and I loved it.  This book is oozing with character and I truly care about everyone in it.  I want more and I want it now.

9.0/10