Written by: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art by: Mingjue Helen Chen
Cover Price: $2.99
Release date: June 10, 2015
Class is Bat in session
*Non Spoilers and score at the bottom*
Gotham Academy has been one of my favorite titles coming out of DC comics currently. It has definitely been one of the better books that has gone under the radar It was hard waiting the two months for the next arc for our favorite Pizza Club detective team to return, but once we finally got our classmates back, it was a filler issue. There is nothing wrong with this issue, it was just kind of a let down.
We open to Maps drafting a roster for her adventure party while Bookworm is getting way to into Edgar Allen Poe. A student goes deranged and tries to attack the teacher then special guest star Damian Wayne comes to save the day. Maps then falls head over heels with his skill set then sets to stalk him until he hopefully joins the pizza club. A mysterious magic has fallen upon the academy making all the students crazy and also is preventing Maps and Damian from letting go of each others hands, which I'm surprised he did not just break her wrist.
The story of this book was fast paced, this made it difficult to follow at some parts. The ending felt extremely forced and rushed. The resolution to their problem had just ended with a sentence or two, it did not feel right to me. While for the most part I did enjoy this issue, it is definitely not my favorite of the series. The addition of Damian Wayne did not feel natural and was kind of feeling like fan fiction, his characterization felt off. Maps is always a delight in this book and she always makes the adventures fun. The events in this book really did not make sense or came out clear and when the problem was resolved, it did not feel like it could have made sense still.
The art in this book was wonderful. How DC managed to get a Disney animator to draw one of their books? The world may never know. You can definitely feel the Disney art style in this book, especially when you look at maps. Did the art style fit with this book? In some parts it did and some parts it did not. This felt more of story board art than it did comic book art. Some of the transitions were not well done. I found myself staring at pages two and three trying to figure out what had happen; Damian and Eric looked exactly the same and it was hard to tell the difference. It is sometimes difficult to depict because most of the book seemed like always a close up shot of someone's face. Aside from that the artwork is absolutely beautiful.
This issue was enjoyable, but definitely could have been better. One disappointment I had was the expulsion of Damian Wayne. He is only going to be in this one issue, It would have been fun to keep him around and eventually have the pizza club ride his giant Krampus monster. The absence of Olive was apparent, but it did briefly set up what is coming in the next arc. There is no way you can beat Maps in a Prince Charming outfit.
Bits and Pieces:
Coming off their two month hiatus, classes are back in session. Gotham Academy returns with a fun issue for the fans. A new reader can easily pick this book up and have fun with it. Having Damian in this issue greatly adds to the stories dynamic. While the art was gorgeous, the transitions left me confused with what had happened. The characters were really fun, but the situation they were in did not make much sense and when it was furthered explain, it still did not make sense. This is clearly a filler issue and I cannot wait for the next arc to begin.
7/10
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