Gotham Academy #10 Review

Written by: Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Art by: Karl Kerschl, Serge Lapointe and Msassyk
Cover Price: $2.99

*Spoilers below, no spoilers at the bottom along with the score*

Toil and trouble!

Gotham Academy continues with the mystery of Olive and her mother. The previous issue we had Olive thinking her mother was catching the school's theatre on fire. Once the fire was put out, the director informs Olive that most of the cast was hurt and will not be able to perform their production. Olive volunteers the detective club so they can get a closer look at the theatre ghost. 



Once they begin rehearsal, they learn from Eric (the awkward artist kid not America's sweetheart) that a ghost has been sabotaging the play. Olive says it is her mother and there was a serious exchange between Maps and Olive. Maps was hurt that Olive did not tell her about her mother, but I feel like Maps should have been more respectful of Olive's decisions since this is a very sensitive matter and who knows how to handle this. 

We then see Olive at the office of Hugo Strange where he is not helping at all and tells her to not do any activities, when i feel like she should be doing extra curricular activities to keep her mind off it, but what do i know? Soon we see more accidents occurring at the theatre. The detective club goes to chase the ghost since they finally saw it. Maps realizes that the ghost is taking the secret tunnels and has taken her map. The only person who could have done that was her roommate Katherine! But it is not Katherine! Turns out it was CLAYFACE!!! 

It turns out Clayface created Katherine to get into the school and kill the director, Simon Trent, who had stole all the best roles and ruined his acting career. Clayface makes fun of Olive because of her crazy mom. Olive becomes a total badass and steps up to Clayface to kick his ass, then they spray him down with water and he turns back into Katherine. Pomeline tells Olive that her mom may still be alive.

The writing was fine in this book. Some characters were better than others. Olive was really good, while Maps seemed off and Hugo was... strange! Clayface's motivation for killing Simon Trent seemed a little too silly, but I kind of get it, but to create a girl and enroll for school, paid tuition, lived with a little girl just to kill him. A little too much maybe.  The one thing I am enjoying is the over-arcing story of Olive and her mother. The story that occurs for the single issue feels rushed, this was another problem with the previous issue. The pacing is a little fast and the transitions are not smooth because it seems like everyone is in a rush.

Every time i review the art, there is not much to say besides that this is some of the best artwork in DC and it is always beautiful and the colors are so vibrant and gorgeous. I can't keep coming up with new things.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue was a good one that really did not further the story, but was still fun nonetheless. Some of the characters felt off and the pacing was too fast, but it was still a good story. The art is always so beautiful and top tier.

7/10