Gotham Academy #2 Review

This book is a treat. The dialogue feels alive and crackly with youthful energy, be it brooding or jovial or curious. Characters are given great moments to shine throughout, especially the very funny and very inquisitive Maps. Fletcher and Cloonan have amazing chemistry as a writing team and are creating a rich tapestry of characters and a campus full of intrigue in which they cay play. Being the second issue, there is still a lot of talking around issues instead of addressing them directly. 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. Mystery books are a difficult balance in that regard.

Kerschl's art lends itself well to digital formats. The flat designs are given depth and shape by the colors rather than rendering within the linework, like animation cels with word balloons. As a result, colorists Geyser, Dave McCaig and John Rauch are a very important part of the visuals. 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. The designs are anime influenced mixing sharp and soft contours in the characters faces and bodies. Everything about the book screams youthful, which is sorely needed in DC's repertoire right now.

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. 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. The spotlight will be on when the tease is paid off with Olive's lineage and how satisfying that feels to the readers. If they can pull that off, this is a book that will pay dividends for DC down the road.

Get full review from Comic Book Resources here