Gotham Academy Vol.1

Gotham Academy #1. DC Comics (June 2015) Own

Welcome to Gotham Academy, the most prestigious school in Gotham City. Only the best and brightest students may enter its halls, study in its classrooms, explore its secret passages, summon its terrifying spirits...

Okay, so Gotham Academy isn't like other schools. But Olive Silverlock isn't like other students. After a mysterious incident over summer break, she's back at school with a bad case of amnesia, an even worse attitude...and an unexplained fear of bats.

Olive's supposed to show new student Maps Mizoguchi the ropes. Problem: Maps is the kid sister of Kyle, Olive's ex. Then there's the ghost haunting the campus...and the secret society conducting bizarre rituals.
 
Can Olive and Maps ace the biggest challenge of their lives? Or are they about to get schooled?

I don't know what it's about Batman, his city, the villains, and his sidekicks that make me so freaking happy. It's probably all the movies based on his character that make me a fool for anything Batman. Then comes in Gotham Academy. I never knew what it was about - it just had the title Gotham Academy and I wanted it immediately. Now, I kind of assumed or more liked hoped that this was an academy of superhero kids or superheroes in training but that was a no go. But, Batman doesn't have any powers so maybe we get some cool origin stories out of some of these kids, mainly Olive.

Olive has lost all of her memories from last summer. She's distanced herself from her friends and former boyfriend. She feels like a completely different person now. There is something mysterious about her other than her summer. Her mother is another mystery and her story is sure to be important to Olive's future. For now there is a ghost around that the whole school is obsessed with. Once Olive gets involved she starts getting close with those she cared about and with new friends to figure out if the ghost is real. Olive also tries to figure out why she can't remember her summer and what it has to do with the destruction of the North Hall.

Her friends are all pretty cool. Maps is energetic and like an over excited puppy. Maps is the sister of Kyle, Olive's ex-boyfriend who you don't see much of in this volume. He's into tennis and Olive and it looks like he's the moral compass/good guy in the group. Pomeline is the mean, goth girl who for one reason or another doesn't seem to like Olive. Colton is the troublemaker who accidentally gets into their group. There are other characters and a more than exciting new one coming next issue that are all interesting, but I don't know how important they will be yet.

Gotham Academy didn't go the route I thought it would. I didn't think there would be any supernatural nuances or anything like that. I'm really happy that Olive is such a cool protagonist that has more layers to her that have yet to be discovered - some she doesn't even know about. Maps was an awesome sidekick and I see much potential for the other group members. Oh, and have I mentioned how beautiful the artwork is yet? I absolutely loved it. However, there were two things that I felt were either unrealistic or could have been done better. One, the suspension of believability or I guess I didn't expect magical realism to be okay with the characters. Two, an explanation of something was very sudden and again with the characters just being okay with weird things going on. Overall, I'm beyond excited for the next volume. Gotham Academy couldn't have come to a more willing person. I need more comics like this in my life!

Who are some of your favorite superheroes?