Brief Thoughts on Gotham Academy:

So, on the suggestion of a friend, I went and read the first seven issues of Gotham Academy.

And while it wasn't awful, it didn't particularly engage me. Due to spoilers, I'm using the page break function. If you don't want spoilers, don't continue reading.

The characters were fine, but I personally felt that Olive Silverlock, the main character, felt oddly underdeveloped to me. I had difficulty relating to her, and I'm still not sure if she has pyrokenetic abilities or not.

Furthermore, the pacing of the first arc was rather weird, taking awhile to get off the ground before suddenly sprinting to the finish. It made for an awkward reading experience, since it felt like a lot of build up for an ending that felt undercooked and far too 'neat'. I mean, they hyped this as a story with cults and spiritual forces at work, and yet in the end, the cult and spiritual forces completely fade out of the story, instead getting sidetracked by Killer Croc and his connection to Olive's mother. Now, I do appreciate that they addressed this, setting up a potential character motivation for Olive, such as why is Olive's mom in Arkham for example, but when you spent the first 4 issues hyping up a ghost and then forgo it completely for the final 2 issues of the arc, I'm left pondering why we even had a ghost in the first place.

Also, Olive's Potental Crush Tristian Grey (Yes, that IS his name), turns out to have the Langstrom Virus, meaning he's basically Man-Bat, and yet that doesn't feed into the broader plot either. Its just "Yo, I'm half bat!" and poof! character flies into the night, unseen for the remainder of the comic.

Batman shows up for like two seconds, and that's only to punch Killer Croc and then talk briefly to Olive about her mom before vanishing.

So in regards to the first arc, it feels far too much like those awkward first episodes of a show that's trying to find itself, shuffling various genres and character dynamics and plot points around until it finds one it likes. It seemed to be going more supernatural, dark!Gravity Falls type thing for the first few issues, before dumping all that entirely for the final two issues and instead turning into a 'What Happened to My Parents' thing that felt rather underwealming considering the hype.

However, the artwork was nice, and while I didn't find Olive particularly fascinating, mostly because her backstory and motivations are kept in the dark too long and the pay-off still leaves far too many questions unaswered, I didn't HATE her, nor anybody else in the story. They're all fine, if rather stereotypical, and their interactions are fine.

However, Issue 7, where the bouncy Mabel Pines-esque Maps gets to have adventure with Damien Wayne (who I liked here), was quite fun if ultimately pointless, since Damien leaves Gotham Academy at the end of the issue. I honestly wonder WHY you introduce someone like Damien Wayne into your comic if he's only there for one mini-arc that's obviously just filler. Like, wouldn't you want to keep him around, have him introduce a new dynamic to the status quo and help better connect this comic to the broader verse? It felt a bit like stunt casting, or like those gimmicky episodes of a show in order to raise ratings or something. Luckily, the story was fun, so I was able to enjoy it, even if the ending was underwealming and Damien departing.

Also, Issue 7's art was beautiful.

So, if I had to rate Gotham Academy, I'd give it 3 stars. It's enjoyable yes, but not as good or inventive as I felt it could have been. In the end, its ending doesn't suit the build up it was given, meaning that the comic as a whole is underwealming.