Gotham Academy: Year One #3 – Brenden Fletcher/Becky Clonan/Karl Kerschl, Writers; Marco Ferrari, Artist; Eva De La Cruz, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Easily my favorite all-ages book to ever come out of DC, this Gothic teen adventure has turned back the clock for a story that delves deep into Olive Silverlock’s past, her romance with Kyle Mizoguchi, and her hidden demons. As the issue starts, she’s distanced herself from Arkham and has thrown herself into school and her relationship. She’s appearing as Juliet in the school play, becoming more popular, and bonding with Kyle’s family. Everything is looking up, but there are dark clouds gathering. For one thing, a group of enraged football jocks who were exposed for their crimes by Kyle are plotting their revenge on the school – perfectly timed to the upcoming prom, where Kyle and Olive are becoming the heavy favorites to be named the Prom royalty. Of course, to do that, Olive will have to get past Pomeline Fritch, the school’s most dominant and ruthless mean girl.
As the prom grows closer and the jocks’ scheming gets more dangerous, I started getting flashbacks to an iconic horror movie – Carrie. After all, both feature troubled girls with dangerous powers who are being set up for humiliation at the prom. But Olive has an unlikely ally in the form of Colton Rivera, who has realized he’s in way too deep in the scheme and the jocks have to be stopped. But that’s not the true threat facing Olive. All over the issue, there are warning signs that her new outlook on life isn’t nearly as healthy as it appears at first glance, and when she loses little support systems, like her school therapist who is leaving to deal with a family crisis, you start to see that this issue probably isn’t going to have a happy ending. The last few pages are devastating as Olive starts to regress, but there’s an unexpected guest appearance at the end that hints at the surprising next act for Olive’s story. Fantastic stuff.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
