Gotham Academy: Year One #5 – Brendan Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Writers; Marco Ferrari, Artist; Eva De La Cruz, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: As we get closer to the conclusion of Olive Silverlock’s first journey through Gotham Academy, things take a darker turn. She’s back from her sojourn with Tristan, but is more filled with anxiety than ever about her mother’s secrets. That leads her to the Headmaster’s office, where she seeks out the answers he and Batman have been keeping from her. She finds a horrific file of her mother’s crimes, confirming all her worst fears – but unfortunately, so does her rival Pomeline Fritch, who steals the file and broadcasts them to the entire school. It turns out that some of her classmates had family members who died in Calamity’s fires, and they quickly turn on Olive. The whole school does, violently, and sends her fleeing into the woods. If this all sounds a little out of character for everyone, it did for me as well – and that was the first clue that something was really wrong here.
Of course, this isn’t a big surprise – Scarecrow has been lurking along the fringes of this comic for a while, manipulating Olive in her search for answers. His gaslighting of her was honestly one of the creepiest things he’s done in a while, even if it’s much more subtle than his usual attacks on Gotham. Where things go really sideways is when Olive encounters Kyle, hoping to get support from her boyfriend – but he turns on her as soon as she confesses her fears to him, and things go so badly that I was clued in that it’s an illusion. But that doesn’t take any of the tension out of this issue. Instead, it makes the eventual reveal of where Olive actually is all the more impactful. A good Scarecrow illusion is truly unsettling, and that’s exactly what this is. The creative team did a great job of using both the art and writing to immerse us in Olive’s fear for the entire issue and create a genuine sense of terror for her.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
