Story – Brenden Fletcher (@brendenfletcher), Becky Cloonan (@beckycloonan), and Karl Kerschl (@karlkerschl)
Script – Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl
Pencils – Adam Archer (@AdamArcherArt)
Inks – Sandra Hope
Background Painting – Msassyk
Colors – Chris Sotomayor (@SotoColor) and Serge LaPointe (@sergelapointe)
Review by: Deanna Chapman (@deeechap)
Gotham Academy: Second Semester #1 consists of quite the creative team. Despite a larger amount of people on this book than you typically se on books, they make it work. Everyone is home for break and Olive should be the only student on campus. As it turns out, she finds a new girl in her room. We find out her name is Amy and Olive gives her a tour around campus the next day. They decide to go into a building they should not be in. There, they come across Eric, who was in a class with Maps. If you haven’t read the previous 18 issues of Gotham Academy, you may be a little confused by now. In the end, that isn’t a big deal. The main thing to know is Olive is already doing things she shouldn’t be again.
This title has always had a bit of a larger team as mentioned earlier. Now that the second semester is here, it’s no surprise that they went the same route. Considering how many different people work on it, it flows well. Gotham Academy ends with the Yearbook storyline and this picks up where that left off. You really should check that out if you haven’t yet. The new semester continues with the mysteries and it is nice to get an issue focusing on Olive without her group of friends. Introducing Amy makes things interesting because she is staying with Olive and that is where Maps was planning to stay. Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl kept this consistency with the script, and that’s a huge plus. You can’t forget to credit Becky Cloonan for all she contributes to the story even if she’s not necessarily writing it going forward.
Adam Archer, Sandra Hope, Mssasyk, Chris Sotomayor, and Serge LaPointe make up the artistic team. Their collaboration makes this a beautiful looking book. There’s a stark contrast between the outdoor scenes and the scenes inside the darkened buildings. It’s one that can be greatly appreciated since this feels like more of a fun book. It’s not one that always needs to be dark and mysterious. Facial expressions play a huge part in this book and they’re done in fantastic fashion. The artistic team leaves you with no doubt on how you should feel as you read through this story.
Verdict: Buy. Olive being without her team is the main focus of this issue. That’s a reality she has to deal with and it makes sense that we get to see it. There’s a new player thrown into the mix and it will be interesting to see how that goes over with Maps. This is already a fun story that brings about a certain mystery. We might not know what it is yet and that’s worth looking forward to. With the whole group back, the next issue will hopefully answer any questions from this issue.
