After being kicked out of his boarding school, 17-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents' murder. Selina Kyle, once the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier.
When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight--but is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes ... and where everyone is a suspect.
With enchanting art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies--all within the hallways of Gotham High!
I'm actually not that big of a Batman fan. Okay, so I've watched the Christopher Nolan films, the Adam West movie, all of Batman Beyond, a bit of The Animated Series, the first season of Gotham, reviews of some of the more well-known comics, playthroughs of the Arkham games, and his appearances in Justice League stuff, but...is that really enough to be called a fan and not just culturally knowledgeable? Lol. Anyway, after seeing this as a recommendation off of the Teen Titans novels I just reviewed, I figured another modern YA interpretation of classic characters might be fun to continue in this spooky month.
My gut reaction reading this was, ick. I wasn't really thrilled with all the characters being romantically interested in each other—specifically Selina & Jack, aka Catwoman and Joker. I mean, sure, you can have all the horny teenagers itching to get together with whoever they can, but did we really need Batman and Joker hating each other because of a high school crush? I mean, I'm not a huge fan of love triangles in the first place, but to use it as a basis for one of the most-well-known nemesis in the history of pop culture is a bit silly, don't you think?
In fact, if you're taking this story as a setup for the characters we know, then having a lot of their origins linked to just one person is kinda weird. I mean, sure, we're giving the story as a whole a HUGE suspension of disbelief by just having everyone be the same age in the same high school, but when you make the events of this kick off huge changes in character and establish future quirks of theirs, then I feel like you're really pushing my boundaries here. And laying the blame for everyone all on one character, especially this character, felt...again, weird.
I don't want to spoil the ending, so let me just back up and talk about our main trio. Bruce Wayne has just come back from learning/training overseas in order to give him space following the death of his parents. He's already pretty aloof and mysterious just by virtue of being away from so long, but his wealth and subdued personality don't really gain him friends as much as followers, and you can tell some part of him is still hesitant to let anyone get too close. Still, he's smart, athletic, and has a bit of a hero complex, just like the character we all know. Too bad no one else will see him for who he is.
Jack, our Joker stand-in (was his identity ever confirmed?) is a snarky bad boy from a broken household. Drunk/druggie parents, low income, and on the wrong side of town, he's obviously had to prioritize street smarts over book smarts, though he doesn't seem to be lacking in those either. Still, whether it's from the crew he runs with, or through his own decisions, he's made some comfort for himself by playing (dirty) cards with the rich kids. Add in an on-again-off-again relationship with his best girl, Selina, and he seems pretty content. Until Bruce comes in and everything changes.
Selina Kyle has known both Bruce and Jack from childhood, and loves each of them in their own way. But love doesn't pay the bills, and she's got a lot piling up at home, what with her dad's worsening Alzheimer's and her deceased mom's trust fund out of reach for another 5 years. Still, it's nice to have friends you can rely on, guys you know will always have your back even when the chips are down. And with Bruce's return stirring up trouble, it doesn't look like finances and romance are Selina's only problems to deal with.
All three characters were pretty well fleshed out and realized. Bruce, being the one most people have known, was easiest to recognize old habits from, but Jack and Selina both showed their own familiar tricks and quirks eventually, though not as much as I might have liked. I'll admit that Selina bothered me a bit more, since I wasn't sure where some of her choices came from (particularly when it came to the boys), but that may just be me being nitpicky. I really liked the characterization on the whole, and I really did like Selina, I just wish I understood her better. But then, she's always enjoyed being mysterious, so I suppose that's in character as well. (Also, why didn't she have a pet cat? It was on the cover of the book!)
I liked the added diversity, both in characters' ethnicity and LGBTQIA+ representation. Bruce is (at least half) Chinese, Selina is either Black or Latinx, Ivy is (at least part) Korean, and Barbara Gordon is Black. Plus Alfred is now Bruce's (Chinese) uncle and married to a man. I thought that was a smart change made to Alfred, making him family instead of a family friend/servant who raises Bruce. Not that found-family isn't important, it just can be a bit weird having a father-figure being on your payroll. And, though not at all relevant to the story, it was neat having Alfred interact with his husband for the couple pages he was present.
The artwork was a bit less than I was expecting after reading the Teen Titans books. On the one hand this was more stylized, with thicker lines and angular characters at times, which made for great action scenes when we got them. But on the other hand zoomed-out characters tended to lose some of their detailed features, and Bruce in particular tended to seem a bit blockier at times. There were large panels that opted for the comic-booky coloring using dots, while smaller panels tended for the usual block coloring. And shadows, lots and lots of shadows, especially for Bruce. I think comics fans will find a lot of familiarity in both the art style and paneling, just don't look too closely at the smaller panels.
And while I'm referencing the Teen Titans books, can I just say how well this worked as a stand-alone? At nearly the same length, this managed to pack in a full three-act story with no loose ends—short of killing everyone off, that is. The pacing was solid, with each character and event getting ample time for setup and payoff. There was a bit of a lengthy exposition at the end, but that's fairly standard for whodunits, so I can overlook it. If this was taken for a sequel, I guess I could see some more characters being touched on, but really this worked well as a stand-alone character exploration and mystery.
Overall, this book impressed me. I wasn't really looking for more than a fun whodunit with teenaged Batman characters, and I found an interesting character study and exploration of class, crime, and desperation, all wrapped up in a stylized and diversified bow. It's definitely a darker story, as you'd probably expect of anything concerning Gotham, so I don't know that I'd recommend it to everyone, but it at least does give a good list of resources for US readers to whom themes and situations might hit a little too close to home. Still, if you're a Batman fan, are looking for a new graphic novel that catches your eye, or are interested in a stand-alone YA mystery, you might give this one a try. Lots of fun references, familiar gothic noir, and a diverse cast should give any fan a good time, and offer a unique jumping-on point for newcomers. And I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for more stories with the Gotham crew.
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