Gotham Academy: First Year #6 Review
Story: Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan & Karl Kerschl
Script: Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Marco Ferrari
Colorist: Eva De La Cruz
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover Artist & Variant Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl
Editors: Kristy Quinn & Dacy Lim
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99 US/Variant $5.99 US (Card Stock)
Release Date: August 5, 2026
When she couldn't learn what happened to her mother, Olive
pushed away everyone and everything that offered her a future she didn't
believe she deserved. She sought refuge in Professor Crane's pills, but they
trapped her in a nightmare and fractured her identity. Can Batman rescue Olive
Silverlock again? Or will another hero arise to help Olive be the champion of
her own story? Let's leap into Gotham Academy: First Year #6 and see what
happens!
Story
This year, the limousine leaves the Mizoguchi residence with
two students heading for Gotham Academy. While Kyle eyes a position of
responsibility, Mia also envisions great things. Kyle may not know what the
future holds in store for him and Olive. Yet Mia is certain that she and Olive
will be best friends.
When Safi brings her bags into her dorm room, Mia cannot
wait to see Olive. Yet in Gotham Academy: First Year #6, Olive isn’t around. So,
after Safi leaves, Mia tells her roommate about her best friend. Despite
everything Olive has gone through, Mia sees her as an indomitable force. While
she waits for Olive to join them, Mia instructs her new roommate in how to play
Serpents & Spells. Yet, as Mia and Katherine delve into the role-playing
game, danger stalks the school.
After Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, and Karl Kerschl’s
story begins with Mia, the story shifts to other people who care about Olive.
When Olive makes her appearance, her experiences have changed her. Yet some
things remain the same. Last year, she was the insecure girl who thought she
didn’t belong in Gotham Academy. Now, she’s still unsure how to view her place
in the school.
Brenden Fletcher's script highlights the circular nature of
life. With a new school year beginning, the students, teachers, and staff fall
into familiar patterns. The students need friends and leadership. The staff and
teachers recognize that some children will need more attention and protection
than others. Olive suffers from some of the same issues she did at the
beginning of her first year. But now, she is a Junior and more is expected of
her. As Olive ponders her future at the school, Mia represents the breath of
fresh air that she, and everyone at the school, needs in Gotham Academy: First
Year #6.
Art
Mia stands before a character sheet, wearing her school
uniform. Her face radiates happiness. Kyle hangs his head as he trudges beneath
his burdensome backpack. Muscular Safi easily lugs Mia's luggage to her room. Mia
and Safi’s introduction to Katherine evokes how Lucy Hunt met her roommate. The
next morning, drapes obscure her roommate in the top bunk while Mia sprawls on
the bottom. As she awakens, books, maps, character sheets, and other game
paraphernalia cover the floor. Yet as Mia spots a red object, another character
demonstrates how a year has changed her in Gotham Academy: First Year #6.
As Marco Ferrari portrays Mia’s passion for life, the school
colors showcase differences between characters. While the yellow and blue
suggest a mixture of concern and hope, Mia often wears one color to contrast
her disposition with another's. Yet Katherine and Mia both wear blue when they
meet. And when danger threatens, Mia's yellow hairbow matches Katherine's
yellow hair.
Eva De La Cruz suggests that two characters are surprisingly
well matched by tinging Heathcliff's lenses and Pomeline's hair with orange.
Green signals someone who steals others' willpower, while a frightened
character regards her surroundings through yellow lenses. As Mia glimpses a
fleeing figure, her blue shirt looks indigo in the night, while violet tinges
her skin. Yet before the school year gets underway, red links two characters,
perhaps temporarily, or perhaps forever.
Black lowercase letters fill white balloons and yellow
boxes, while letters grow bold for intonation and fade for lowered voices. A
glimpse of handwritten words provokes anger, while red exclamation marks signal
a life-threatening situation. Sound effects enhance Mia’s first day at school,
a fight for life, and an act of heroism. Still, white words on a brown poster
suggest a more positive literary interest than rereading The Castle of Otranto.
Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
Mia has a plan. She intends to storm the school and reshape
it in her image. Yet while “Maps” is forging her new identity, Olive wrestles
with her self-worth. Some students and teachers will shine radiantly, others
will lock themselves in prisons of their own making, and the rest will tread
toward whatever future awaits them in Gotham Academy: First Year #6.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #6.
For what happened last time, see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #5.
For what happened before that, see my review of Gotham Academy: Year One #4.
For how this series started, see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #1.
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