Gotham Academy: First Year #4 Review
Story: Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan & Karl Kerschl
Script: Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Marco Ferrari
Colorist: Eva De La Cruz
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover Artist: Karl Kerschl
Variant Cover Artist: Marco Ferrari
Editors: Kristy Quinn & Dacy Lim
Publisher: DC Comics,
Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 27, 2026
For a few months, Olive Silverlock thought she could have it all. She envisioned a future with Kyle Mizoguchi. His family invited her along on their summer vacation. After her portrayal of Juliet in the school play, Olive was the toast of her drama class. Then Jonathan Crane detonated a bomb at Arkham Asylum.
Olive wanted to escape her mom's fate. So, she stopped visiting Sybil Silverlock, and Arkham went up in flames. Can Olive forgive herself for abandoning her mother? And how will she spend the summer in the empty dormitory? Let's leap into Gotham Academy: First Year #4 and see!
Story
Gotham Academy has its guardians. Headmaster Hammer still rules its halls. Harriet Cooper still welcomes visitors. But the students and teachers have abandoned the classrooms and dorms, leaving Olive alone with her thoughts and guilt. During the day, she awakens in places and wonders how she got there. And by night, Olive wanders the halls and stairways, while another resident looks on.
Olive Silverlock breezed through the classes in her first year at Gotham Academy. Her performance in the school production of Romeo and Juliet made her the belle of the prom. Yet in Gotham Academy: First Year #4, Olive remains the frightened girl who hid beneath the bed when her roommate Lucy arrived in the fall. Her passion for Gothic literature helped Olive fine-tune Mia Mizoguchi's campaign for Castle Crowhold. Yet as the summer passes, and hopes for her mother's miraculous survival dwindle, Olive slips into a trapdoor inside her mind.
While Olive’s conscious thoughts often revolve around Kyle Mizoguchi, Tristan Grey observes Olive. When danger threatens her, he rescues her. And in their isolation from other people, Olive escapes the fear that hovers over her like an unceasing storm. Brenden Fletcher reveals Tristan's concern about the girl who helps him feel more like an angel than an outcast. But as the people around Olive look on in concern, no one is more worried about Olive than she is about herself in Gotham Academy: First Year #4.
Art
After regarding the stately building from afar, Olive walks through the open doors guarded by glowing candlestands. When she reaches the fireplace, Olive spies Millie Jane ascending the stairs in the mirror. A towering figure, shrouded in darkness, grasps Millie by the neck. Then, as if through the looking glass, Olive looks down at the still girl. The candlestand behind Olive glows, while the candelabra the girl held has gone cold. When Olive picks up the candelabra, the broken candles reform and glow with light, as she retraces Millie's steps. Then a towering figure, shrouded in darkness, grasps Olive by the neck.
As Marco Ferrari interweaves dreams with reality, Eva De La Cruz lavishes bright colors on Gotham Academy: First Year #4. Kyle wears a white shirt when Olive awakens from her dream. Olive’s green gown suggests health and links her with Tristan. Along with the vitality of the natural world surrounding the school, blue also symbolizes Olive’s growing relationship with Tristan. Yet yellow, orange, and red signal danger. Flames engulf the school. Fire also threatens Olive when she seeks clues to her mother’s fate. And then, there is the red-and-white medicine in the yellow-orange container that former professor Jonathan Crane gave Olive Silverlock.
Sybil’s dark-orange words hover in light-orange clouds. Dialogue appears as black lowercase letters in white balloons and boxes, while Olive recalls Professor Jonathan Crane's words in gray boxes. Olive shares her thoughts in yellow boxes, and Tristan records his observations with handprinted words in white paper scraps. Steve Wands helps readers hear imminent death and the rush of air as a character risks their life to save another. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
When sickness leads to isolation, Tristan finds peace and meaning in life, while Olive starts to fall apart. Unlike Tristan, her illness seems more rooted in her mind than her body. Yet unlike Kyle Mizoguchi, both Olive Silverlock and Tristan Grey evince extraordinary abilities in Gotham Academy: First Year #4.
Rating 9.7/10
To look inside, see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #4.
For what happened last time, see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #3.
For how this series started, see my preview of Gotham Academy: First Year #1.
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