about the book
Gotham Academy is the most prestigious school in Gotham City. Only the very best and brightest students walk its halls, and Olive Silverlock is one of them. But as the new school year resumes, something is terribly wrong. She is haunted by a new unexplained fear of bats, a bad case of amnesia over some mysterious incident that happened this past summer, and an even worse attitude! Her studies are going downhill fast.
To make matters worse, her mother’s health is precarious, the school bullies are even more intimidating, and Olive has been assigned to squire around a new student. Unfortunately, “Maps” Mizoguchi is the younger sister of Olive’s ex-boyfriend, a guy Olive is now desperately trying extra-hard to avoid. Talk about awkward!
Thankfully, Maps turns out to be surprisingly great friend. She got her name from her passion for Dungeons & Dragons maps. She’s bubbly and talkative…and she is an awesome troublemaker! What’s even better, both Olive and Maps share a love of amateur sleuthing.
As the weeks pass, Olive recovers strange memories about a fire. She also keeps running into a mysterious stranger who knows far too much about her…and his eyes glow! Could he be a ghost haunting the campus? As if that isn’t bad enough, she and Maps discover a secret school society that is conducting bizarre rituals!
Olive is clever and resourceful. and she is determined to get to the bottom of her amnesia and the odd things going on at Gotham Academy. She bands with Maps and other school misfits to explore the school’s secret passages and uncover its darkest secrets.
Some of this stuff might have something to do with the school’s weirdo billionaire benefactor, Bruce Wayne, or with the Dark Knight, Batman. For some unexplained reason, Olive hates them both. She’d like to see them dead!
Be ready for a twisted, dumbfounding cliff-hanger. This is definitely not just another average school year at Gotham Academy!
about the author
Becky Cloonan is an energetic woman. She grows way too much zucchini and sports wild tattoos that declare she is a rock-n-roll rebel. But mostly, she is a comic artist with a cause—to show that women can leave a positive mark in the male-dominated industry. She is the very first female to draw Batman! (Issue 12 in the NEW 52 reboot.) After 73 years of just guys getting the Dark Knight down on paper, her drawings finally gave him emotions!
Becky was born in Pisa, Italy, on June 23, 1980. She currently lives and works in Montreal, Canada When she was just a tyke, her dad read her Silver Surfer and Fantastic Four, and after that she always knew that she would be working in the comic industry. Initially, Becky studied animation in college, but dropped out to concentrate on drawing comics. It took her about five years to actually get to the point where she could support herself with her drawings. It pays to be persistent!
Unlike many comic book artists, Becky doesn’t create digitally. She likes having a big stack of finished papers filled with pen and ink sketches when she completes a project, not something floating somewhere on a digital cloud! She completes anywhere from a half page to four pages a day. Imagine the amount of work that goes into a graphic novel, like Gotham Academy!
The original creator of the mini-comic, Becky is known for her distinct manga-influenced modern style and her use of many mediums. She is much lauded for her work in Tokyopop Press and Veritgo comics, and she draws Conan the Barbarian for Dark Horse Comics and Swamp Thing for DC Comics. Her collaboration with Brian Wood on Demo was named “Indie of the Year” by Wizard Magazine in 2004 and was nominated for two Eisner Awards. Becky’s first solo graphic novel, East Coast Rising Volume 1, also earned her an Eisner nomination.
Even with her ever-increasing load of work, she writes, illustrates, and publishes at least one comic book entirely by herself every year.
Sources:
Author website
Article on first lady to draw batman: Jezebel
Author profile : Goodreads
Author biography: DC Comics
Article on author: Oprah
Also by Becky Cloonan:
Gotham Academy : 2 : Calamity. DC Comics. 2015.
about the illustrator
Karl Kerschl was born in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada, and was raised in Niagara Falls. For a year, he attended Ontario College of Art, but decided to leave to develop his own drawing style and improve his storytelling talents. What appealed to him was the feel of a layered simple cel figure on top of lushly painted background. What he came up is a unique campy style that is in turns luminous and gloomy, spooky and amazingly detailed. It pairs flatly colored characters, reminiscent of Japanese manga or anime styles with richly painted intricately detailed backgrounds.
His career really began on June 20, 2007, with his webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher, which appears every Wednesday and follows the adventures of a man-beast and the woodland creatures and nature gods he encounters. The series became a huge success, won an Eisner, and is now translated into Danish, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. During his twenty-year career, he drew the Green Hornet, Ghost Riders, Superman, Assassin’s Creed, Majestic, Flash, Iceman, Dead Pool, and Teen Titans. Karl’s favorite character to draw? Superman, of course!
Perhaps the most work-intensive project he has done so far has been Gotham Academy. Karl does the character drawings digitally and then sketches out his plans for the backgrounds. Artists Romain Gashet and Michelle Assarasakron digitally paint the intricate art work, and a number of colorists have also worked on the project. Because of the very tight schedules and the tremendous amount of work, Karl says that burn-out is a real problem.
Still, he keeps cranking the comics out! Karl currently resides in Montreal, Canada, “with two cats, both of whom are French-Canadian.”
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview: Comic Book Bin
Illustrator profile: Goodreads
Illustrator interview: Newsarama
read more!
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Russian-born, Anya doesn’t fit in at her American school, and her mother embarrasses her. When Anya falls down a well she meets the ghost of Emily, a girl murdered 90 years ago. Both girls are happy to finally have a friend. With Emily’s supernatural help, Anya’s social life is looking up. But then Anya discovers the truth about Emily’s murder.
Gotham Academy : 2 : Calamity by Becky Cloonan
Gotham Academy is the city’s most prestigious prep school, but it is also a very strange place. The campus is spooky, there are oddball teachers, and the rich benefactors are always popping in, like weird Bruce Wayne. In this edition, meet Gotham’s newest heroes—and villains! The city’s future is right here walking in Gotham Academy’s hallowed halls!