Dark.  Eerie.  Creepy.  Spooky.  Strange.  Weird.  Mysterious.  Supernatural.  That is the description of Gotham Academy, a prestigious prep school located in that bizarre Gotham City.

Gotham Academy is obviously unlike any other prep school.  The campus is haunted, and some, if not most, of the students act just as strange as the teachers.  It is the beginning of the school year, and students are already being warned to stay away from the north hall.

Gotham Academy is a new, ongoing monthly teen drama comic book series by DC Comics.  This debut issue focused on two characters:

Olive Silverlock – Pretty sophomore.  Battling personal issues that we don’t know about yet.  “Nanny to Maps Mizoguchi.  Quiet and socially withdrawn.  Wants to break-up with her boyfriend, but he doesn’t know it yet.

Maps Mizoguchi – Freshman.  Overwhelmingly eager.  Outgoing personality.  Younger sister of Kyle, Olive’s boyfriend.

This strange and fun comic was written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher.  Perfect story setup.  Well-written script, very easy to follow.  Great character interactions.  I especially like the distinctive character personalities.

The outstanding visuals were provided by Karl Kerschl (artist), Geyser (colors), and Dave McCaig (colors).  I really like the character facial expressions, especially the creepy looking headmaster.  My favorite page is when Olive and Maps took a fall while Bruce Wayne was giving the school assembly’s keynote speech.  I literally laughed out loud.

I enjoyed reading Gotham Academy.  I was actually hooked within the first few pages.  I definitely plan to continue reading this teen drama comic for at least the first couple of story arcs.

If you are looking for comics to read for teens, or just a good supernatural story with lots of strange twists, then I suggest you start reading this new title.  I found it to be a good read for all ages.

VERDICT (drum roll please)

I highly recommend this title, so Gotham Academy #1 is getting what it deserves, 5/5 stars.