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annalisenak97's review
5.0
This was just lovely. It's been cool to see these friendships grow, and I loved the inclusion of so many artists and art styles in this issue! The plots are clever and creepy, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next issue!
justiceofkalr's review
3.0
This volume is pretty much lots of very short stories, so it's kind of all over the place. It's semi-connected by the fact that they're all stories in or related to Maps' yearbook, but for the most part it just feels kind of disjointed. The stories were fun, I just wanted a little more cohesiveness to this volume.
quetzelish's review against another edition
4.0
Gotham Academy wraps up its first series here in a volume that is best described as a rocky ride. I'm giving it a 4, even though the volume is a 3.5, leaning toward 3 as a whole but the parts that are good are really good and everything else is either meh or bad. Gotham Academy is just such a rough series to begin with. Sometimes it feels like it has an overarching mystery and character development and other times it feels like a series of one and done stories that slowly throw out any progress made with the characters. Fletcher and Cloonan (although I feel it's more Fletcher's writing here) need to pick a tone with this series if it's to be better than it currently is.
As it stands, we have a cast of various Gotham Academy members whose personalities are hard to pin down and are just so flat. Maps is boisterous, Olive is troubled and (sometimes?) vindictive, Pomeline likes the occult and Kyle is cool sports guy and Colin is a bit of a felon. That's it and we don't see them grow or even attempt to change. The best growth of character that's been shown through the whole series so far was in this volume with Mrs. Macpherson's backstory. It was only a few pages but it had an arc, connected me with the character, didn't get bogged down in huge word balloons (a bit of a problem with the main book) and made me want to know more about her. I don' care for Kyle or Colin or Pomeline (heck I always have trouble remembering their names).
The biggest issue with the series is that there are all these teases as to a bigger story that never get resolved, even a little. Ostensibly, this is Olive's story. What happened to her mother, what is up with the strange things that have always followed her, and why is Gotham Academy so strange? While volume two vaguely tells us about the mother and why Olive hates Batman so much, it doesn't do anything to make the characters want to explore it more. They just go back to classes, saying that something is weird but never actively searching or finding anything. Let's use Scooby Doo as an example for tonal commitment. The school either needs to be like the original series, where there is just a series of monsters (fake or real doesn't matter) with no real connection other than the detective club searching for them or encountering them, or like Mystery Incorportated where there is a commitment to a large ongoing mystery that is broken up with episodic villains but also a constant moving forward of the mystery and character interactions.
I know this wasn't a discussion of this volume in particular but that's a bit hard to do. I really liked the anthology style of the volume (although the connecting story with the yearbook felt really forced and difficult to actually follow) as it allowed various artists and writers to build on the world and characters and mystery of the Academy. Did all of them work, no but enough of them did that I'm glad I continued with Gotham Academy. It's also bad that I want to know more about the teachers than the students at this point, since this is an all-ages book about the students. The authors just need to commit to a tone and story direction, which hopefully will happen in Second Semester. I want to see these people grow, to have emotional moments and to explore more of the academy instead of just putzing from class to class and from coincidental problem which gets resolved in one issue and then ignored from then on to another. Hopefully this gets better and I think that it definitely can.
As it stands, we have a cast of various Gotham Academy members whose personalities are hard to pin down and are just so flat. Maps is boisterous, Olive is troubled and (sometimes?) vindictive, Pomeline likes the occult and Kyle is cool sports guy and Colin is a bit of a felon. That's it and we don't see them grow or even attempt to change. The best growth of character that's been shown through the whole series so far was in this volume with Mrs. Macpherson's backstory. It was only a few pages but it had an arc, connected me with the character, didn't get bogged down in huge word balloons (a bit of a problem with the main book) and made me want to know more about her. I don' care for Kyle or Colin or Pomeline (heck I always have trouble remembering their names).
The biggest issue with the series is that there are all these teases as to a bigger story that never get resolved, even a little. Ostensibly, this is Olive's story. What happened to her mother, what is up with the strange things that have always followed her, and why is Gotham Academy so strange? While volume two vaguely tells us about the mother and why Olive hates Batman so much, it doesn't do anything to make the characters want to explore it more. They just go back to classes, saying that something is weird but never actively searching or finding anything. Let's use Scooby Doo as an example for tonal commitment. The school either needs to be like the original series, where there is just a series of monsters (fake or real doesn't matter) with no real connection other than the detective club searching for them or encountering them, or like Mystery Incorportated where there is a commitment to a large ongoing mystery that is broken up with episodic villains but also a constant moving forward of the mystery and character interactions.
I know this wasn't a discussion of this volume in particular but that's a bit hard to do. I really liked the anthology style of the volume (although the connecting story with the yearbook felt really forced and difficult to actually follow) as it allowed various artists and writers to build on the world and characters and mystery of the Academy. Did all of them work, no but enough of them did that I'm glad I continued with Gotham Academy. It's also bad that I want to know more about the teachers than the students at this point, since this is an all-ages book about the students. The authors just need to commit to a tone and story direction, which hopefully will happen in Second Semester. I want to see these people grow, to have emotional moments and to explore more of the academy instead of just putzing from class to class and from coincidental problem which gets resolved in one issue and then ignored from then on to another. Hopefully this gets better and I think that it definitely can.
nerdysread's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
C’est ça qu’ils appellent une fin? Nan parce que c’est dommage. J’aime les personnages et j’adore Maps notre future Robin (enfin elle mérite pas les traumas qui vont avec, elle est trop pure). Mais ça ne ressemble pas à une fin. C’est bizarre surtout que c’est pleins de petites histoires différentes. Bref je suis déçu.e. J’espère qu’il y a autre chose que ça. Voilà. En plus j’ai mis longtemps à le lire …
intheblackout's review
3.0
I probably would have rated Gotham Academy, Volume 3: Yearbook higher if this wasn't the last volume of this run, and we only got 2 volumes with Second Semester. I just wanted a storyline continuous from volume two. I'm mainly just sad that this series isn't ongoing.
This was a fun read and I'm always happy when following the Detective Club's antics. And while I do prefer the classic Gotham Academy artstyle, it was interesting to see the guest artists take on these characters and their setting (some better than others).
The set-up for this volume, is Map's making her own yearbook after being denied entry to the yearbook club. With the help of her friends, we get to see stories of their time at Gotham Academy; interspersed with a present day storyline that culminates with the big end fight scene.
This was a fun read and I'm always happy when following the Detective Club's antics. And while I do prefer the classic Gotham Academy artstyle, it was interesting to see the guest artists take on these characters and their setting (some better than others).
The set-up for this volume, is Map's making her own yearbook after being denied entry to the yearbook club. With the help of her friends, we get to see stories of their time at Gotham Academy; interspersed with a present day storyline that culminates with the big end fight scene.
shibosan's review
2.0
Типичный филлер, известный по ситкомам: полтора десятка разномастных рассказов-воспоминаний от разных авторов, которые Мапс добавляет с свой scrapbook, повторно переживая события минувшего года, проведенного "Детективным клубом" в Академии Готэма. Какие-то из них подлиннее и поинтереснее, раскрывающие персонажей или предысторию событий прошлых частей, какие-то короткие и бессмысленные, "для галочки". Существенный плюс в том, что все они нарисованы приглашенными артистами в совершенно разных стилях: тут и акварельные рисунки, и чибики от авторов BATMAN: L'IL GOTHAM, и классические газетные комиксы и много чего еще.
И не могу не отметить, что сюжетная линия, проходящая через весь том, завершается неожиданно мило. Но все же больше чем на 2,5 звезды том не тянет. Неплохо, но не то чтобы мне сильно понравилось.
И не могу не отметить, что сюжетная линия, проходящая через весь том, завершается неожиданно мило. Но все же больше чем на 2,5 звезды том не тянет. Неплохо, но не то чтобы мне сильно понравилось.
flowingleaves's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jamietherebelliousreader's review
3.0
3 stars. My least favorite volume so far (as it seems to always be the case when it comes to third volumes of graphic novels...but I digress) and it was just a hot mess. I understand what they were trying to do by having it be little stories of the school year in flashbacks but all the different art styles and overall pacing just clashed together terribly. Nothing felt complete. Though I will say I did enjoy the last story with them chasing the vampire because it reminded me why I like this series in the first place. It's silly, innocent fun and for that I can't give it less than 3 stars. I still really like this series and besides because of how enjoyable it is I really do like the characters. Especially Maps and Pomeline. I still look forward to the next volume.
pauline26's review
3.0
I'm a bit disappointed with that volume. The short stories really kill the flow of the main story and make it very less interesting.
kacibookishkingdom's review
3.0
There was a bit too much going on in this volume. Too many stories that didn't contribute to the overall premise. The last story was pretty interesting though. I would give it a 3.5.