Gotham Academy #6

Writer- Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher
Artist – Karl Kerschl, Mingue Helen Chen
Colours – Msassyk, Serge LaPointe

Killer Croc is called ‘killer’ for a reason, but you would never guess why that is after reading this issue.  After the events of the last book and the discovery that Croc is living in the hidden passageways of the school, the kids have a chat with him and Olive learns that he knew her mom Sybil.  In fact, they were locked up together in Arkham though what has befallen her in the time since Croc got out is a mystery as of yet.  Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl’s excursion into the halls of Gotham’s academia continues and it remains just as fun now as it did in the first issue.  As if the mystery involving Olive could not get any deeper, it does so with more cryptic information and some more non-answers from Batman.  He obviously knows something and thinks he is doing the right thing by holding it back from Olive, but she disagrees and if she is ever going to find out the truth about anything, she will have to do it by herself.  But Olive is not completely alone actually, as she now has a group of friends to help her along the way, including Maps who is loving every minute of everything that is going on and her ex-boyfriend Kyle.  The addition of Killer Croc to the story was an intriguing choice and it is nice to see that there is another side to the villain, a piece of the man that was and not just the beast that is.  With the usual eye-popping, gorgeous artwork by Kerschl, this time aided by Mingue Helen Chen on a few pages, this book remains a must-read each and every month.  Great art, great story, great mystery and more – one of the best books DC has going right now.

4 out of 5

The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #5

Writer – Kurt Busiek
Artist – Benjamin Dewey
Colours – Jordie Bellaire

Gharta is not having the best of days as she gets locked up by Sandorst who has decided that it is time for some law and order and who better to deliver it and be in charge than he.  Sandorst of course is oblivious to the fact that he is being manipulated and so continues to do what he is doing; unaware that he is potentially putting everyone in danger.  And what of their champion, Learoyd?  He just so happens to be making explosives.  Kurt Busiek and Benjamin Dewey have crafted a very fun and imaginative world that is just as full of deceit and human emotion as our own.  That also brings to mind the mystery of whether these creatures and what they know has been passed down from an age of man or if they gained their abilities through some other method.  So far, Busiek is keeping that card close, but it remains one of the book’s biggest mysteries at the moment, that and the question of Learoyd.  Is he the champion?  Gharta seems to believe so and even Sandorst is starting to come around especially as the magic bolts he shot into Learoyd’s chest seem to have no effect whatsoever.  One of the most interesting things going on at the moment is that Learoyd, who supposedly could not care one iota, is doing whatever he can to protect the people, even while they argue amongst themselves.  Dewey’s pencils look as fantastic as ever and his character designs have been phenomenal with the most dynamic looking member of our cast being Seven-Scars.  He is big, menacing and imposing and your eye is drawn to him whenever he appears on the page.  It would be great to get a little more information and backstory on the character, but the same could be said for all of the characters.  Really, each one of them are visually impressive and we know very little about all of them so far so we will just have to wait and hope that Busiek and Dewey will reveal more in time.  For the moment, and it does not look like it is about to change, The Autumnlands is a great read.

4 out of 5