This was such a fun reimagining of Gotham! It was a good book for sure and I love retelling a lot. Thank you NetGalley for this copy!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review which has not altered my opinion of this book.

I am a big fan of DC in general and comic books as well. I will admit that the three main characters we find here are not my favorite in the universe, but I really liked the way it was approached. I loved that the characters were try to the personalities that we know them for. I think my favorite was Jack because I feel like the Joker is one of the most complicated characters in the DC universe and this comic matches that. It’s interesting to see that they are a lot like their adult counterparts. You can see how their teenaged personalities are a lot like their adult counterparts.

The art was beautiful and fit the story so very well. I highly recommend this story, it is full of great moments and a solid storyline. Overall, I give this 4 out of 5.

Thank you so much to DC Comics and The Fantastic Flying Book Club for a copy of Gotham High! Gotham High follows a young Bruce Wayne, Jack Napier (aka the Joker) and Selina Garcia Kyle (aka Catwoman). Expelled from Arkham Prep, Bruce enrolls in Gotham HS where he is reacquainted with Selina and meets Jack. Having fun and participating in photography club, Bruce's "normal" life falls apart as kids around him start getting kidnapped.
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Absolutely loved the art style, and Selina is a total hot villain character! Bruce is ever the hero, and I enjoyed seeing Jack Napier's relationship with the two of them. I can't wait for more of this story!
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I haven’t read a lot of graphic novels, but this one was totally awesome, so now I think I am a convert! I love origin stories, and this one really sucked me in. Morally gray characters? Check. Feisty female lead even though it’s a Batman book? Check. Really great banter and dialogue? Check and check. I loved the mystery at the center of the plot and was sucked right in by Selina’s gritty character, Bruce’s brooding air of mystery, and Jack’s vivacious personality.

Aside from all those virtues, the plot of this book is twisty and turny, and it is so neat meeting side characters (Poison Ivy was so awesome). The book is self-aware too. One of my favorite scenes (not a spoiler, I promise) involves Bruce and Jack playing Fortnite as Batman-esque and Joker-esque characters. They just had so much fun with the world and lore of Gotham City, but giving everything little contemporary and specifically high school twists. It’s all very well done.

I actually read the whole book in one sitting, which is a pretty amazing feat given all the distractions in my house at the moment (a husband, two tween-aged daughters, and a nosy dog). The only reason it’s not five stars is that I just wish it were a little longer and meatier, but that is probably the format (being a graphic novel and not, say, a novel novel) and probably how it should be. If you are looking for a great escape and you like superheroes and origin stories, then I highly recommend reading this one. Also, I have never written any of Melissa de la Cruz’s other books, but the writing in this is great, so now I think I’ll have to add her whole backlist to my TBR shelf.

I had a wonderful time reading this graphic novel. To see these characters in high school showed new sides of each of them. We saw early glimpses of what they might one day become, but before that they were all friends. When someone starts a love triangle, things get heated fast. Yet when someone important to them both turns up missing, they will have to work together to find them. If you are a fan of these characters then this is a graphic novel you will want to check out.

I love graphic novels and DC comics, but I really couldn't get into this one. That artwork was great, but the storytelling not so much. There wasn't much in the way of character development at all and the plot was pretty predictable. While the changing up some character relationships was ok (such as Alfred being Bruce's uncle), the biggest turnoff for me was the changes in the main character's nationalities. I don't know if it was purely for shock value or to jump on that whole woke/diversity bandwaggon, but it simply came off as forced.

I enjoyed some of the change ups in the story - Alfred is Bruce's gay uncle instead of butler, the ethnic diversity of the cast, etc. The story was only okay for me and the mystery wasn't a big surprise to the reader who saw some things Bruce didn't see. While I enjoyed the diversity of the cast, there weren't really any characters I *liked.* Ivy was the most interesting to me, but she hardly had any page time.

I would check out another volume if this is going to be a series - especially if there will be a larger role for some of the secondary characters like Ivy and Barbara Gordon. But the dynamic between Bruce, Selina and Jack didn't really grab my interest. This is not my favorite of the recent run of DC graphic novels for kids and for teens, but it's an interesting way to put all the familiar characters together to see how things play out in a high school setting.

First things first, let’s talk about the obvious part, the cover. I adore the cover so much. The color, the art, especially the art. Just seeing those three main characters on the covers made me excited to see the entire graphics! And Oh My Gosh! I adore the graphics. It’s so pleasing to the eye. It has this unfinished look that made it so great to look at and sets the mood of the entire book. We all know how crime driven Gotham City is, so with the unfinished look, sketchy, for the art, made it so fitting.

So the plot of this book is point on. I love how the plot is right there but not at all. I thought it was just going to be about Jack, Bruce and Selina’s high school life and their differences. But it’s a whole new thing. To think this book doesn’t really focus on the superhero thing, like how Bruce Wayne is Batman and Jack as Joker. So having that kind of plot, made me just want to read it and enjoy the gorgeous art.

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after getting kicked out of his boarding school. He meets his old friend Selina, who is dealing with looking after her sick father. Jack Napier is Selina’s sometimes boyfriend and Bruce’s frenemy. One day, a boy named Harvey Dent is kidnapped from school while he’s wearing Bruce’s jacket. Bruce has to investigate who is targeting him and kidnapping students from Gotham High.

I love these new DC graphic novels. The story is about DC characters as real people, before they become superheroes. These include Bruce Wayne (Batman), Selina Kyle (Cat Woman), and Jack Napier (The Joker). I loved seeing these characters as regular people. It makes them so much more relateable.

There was more diversity in this graphic novel than in the original DC comics. Bruce Wayne was from Hong Kong. His uncle Alfred was in a same-sex marriage. Barbara Gordon and her mother Principal Gordon were black. It was great to see cultural diversity in these characters.

The ending of the story was a surprise to me. It was open ended for a sequel, which I hope will be written! I loved this graphic novel!

Thank you DC Comics and FFBC for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and DC Ink for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Okay I know Bruce Wayne always gets some sort of new rendition in the world and maybe some people are over him, but I sure the heck am not! Bruce has been one of my favorite dudes in the DC world, and seeing him as this teenager with the swag you would expect him to have as a Wayne, but also that deductive reasoning skills that makes him an amazing Batman was just so great to see.

Who else caught that reference to Richard Grayson in the beginning though? I had to do a double take to make sure I read that correctly. Those jerk boys at Arkham Prep, but then you think about that name of the school and maybe some of it makes sense. Like it said, they were cruel at that school. Maybe it was a good thing Bruce got expelled for standing up to the bullies that were tormenting Richard. They needed a little ass-kicking anyway.

I thought this rendition of Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Jack Napier – who would grow up to be The Joker in this case – was really great. The Joker is one of those characters that you never really know what their true background story is and it’s all the more alluring to find out what made him into the sadistic clown we all know him to be. Seeing these three characters interact with one another in Gotham during their teenage years was so much fun, and I feel like there was a totally different power play at game here. Sure, Bruce seemed to be into himself from the beginning, meaning he wasn’t going through some awkward teenage phase like we all hope to see to make him seem more human and relatable, but it was still so awesome to see him in high school. I could only imagine the kind of issues he may have had to deal with during that period, and de la Cruz gave us that insight that I really didn’t know that I needed in my life!

Also huge shout out to Pitilli for the amazing artwork for this novel. I think it matched the story that de la Cruz created so perfectly, and the colors were great also. Everything about this graphic novel made me want to watch more shows about Selina Kyle to be honest, as a teenager or even a young adult. I think this may be my favorite rendition of Selina. Thank you for this!

3.5 stars
Confession time: I have never read a DC comic before but I've watched all the movies (okay, maybe not all the movies, but most)! Other than the information I got through said movies and in passing over the years, I don't really know all that much about these superheroes or their world but I still really enjoyed this comic. I personally thought the writing was just okay but what I enjoyed the most was the characters, artwork and recognising different characters all together in the same place and having them be different to what I expected!

This comic series is geared towards young adults and I have to say that's pretty clear because the voice the author uses does come across as a bit juvenile (not negatively). There's quite a bit of high school drama mixed with a mystery and I thought it gave the story a darker Riverdale vibe. I think a theme that also runs through the comics of these particular characters (Batman, Catwoman, the Joker) is the sociopolitical commentary on inequality and that was worked into the storyline quite nicely, and fit with my impression of Gotham City from the movies.

I really liked reading about these younger versions pre- their superhero/antihero/super-villain days. I always enjoy seeing established characters in their youth because it gives good insight to their origins and how they become who we've always known! I particularly loved that they diversified these characters. For example, in this world Bruce Wayne was half-Chinese and "Principal" Gordon was African-American and a woman. I thought it was a fun and inclusive portrayal of such beloved characters and I think the authors did a good job of it! I also like the twist that they gave to Alfred's character who also added more diversity to the story.

It was interesting to see how the character dynamics were set up! There was (unfortunately) a bit of a love-triangle that honestly wasn't very necessary except to add a bit more drama to high school life, but I thought the mix of characters involved in it were interesting! It really fuelled my imagination about how they ended up enemies from that point on. Spotting various familiar characters sprinkled throughout the comic was also a lot of fun; I got such joy from recognising their names!

Getting onto what I didn't like so much, the plot wasn't entirely original or even very surprising. I felt that at times the scenes jumped around a lot and felt a bit disjointed. There's also a narrator whose identity we know from the start but there were moments that had me questioning if I knew who it was, mostly because I couldn't understand the connection between their narrator's voice and their character in the story--it just didn't fit? That said, it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the graphic novel as a whole.

Overall, I'm really glad that I read this! I assume this is just the first edition of many to come and I'm really curious to see what happens next because this had a bit of a cliffhanger ending, and I'm keen to see how involved the others will become in the story too!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the eARC in exchange for a review!

Gotham High by Melissa de la Cruz takes the iconic characters we love from the Batman franchise and puts them in the middle of a high school setting. Fun fact, this idea was pitched as a series before (told differently) but was turned down, so it was nice to see a passed on idea come to light in a new way.

Taking the characters in Batman puts us right in the middle of a ton of high school drama but mixes it with a bit of mystery similar to shows and stories like Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale. The graphic novel is fast paced and has a lot going on.

In this universe Bruce Wayne is half Chinese and is cared for by his Uncle Alfred who manages and oversees the multi-billion dollar company of Wayne Enterprises. Throughout the story we meet several familiar faces. but with a twist - Selina Kyle is part Latina, Ivy is Korean, and we even come across the infamous Jack Napier, who can be pretty important to the batman storyline, not going to ruin who he is if you're unsure.

This storyline was fun, but it definitely wasn't mind blowing by any means, I would even call it predictable and easy to follow (not typical for a batman story). I also didn't love that the ending is so abrupt and sudden with very little to no character development. There's lots of tropes within this story as well, which made it a little less enjoyable - I expected some but not this many, it honestly made pushing through to the end a little exhausting.

However, the real star of this graphic novel are the illustrations done by Thomas Pitilli! The artwork was stunning and really popped against the atmosphere of the story while contributing to the young adult vibe of this graphic novel.

This is a new story where the superheroes and villains from the Batverse are teenagers in high school. We see a lot of characters from the Batman world as fellow classmates: Catwoman, Harvey Dent, Joker, Poison Ivy, Barbara Gordon, and Alfred. This isn’t necessarily origin stories but there are events that happened that shape who they’ll become.

This delivered exactly what it promised. One part of the story is about high school drama/politics including a love triangle. The other part of the story surrounds the kidnapping and ransoming of rich kids in Gotham. I enjoyed both plotlines.

I’m not the biggest DC fan so I’m not sure how die-hard fans would like this. Growing up my favorite superhero stories were from Baan and X-Men and I thought it was fun. Many of the characters have had their race or gender-changed from the characters I grew up with to add some diversity into this version, which I appreciate. I especially liked how Bruce was half-Chinese. As an Asian-American, it was fun to see one of my favorite superheroes share cultural similarities with me. I still felt like characters were true to the original. For example, I liked how Selina who is Catwoman isn’t the most likable character. She does a lot of unethical things but still has that streak of vulnerability that brings out Bruce’s protective side.

I’m not an avid comic book reader so sometimes superhero comics can be a little difficult for me to follow. However, this was easy to read for me. The art style and color scheme were spot on with Gotham’s gritty dark vibes. Overall I enjoyed this.

Gotham High is a YA graphic novel that narrates in a unique way the story of Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Jack Napier in high school - before they become the famous heroes and villains that we know. This graphic novel is a quick and highly entertaining read. Between love triangles, kidnapping, and betrayal, I was captivated.

About the Story: I really enjoyed the twist in this story. The cultural differences with Bruce being Chinese, Ivy Korean and Selina Hispanic (I believe). It was refreshing to see this cultural variety in a DC Comics story even though it’s difficult to pull off perfectly (i.e. names won’t match the culture…). But it’s a graphic novel so you can’t really go into too many details and this was something I really appreciated. The usual traits of each character were well depicted here. A brooding Wayne, a sneaky Selina… As for Alfred, an uncle instead of a butler, I really appreciate that change. It brought a more modern take to the story. As for the story itself, the love triangle was interesting. I very much appreciated the ending. It was perfect!

About the Illustration: The drawing is simply amazing. I loved it and thought it was a perfect combination with this story. I also enjoyed the little details hidden in the picture like the video games. It was very interesting. The visual was as delightful as the story was.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the experience. When DC Comics reached out, I was intrigued and took a chance. I have 0 regrets, except maybe that’s not longer. I highly recommend it. It’s fun, fast-paced, and beautiful.

A well known fact about me in my family and friend group is that I adore anything involving superheroes. I've gone to the theatre to see every new marvel movie, I'm subscribed to DC Universe so I can watch Young Justice and read the Nightwing comics, and I will read any superhero/supervillain YA novel that comes out. Given this obsession, I was so excited when I received an ARC of Gotham High on Netgalley and started reading it right away.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first--I absolutely adored this art style! The illustrator did such a fantastic job at capturing the mood of the novel and particular scene with his color choices, and I love how almost sketchy vibe of the character designs. It was the most enjoyable part of the novel for me since I don't often get the chance to read graphic novels.

It's normally very hard to capture a character that people are already acquainted with, in this case Batman, Catwoman, and Joker, but I found the younger versions of these three to be intriguing. De la Cruz definitely took some artistic liberties with some characters, most notably making Bruce Wayne half chinese, and I found that some of these changes worked and some of them didn't. The diversity of this story, while refreshing, came off as somewhat forced. I also really didn't like how the female characters were constantly depicted as manipulative--it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Lastly, let's discuss the plot, which I found to be just the right amount of cliche. I got major Riverdale vibes due to how dramatic everything was, but that made the story fun. I, along with an alarming number of people, are huge suckers for these trashy teenage tv shows and novels because, despite being totally unrealistic, they are addicting and engaging and something you're able to enjoy without using too much brain power.

In conclusion, I give Gotham High three and a half out of five stars for being a fun, cliche novel that has some issues with representation. I recommend this novel to any younger DC fan who's looking for a fun take on the adolescence of some of their favorite characters.

Gotham High gives DC fans a great storyline involving some of their favorite characters. The only thing I disliked about it was that it ended! It was a quick and entertaining read from the writing to the illustrations, which were gorgeous. It held my attention from start to finish and once I reached that last page I was left with the devastational ‘it’s over’ feeling.

The story takes place in a high school setting revolving around characters to be perceived as Batman, Catwoman and Joker. They aren’t labeled as superheroes or villans...yet...but they have the same characteristics that make them who we already know them to be. Bruce is rich and strives to help people and do the right thing. Selina and Bruce have an attraction toward each other which she slightly takes advantage of. And Jack is sly and has the greatness of the Joker deep inside him.

The graphic novel is told in Selina a.k.a catwoman’s point of view and how she orchestrates a devilish plan to get what she wants, what she needs to help her sick father. Bruce and Jack just get caught up in her web along the way and there’s even a guest appearance by Ivy.

I loved how the characters were true to who they are originally based off of, but puts it into a modernized story of how these three would be as teenagers in the present time, before they became who they are known to be. I can only hope there’s more to come, because I want to see each of them in their prime and take on their roles as hero or villain or just misunderstood.

For fans of Melissa’s writing it doesn’t disappoint and if you have loved any of her other novels I recommend giving this one a try. I’m not too familiar with Thomas’s work, but I was thoroughly impressed with the illustrations within this book. They held their own when there were no words, telling the story with nothing but gorgeous images.

A must have for any superhero, DC fanatic or graphic novel collector. Lastly, I want to thank DC for sending me a free copy! I am grateful and very appreciative.

I received a copy of Gotham High from DC comics in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is a fast read with absolutely gorgeous illustrations. I enjoyed the diversity and I feel like they did a good job of creating believable teenagers out of classic DC characters. I did find some aspects a bit cliche, particularly naming products to show how rich Bruce is. Even though it's a minor thing, I found myself getting pulled from the story just enough to be mildly annoyed at the references.

I was hoping for more from the female cast. Honestly it felt like the women were all portrayed as lying, conniving people. Whereas the men who were participating in shady practices still had redeeming personality traits and you felt more compelled to feel sorry for them.

My favorite portrayal in this book is Jack. I enjoyed the layers to his character and would like to see further into his life and the way he thinks.

Overall, I'm giving this a 3 because I feel like it could've been stronger and I wish we had at least one female character that was portrayed as strong and independent without it being negative.

Okay I’m going to be completely honest Batman isn’t my favorite person but when I read the synopsis for this I was definitely intrigued. I mean… a sort of prequel about Batman, Catwoman and The Joker before they were them? I mean, how could I not be interested?

First of all, I gotta say that the art is just STUNNING. It had like a dark texture (I’m not an artist I don’t know terminology just bear with me) that fit the whole Gotham vibe perfectly! It was dark and mysterious and I was gripped from the beginning.

The story itself was full of mystery and I honestly didn’t know what would happen! I loved the narration. It had this whole old timey TV show (you know like in Spider-Verse Nicholas Cages’ character? THAT vibe).

I especially enjoyed the little parallels and nods to all the different DC comics. I really liked Selina Kyle and I think it would be really cool for more stories in this whole High School Universe!

If you enjoy broody rich teenagers, *gasp* kidnappings!, dark and intense art and storytelling, comics and vigilantes, parties with ulterior motives and card games with hidden meanings this is definitely something you should check out! Even if you don’t know the DC Comics, this is a great story with twists and turns that even a newbie to comics will find intriguing!

Wow! This graphic novel is not only stunning in its visual storytelling but absolutely nailing the teenage aspect of Gotham City. Gotham High is a diverse read with fierce heroes and Asian-American protagonists. It enables the aspects of teenage first love, angst, friendship, while also hitting the reader with a small love triangle. Did I say small? I mean a huge triangle that will leave you blushing! What bigger triangle can you get other than Batman, Catwoman, and the Joker? Seriously, I’m waiting.

While this novel is a refreshing new tale on Batman, the story isn’t exclusively based on him. What makes this novel unique to the others is the fact that Gotham High serves each character their own twist. You never know what is going to happen with each character and leaves the reader guessing for what is going to happen next.

It was so refreshing to see the amount of diversity crawling through this novel. It serves its purpose to bring awareness for young readers and who they can personally look up to in heroes. Bruce is half-Asian and Celina is Latina, while Poison Ivy is Korean!
Gotham High dives into multiple types of privileges teens grow up in as well as them growing into their adult personalities.

Thomas did such a wonderful job making this story come to life. Each page was filled with vibrant colors. Each character had their own palette which was great to see within the story. You could clearly tell that this was taking place within Gotham City just by the visuals.
While this book was a page turning masterpiece there were a few parts in the story that didn’t agree with me. I felt the resolution of the story happened rather quickly. The first part of the story was all about Bruce getting removed from his private school and having to come back to Gotham High. It showed us his past in depth, while also letting the reader know details about him in general. Yet, as the novel moves on, it was as if those details didn’t matter. To me, there was no reason to go so indepth in the history of this new Batman when we could have focused more on the building of his new friendships within Gotham High. A few added panels within the storytelling would have advanced this novel to have a clearer view of the character arc. The story was about Bruce, but he never really got his resolution ending.

**Okay, so spoilers ahead from this point. Just take caution. I won’t go too crazy into detail, but it will be enough for you to know points about the ending of Gotham High.**
If you have some basic knowledge of some DC characters than I’m sure you’ve heard of Catwoman. You know she is a manipulative and self-centered person. This is the part of the novel where I had trouble with how I wanted these characters to ‘behave’. Selina is a well loved girl in Gotham High. She seems well respected towards her friends, family, and even her father’s nurse. Yet, at the end her character does a complete 180 and turns into the cliché Catwoman. She was vindictive and played everyone like a fool. I didn’t quite understand that. I really understand Selina’s role into being conning towards the other characters but it wasn’t what I wanted from her. I’m a true believer in getting women equality in comics. I do also understand that we can’t always make a woman the hero, and I don’t ever want a male’s character arc to advance for the sake of a woman’s role in comics. Yet this did the opposite of that. Selina’s character arc changed at the sake of the male’s characters in this novel. It was just her behavior is not one that I’d expect a young adult to advance on. I hope that makes sense.

Please don’t take what I said against me and my views on this novel as a whole. I loved it. Gotham High was extremely entertaining and a page turner. Did I think some events happened too quickly? yes. Did I agree with Selina’s behavior? no. But that did not change how the story is told for other readers. It is a new and refreshing take on these characters for younger readers. And I applaud that. Gotham High is one of the most entertaining reads this year from a graphic novel stand point. The visuals really helped to carry this story farther than the actual storytelling.

Overall, it wasn’t my favorite but it was still a very hilarious quick read. A respectable three stars and one I’d save for my boys for their reading pleasures.
Thank you so much to DC for sending me a copy.

Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoy! Make sure to FOLLOW and LIKE to stay up to date with new reviews and chats!
Stay Safe and Healthy out there!
With love,
Brittany

This is only my second graphic novel but I really liked it! It's a different take on Batman. For starters, Batman is a teenager who is half chinese and Alfred is his uncle, not butler. :) Its the story of Batman before he became bad man and we also meet Catwoman, Ivy and the famous Joker.
The illustrations in the book are truly beautiful and capture the darkness of Gothic without being too dark!

I truly enjoyed and can not wait for the next installment