Early Reader Review: Gotham High by Melissa de la Cruz

Source: From Netgalley and DC Comics in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review. 

Gotham High by Melissa de la Cruz 
Illustrated by Tomas Pitilli
Colored by Miquel Muerto

Lettered by Troy Peteri
Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date:  April 7, 2020

 

Format: Ebook


Synopsis: 

From Melissa de la Cruz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex and Eliza and The Witches of East End comes a reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers.

After being kicked out of his boarding school, 17-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents' murder. Selina Kyle, previously the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier.

When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight—or is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes ... and where everyone is a suspect.

With evocative art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies--all within the hallways of Gotham High!

Trailer

Rating:

Review:  

I so wanted to adore this book. If you have visited my reviews and blog before, you know how I feel about DC Comics and the world and characters of the Batman saga... I generally love them so much. This was a good book, it took a lot of liberties that I just found weren't for me and hard to swallow as a follower of this world through the years.

So Gotham High is a new take on the Batman characters. In this book, the narrator is Selina Kyle and we meet her, Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent as well as Jack Napier (which eventually becomes the Joker from what I remember). Bruce has been moved into the regular high school and is making new friends when weir things start to happen around him and he comes to learn that someone or something is after him. His new friends try to help as best they can, but there is also a love triangle between Selina, Bruce and Jack which is complicating matters. All of this was great, the story line was engaging and the twists were there and well done. The illustration and coloration was really well done as well.

What I found off-putting was how many things were changed, a few is fine and understandable in a retelling, but there were a lot more changes than I expected in this retelling. So first obvious thing is the amount of diversity that has been added into the characters, a great thing, but since the characters have been around for so long it was hard to adapt to. Selina is Spanish, Bruce seems to be at least half Chinese and Ivy is introduced as Korean. Once more diverse character ok, but three! That was  A LOT to take in. Also Alfred... in this installment Alfred was Bruce's uncle, again would have been an ok adaptation to the original canon but as another cherry on the cake of changes, I was not a fan. As an uncle, after what happened to his family, you would think there would have been more bonding and family to help Bruce adjust. 

Overall, if I had not been so enthralled with the normal Batman canon this would have been a good, typical, teenage soap of a graphic novel, but as it stand it was just too many changes for me at one time.  

"For more information on Gotham High or the the World’s Greatest Super Heroes, visit www.dccomics.com, the DC YouTube channel, or follow @DCComics and @TheDCNation on social media."