Gotham High: a YA Catastrophe - CULTURETAP

I'm just gonna put it out there right now: this one's a doozy, folks.

Iconic superhero characters such as Batman are no strangers to alternate-universe storytelling. Some of them become classics, some of them fall completely short, and some of them are Smallville: an in-between in the eyes of the general viewing audience. In the genre of fiction as a whole, though, there is a common AU trope that writers come back to time and time again: what if we told a story about these characters when they were in high school?

People have been talking a lot about this book, and it's obvious to see why. First and foremost: it's a story called Gotham High. From the get-go, it was bound to fall victim to those who would brush it aside in favour of more traditional Batman stories. Further to that, there's the fact that there were a lot of creative liberties taken surrounding the traditional key details of original Batman characters here, and of course, people are going to jump to the defense every time a young adult version of a classic story is created. Although I'm guilty of this type of prejudice as well, and I'm well aware of the mixed-to-negative feedback this book is receiving, I wanted to give it a read and see for myself if it lives up to the controversy.

Buckle up, ladies and gents. My inner annoying nerd voice is gonna come through for this one. Also, no spoilers in this review, as usual.

It seemed appropriate to open this review with the above gif.

Yeah, um...the short version of my review is that I didn't like Gotham High.

There's more to unpack with it than it's most common critiques, but I'll start by going over those anyways and working my way to the points I've seen brought up least often.

Let's start with what folks in the community are saying is the elephant in the room: the fact that most of the major characters in this graphic novel had their race changed in some way, and the fact that it's furthermore been criticized for being a "social-justice warrior" book. While I am by no means opposed to seeing racial diversity in media, writers have to understand that there is a way to do it that won't "tokenize" said diverse characters and actually have them work in an interesting way and not just as "Asian Bruce Wayne" or "Latina Selina Kyle". Further to that, there is a certain laziness to taking a previously established white character and race-swapping them just for the sake of looking "woke". Gotham High does not understand this concept. I wouldn't have brought this detail up if it wasn't so apparent throughout the story. Perhaps because characterization in this book is so incredibly weak, author Melissa de la Cruz attempts to make up for it by establishing the racial backgrounds of these characters to absolute death. It almost loops right back around to being racist. For example, a major establishing detail of the story is the insinuation that half-Chinese billionaire Bruce Wayne's money was brought to America by his mother's extended family.

Another major issue that exists with the characters in Gotham High is the fact that this is supposedly an adaptation of Batman and his rogues gallery, and yet there is almost no character-building done that suggests that these are the same said characters we know and love. They're so boringly written that all their personalities seem to blend together; they all have terribly similar ways of acting and speaking. Yes, I understand that they are supposed to be teenagers and they're bound to grow and change in between the events of Gotham High and when they eventually take-on their superhero/supervillain alter-egos. However, I cannot envision a world where this version of Jack Napier, for example, who is portrayed as nothing more than a sweet kid from the wrong side of the tracks, becomes sadistic and insane enough to become the Joker. In fact, these characters are so absolutely blank-slate that I have trouble believing they'll eventually become anyone of importance. This issue, coupled with the poorly-handled race-swapping, makes me believe that this book actually would have worked better without the Batman names attached to it, since there's no semblance of those characters in this story anyways.

I unfortunately found myself comparing this book to Riverdale a lot during my initial read of it, and in case it wasn't already apparent, that isn't a compliment. This idea comes through most in the actual storyline. Without getting spoiler-y, the plot is honestly nothing more than a clunky fever-dream. In the beginning especially, it was SO heavy on exposition, and not in a graceful way. Everything that happens in Gotham High has to be explained to the reader. There's no room for us to make assumptions about what's going on, and the "show don't tell" rule is broken nearly all the time. Additionally, when we ARE given hints towards future events, they more often than not don't lead to anything, and the ending comes about basically as a result of stupid plot conveniences.

The most annoying part of this book for me, though, had to be Selina Kyle as a character. (Or rather, Selina Garcia Kyle, because we really have to drive home the fact that she's Latina despite having a last name like Kyle). I don't like to pull this name out often, but Selina is a Mary Sue in every sense of the term. I already mentioned the fact that her personality is equivalent to that of a piece of blank printer paper, but the way that her character exists as well as how the story as a whole is structured makes it look like she's a fanfiction author's self-insert character. The love triangle that takes place between her, Bruce and Jack (which I don't consider a spoiler since it was in the trailer) makes no sense since she's not likable at all, thus making it hard to believe that Bruce and Jack have any reason to be pining for her. Additionally, while this is the case for most characters, Selina is definitely the most guilty of random changes in dialect (she'll go from speaking like a teenager to using dictionary terms no one would naturally use in conversation...another Riverdale similarity) and goes from being entirely capable of herself to a total damsel in distress as the story calls for it. This girl is not conniving, intelligent or interesting enough to be the person that becomes Catwoman.

Closing my main points out with some nitpicks, I wanted to bring up that there are other little details in this book that are basically just tons of poorly inserted "references" that are probably supposed to come off as charming, but eventually become annoying after a while. These include, but are not limited to...

• The existence of another school called Arkham Prep

• The fact that Gotham High's mascot is a bat

• A panel where Bruce does bat dissection in biology class

• The existence of a fighting game called Caped Crusader which features a superhero character fighting an evil clown

Just. Like. Riverdale.

Okay, last negative point, and I swear I'll make it quick. I always say I'm not an authority on art, but even I know that Gotham High leaves something to be desired...

(Text bubbles are censored due to spoilers)

The only genuine praise I can give this book is that the colouring isn't bad - but even then, there's so much dark red and purple scenery at some points that it hearkens back to Riverdale again. The back of every panel makes it look like everything in this book takes place in the evening, which, being a high school drama, it does not.

I dunno. I guess I'm just frustrated because I feel like this had the potential to be so much more than it was. DC's YA novels are not inherently bad, but when you're given the task of writing something more lighthearted while also handling such beloved characters, you still have to be careful to not piss off nerds like me. And trust me, I don't like being annoyed by someone's creative work! But it just feels so careless that I have to demand better from the folks who made this book.

If you're looking for something better that's in a similar vein to this book, albeit with more action and fewer Batman properties, I'd check out Marie Lu's graphic novel adaptation of Batman: Nightwalker. It's not perfect, but it's certainly a much more satisfying read about a young Bruce Wayne than Gotham High is.

Oh yeah - and maybe DC shouldn't leave their properties in the hands of a writer that literally admitted to only wanting to write a Batman story because her husband likes the character. That might help their case too.

Rating: 3.5/10

Photos retrieved from Gotham High by Melissa De la Cruz, Amazon.com and Dark Knight News