Gotham Academy Volume 3: Yearbook by Brenden Fletcher, Adam Archer, and Sandra Hope

Summary from Goodreads:

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Life grabs you by the wrist..." and hands you this year's Gotham Academy yearbook!

The students of Gotham's most prestigious prep school are back and they've just survived one heck of a year within the walls of Gotham Academy. Now it's time for everyone to look back and experience some of the lost adventures from the school year that was. Featuring stories and art by some of comics' best and brightest creators including Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN: L'IL GOTHAM), Derek Fridolfs (BATMAN: L'IL GOTHAM) and Rafael Albuquerque (AMERICAN VAMPIRE), as well as from regular series writer Brenden Fletcher (BATGIRL)!

Review:

Unfortunately, this was my least favorite volume so far. The fun, quirky elements were still there though, and thank goodness because the plot was kind of non-existent. Basically, most of the volume entailed the characters helping Maps put together her own yearbook/scrapbook of all the crazy things that happened to them at Gotham Academy over the year. So, the storyline didn’t advance much for the reader. It kind of felt like one of those episodes of Friends that summed up everyone’s favorite moments about a certain character so far. It felt like you were cheated an episode, kind of.

At least with Gotham Academy, I hadn’t seen any of the episodes remembered. They were all new stories. And while it was cool getting to see so many artists play and have fun with this comic, it became a bit much for me. And it was way too easy to put down. Each mini story/memory would conclude and I felt like I could put the book down for a while. In installments past, I would finish the comic in one sitting.

Also, and maybe this is just me, but I felt like it was way too soon for this. I still need to get to know the characters more. I want to spend more time with Maps and see more of the darkness of the school and teachers before I can feel ready for a recap episode. First development, then can come short mini stories.

The artwork, as always was awesome. And like I said, I did kind of like to see how different artists interpreted these characters. I just wasn’t ready for it quite yet. This is only the third volume. I also like the emphasis on friendship. This was clearly a BFF installment, and I liked that. All in all, I give it a 7/10.