Gotham Academy #16
Brenden Fletcher, Adam Archer, Sandra Hope, James Tynion IV, Christain Wildgoose, Serge Lapointe, Ken Nimura
DC $2.99
It’s a good week for fans of I Kill Giants, as not only is Joe Kelly killing it on Spider-Man/Deadpool, but co-creator/artist Ken Nimura swings by Gotham Academy for a fun story that he draws/writers/letters by himself.
Before vomiting words of praise for Nimura’s contributions to this little, let’s check in on who else contributes to this issue. James Tynion IV, Christian Wildgoose, and Serge Lapointe tell the other guest story which is good, not great, and not exactly something worth writing home about. It’s cool seeing Maps drawn less stylized and more 
like an actual human teenager, but it only being 4 pages long give the team much to do. Which is a shame, because it gives Tynion a chance to focus on some less dramatic teen characters than the ones he’s used to in the Eternal books. He’s a good fit for the world of Gotham Academy, and takes to the lighter, more Batman the Animated Series inflenced world quite well. And the art is clean, bold and expressive, which I like, even though it’s a in a more traditional DC Comics style. Its delightful fluff, and something that may leave you wanting more from Tyion and Wildgoose.
The bridging story from Brenden Fletcher, Adam Archer, and Sandra Hope moves the story of Maps’ faux yearbook in an interesting direction, and I hope it’s capitalized upon for next month’s finale. I still don’t like how Archer draws a particular character, which I won’t get into due to spoilers, but it’s easy enough to overlook since their time on page is relatively short. His work on the main cast has been steadily improving, which I appreciate, and I hope to see him continue to grow as an artist.
Doing away with the 3 stories and 1 bridging story method for a longer second story, Ken Nimura’s “Boring Sundays” tale is DELIGHTFUL, and a great reason to give DC $3 this 
week. While Nimura doesn’t give us the deepest narrative, there’s a ton of charm injected into this tale, mostly via some fantastic art. His style, a mixture of Charles Schutz and manga, makes for an interesting visual take on the Gotham Academy. Also I am now realizing I should have just used Chris Eliopoulos as a better example of something the art is similar to, as you can see during Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye run (take a shot). Nimura really manages to strip down these characters to their esstenials, and manages to tell a adorable story in about 14 pages. It may very well be the best story to appear in the Yearbook arc to date.
Gotham Academy #16 is a fantastic installment of a very creative and fun arc. I love the talent that’s been assemble for this issue, and can’t wait to see who swings by next month for the finale. There hasn’t been a bad story in this storyline yet, and it’s hard to believe that’s going to change next month, especially after a issue as great as this one.
