Gotham Academy Team Reuniting For New DC Anthology Story

It’s time to head back to Gotham Academy. On Friday, DC announced (via ComicsBeat) the first details surrounding Saved by the Belle Reve, an upcoming 80-page anthology that is set to be released in August. The anthology will include a Gotham Academy reunion, with the original creative team of writers Becky Cloonan and Brendan Fletcher and artist Karl Kerschl returning for a new story. Saved by the Belle Reve will also include a new Super-Sons story written by Peter Tomasi, a new Tiny Titans story from Art Baltazar and Franco, and so much more. You can check out the official synopsis for the anthology below.

“School’s back in session, and we just know you’re waiting for the BELLE to give you some REVElief…all right, you can’t say we didn’t try! DC Saved by the Belle Reve’s halls are packed with eight tales of schooltime fun from around the DC Universe! The Suicide Squad is sent to an international prep school to protect a dignitary’s son! Jean-Paul Valley returns to the school that made him into Azrael! Plus, a return to Tiny Titans by Art Baltazar and Franco, and a new school year starts at Gotham Academy! So grab your pencils and notebooks and get educated!”

Originally published in 2014 as part of DC’s New 52 continuity, Gotham Academy chronicled the goings-on of an eclectic group of students at the titular prestigious Gotham prep school. Characters on the series included Olive Silverlock, Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi, Pomeline Fritch, and Heathcliff Ray. The series ultimately ran for over thirty issues, and even crossed over with Boom! Studios’ beloved series Lumberjanes. While elements of the series have bled over into larger DC canon — particularly in Maps briefly being established as one of Batman’s Robins — Gotham Academy has not had any new published installments since August of 2017.

“When we started out with Gotham Academy, we knew a lot of influential touchstones we wanted to hit,” Cloonan explained in a 2017 interview with ComicsBeat. “Batman mysteries, Harry Potter, Nancy Drew; it gave us a flavor of the world we wanted to create and then it became a matter of what tale we wanted to tell. Olive Silverlock became that story and other characters, Maps and Kyle, fell into place around her. Maps, in particular was created as a foil for Olive, she represents her true north.”

“I think these characters just fit well in the Batman universe as we created them,” Kershl added. “Not so much on the surface but Olive and Maps are almost a good analog for Batman and Robin or like Holmes and Watson. But after you see how things pan out after issue #8 those analogs might not be accurate anymore.”

What do you think of DC’s Gotham Academy returning? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!