Ring the bell, because Gotham Academy is finally back in session. After a long hiatus, the cult favorite series set in the most prestigious and mysterious high school in Gotham is back, exploring a corner of the story many of us never thought we’d see—Olive Silverlock’s first year at school. Picking up largely in media res, Gotham Academy: First Year tantalizingly promises new insights into all of your favorite Gotham Academy students. But as the title should tip you off, First Year is also a great place to get your education started. If you’re new to this colorful corner of the DCU, we’re here to show you a little around campus. Here’s what you need to know about Gotham Academy.

The Student Body

The hero of our story so far has been the olive-skinned, silver-locked Olive Silverlock, a second-year Gotham Academy student with an unpopular take: she doesn’t very much care for Batman. Olive’s got a powerful sense of curiosity, justice and a determination to follow those senses. Her mother, we eventually learn, was a patient at Arkham Asylum, which might explain the enmity towards the Bat. In First Year, we go back to how her tenure at the prestigious institution began.

Olive’s closest friend, Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi, is inarguably the most popular character among Gotham Academy fans, with her own aspirations for becoming a crimefighter like Robin (if not a new Robin herself). She’s been featured in a number of spin-off adventures since the last time we visited the Academy. She will also not be appearing here—at least not in a major role. Maps was a first-year student during the original Gotham Academy run, so in this trip to the past, she hasn’t been enrolled yet.

Mia’s older brother, on the other hand, tennis star Kyle Mizoguchi, is another story. In their second year, Kyle and Olive were introduced as exes who remained on shakily friendly terms. Kyle, while forthright and fairly brave, remained something of a mystery in Olive’s second year, so we’ll likely get to know him better here.

These three form a “Detective Club” in Olive’s second year to unravel the mysterious doings of the Academy along with cult enthusiast Pomeline Fritch, school contraband dealer Colton Rivera, young Man-Bat mutant Tristan Grey, Clayface offspring Katherine Karlo, and young codebreaker Eric Jørgensen. Be prepared for any of them to turn up around the Academy’s halls.
 

The Faculty

It’s not all new faces at Gotham Academy. One of the core mysteries of the story is its connections to Arkham Asylum. Nearly the entire school’s payroll is staffed by former enemies of Batman.

First on the list is Headmaster “Hammerhead” Hammer, whom we know almost nothing about. He’s been stoically protecting these grounds and leading the Academy as far back as anyone can remember—and the more we learn about him, the more questions seem to amass.

Teaching biology is Kirk Langstrom, the original Man-Bat, at the time going through his own redemption arc. It wouldn’t be too long after Olive’s second year at the Academy that he would go on to join Justice League Dark. Kirk’s joined in the chemistry department by Achilles Milo, the bowlcutted fifth or sixth scariest mad scientist in Gotham.

A great deal of the staff is actually drawn from Batman’s television history, most notably the 1966 Batman TV show and Batman: The Animated Series. Look for Bookworm in the library, Louie the Lilac as groundskeeper, The New Batman Adventures’ Farmer Brown as the animal sciences professor, Robin’s own Aunt Harriet as den mother of the girls’ dormitory and none other than venerated actor Simon Trent as the drama teacher. (You may know him as the Gray Ghost.)

Most troubling of all may be the staff’s guidance counselor, though: a man called Hugo Strange.
 

The Secrets

That’s our cast. Our story, naturally, involves a whole lot of teenage angst and anxiety. But it’s the kind of angst and anxiety that can only be exacerbated by life in Gotham City. In Gotham Academy, Olive and her friends follow ghost stories, secret tunnels and secret societies, while finding cover in the city-wide threats that seem to arise in Gotham every three to six months. At the center of it all is Olive’s story and the unasked for legacy she carries with her. Meanwhile, Maps tries to get her hands on a grappling hook. If you haven’t read Gotham Academy, you don’t know it yet, but that’s the story you’re really here for.
 

The Real Secret

Now that you know a little bit more about where we’re headed back to, there’s one thing we should make clear. What makes a comic about a Gotham City private school, where Batman himself exists only in marginalia, so beloved?

The true secret of Gotham Academy isn’t in the mysteries of its foundation, its history or its enigmatic headmaster. A major part of the secret is its delightful character dynamics, and the way writers Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher meet the often daunting challenge of authentically capturing the socialization and mentality of teens. It’s got a whole lot to do with the art from Karl Kerschl, who made Gotham Academy stand out vibrantly from the rest of the DC Comics line in 2014, with a rare focus on backgrounds and spatiality that makes Gotham Academy feel like a livable space.

But the secret weapon of Gotham Academy is its perspective. More stories are told in Gotham City than anywhere else in the DC Universe. And yet, for all the thousands of issues that are set there, we rarely get to see what Gotham is really like for someone who lives in the city. We’re talking someone who exists outside the perspective of Batman, or one of his allies or enemies. Gotham Academy is an essential comic for the same reason we recommend Gotham Central. What exactly is this city that Batman has dedicated his life to protecting about? Who are the people that live here?

The value of Gotham Academy is in its depiction of the Gotham citizen as more than just a prop for peril and salvation in a costumed clash, but as people who must contend with the realities of living in Gotham every day. If you found yourself in Gotham, odds are you wouldn’t be Batman or Robin. You might be Kyle Mizoguchi or history professor Isla MacPherson. And your everyday life would probably be a whole lot scarier than it is now, but also, a lot more exciting.

But that’s enough of that. Your first year at Gotham Academy starts today. It’s time to meet your new classmates.

Gotham Academy: First Year #1 by Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Marco Ferrari and Eva De La Cruz is now available in print as a digital comic book.

Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.