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Young Gotham Sampler
If there's a comic for everyone, then there's a Gotham for everyone. Young Gotham is the newest addition to the deep mythology of the Dark Knight's city, broadening the scope of titles for readers of all types. With such new titles as BATGIRL VOL. 1: THE BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE, GOTHAM ACADEMY VOL. 1: WELCOME TO GOTHAM ACADEMY, and GRAYSON VOL. 1: AGENTS OF SPYRAL, Gotham just go a little bigger.
- GenresComics
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 2015
14 people want to read
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Various
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If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 25, 2017
I read the paper version, which I got free at a convention, but I'm not going to bother adding a different edition here. It got lost in the book pile for a while, obviously.
I read the Grayson story around the end of March and liked it enough to get the full volume 1.
The Batgirl of Burnside story was pretty good, putting Barbara right in the thick of a contemporary story. The Gotham Academy story was okay. Both stories made me feel rather old. I'm sure the Batgirl story will resonate with girls in their teens and twenties. Gotham Academy felt more like a tween/teen thing to me and/or something for avid fans of manga.
I read the Grayson story around the end of March and liked it enough to get the full volume 1.
The Batgirl of Burnside story was pretty good, putting Barbara right in the thick of a contemporary story. The Gotham Academy story was okay. Both stories made me feel rather old. I'm sure the Batgirl story will resonate with girls in their teens and twenties. Gotham Academy felt more like a tween/teen thing to me and/or something for avid fans of manga.
December 1, 2015
This (free) book, as far as I can tell, contains 3 entire issues – each one the first chapter of the first volume of Grayson, Batgirl, and Gotham Academy.
They are enough to whet your appetite for each of these series.
Grayson is interesting; a secret agent is a different kind of story for Dick. And it ends on a cliffhanger that makes me want to get the book.
I really enjoyed Batgirl. She moves just outside Gotham and is going to school. I guess this takes place a little earlier in her career. It’s a little confusing – I guess she’s younger with the reboot?
I love the way it shows how her mind works. And the working in of social media and dating apps I thought was relevant and well done.
This story was pretty self-contained. But it did set up for a larger story that I would love to read. Guess I’ll be getting this at some point, too.
And Gotham Academy will be really good. Interesting characters. Fascinating plot. And Batman cameos! (I confess that I’ve already read volume 1 – and it’s great.)
So basically I’m interested in continuing on with all of these.
But I don’t need more books to read!
Thanks to NetGalley and DC Comics for a copy in return for an honest review. And for giving me more books that I need to read!
They are enough to whet your appetite for each of these series.
Grayson is interesting; a secret agent is a different kind of story for Dick. And it ends on a cliffhanger that makes me want to get the book.
I really enjoyed Batgirl. She moves just outside Gotham and is going to school. I guess this takes place a little earlier in her career. It’s a little confusing – I guess she’s younger with the reboot?
I love the way it shows how her mind works. And the working in of social media and dating apps I thought was relevant and well done.
This story was pretty self-contained. But it did set up for a larger story that I would love to read. Guess I’ll be getting this at some point, too.
And Gotham Academy will be really good. Interesting characters. Fascinating plot. And Batman cameos! (I confess that I’ve already read volume 1 – and it’s great.)
So basically I’m interested in continuing on with all of these.
But I don’t need more books to read!
Thanks to NetGalley and DC Comics for a copy in return for an honest review. And for giving me more books that I need to read!
June 26, 2015
This title collects the first issues in three of DC’s relatively new series: Grayson #1, Gotham Academy #1 and Batgirl #35 (re-branded Burnside arc of Batgirl following the departure of writer Gail Simone). You can read my full review of Grayson here, and my review of Gotham Academy sometime later today, so this post will cover the new Batgirl.
The Batgirl story shows Babs moving to the Gotham equivalent of Brooklyn (across the bridge), leaving behind her old roommate Alysia and picking up Frankie, a woman Barbara met while in physical therapy for her spinal injury. In Burnside there are trendy coffee shops, parties and lots of cute guys. There’s also a new villain trying to get personal and embarrassing information to share with the trolls of the web, and his next target is Batgirl.
The art style is significantly different than the previous iteration of the title, losing the tight spandex form-fitting suit for something more functional and hip. The new suit actually looks like something somebody would wear, and you can see that it is just a slightly altered jacket and pants that Barbara had to make in a hurry since all her stuff was stashed in Black Canary’s storage area which accidentally burned down. While the suit may play down some of the male gaze aspects of this title, we still see Barbara parading around in her underwear on the second page of this issue. Yes, these are college girls, and seeing someone in a t-shirt and panties would be natural in this situation, but you also could have gone with pajama shorts without the low cut. I’m not a prude, and generally speaking this issue is a step in a good direction, I just don’t want to give DC a complete free pass on the sexualization of its characters.
I do like the use of Barbara’s eidetic memory, particularly the sequence where she walks around to different parts of the apartment and tries to figure out who stole her laptop, her memory growing hazy in certain spots as her level of alcohol consumption increased the previous night. Her take-down of the villain at the end of this is pretty satisfying and sets up the next run of issues nicely.
I think Simone brought a lot of interesting things to this character, particularly dealing with the trauma of the Joker shooting her through the spine, and it’s a shame to see her go. But this new direction gives us a way to experience more of the fun side of Batgirl, more akin to how she appeared in series like Batman: The Animated Series. I’d definitely pick up the rest of this trade to find out more.
Overall for 99 cents, this sampler is kind of steal and a good way to determine if you’ll like any of these series.
* I received a free ARC from NetGalley in return for my honest review
The Batgirl story shows Babs moving to the Gotham equivalent of Brooklyn (across the bridge), leaving behind her old roommate Alysia and picking up Frankie, a woman Barbara met while in physical therapy for her spinal injury. In Burnside there are trendy coffee shops, parties and lots of cute guys. There’s also a new villain trying to get personal and embarrassing information to share with the trolls of the web, and his next target is Batgirl.
The art style is significantly different than the previous iteration of the title, losing the tight spandex form-fitting suit for something more functional and hip. The new suit actually looks like something somebody would wear, and you can see that it is just a slightly altered jacket and pants that Barbara had to make in a hurry since all her stuff was stashed in Black Canary’s storage area which accidentally burned down. While the suit may play down some of the male gaze aspects of this title, we still see Barbara parading around in her underwear on the second page of this issue. Yes, these are college girls, and seeing someone in a t-shirt and panties would be natural in this situation, but you also could have gone with pajama shorts without the low cut. I’m not a prude, and generally speaking this issue is a step in a good direction, I just don’t want to give DC a complete free pass on the sexualization of its characters.
I do like the use of Barbara’s eidetic memory, particularly the sequence where she walks around to different parts of the apartment and tries to figure out who stole her laptop, her memory growing hazy in certain spots as her level of alcohol consumption increased the previous night. Her take-down of the villain at the end of this is pretty satisfying and sets up the next run of issues nicely.
I think Simone brought a lot of interesting things to this character, particularly dealing with the trauma of the Joker shooting her through the spine, and it’s a shame to see her go. But this new direction gives us a way to experience more of the fun side of Batgirl, more akin to how she appeared in series like Batman: The Animated Series. I’d definitely pick up the rest of this trade to find out more.
Overall for 99 cents, this sampler is kind of steal and a good way to determine if you’ll like any of these series.
* I received a free ARC from NetGalley in return for my honest review
November 17, 2015
What we have here is a collection of first issues from various comics series all revolving around Gotham characters. There are three on hand to sample and see if you like, thus getting you to venture forth and purchase either the old issues on their own or perhaps the collected first volumes of each. Here’s a breakdown of the three:
GRAYSON VOL. 1: AGENTS OF SPYRAL
Dick Grayson, former Robin and former Nightwing, has apparently joined a secret organization known as Spyral. Just what they’re up to isn’t quite clear but his first adventure has him dropping into the kidnapping of a Russian who seems to have some sort of power. Unfortunately for Grayson there are two other groups trying to take out the same target, one of which is being led by Midnighter from the Wildstorm series THE AUTHORITY. By the end of this issue we get a small glimpse of who is behind Sypral but not quite what they’re all about. It is enough to whet your whistle though. The artwork is well done, the story solid and it might make this one worth looking into.
BATGIRL VOL. 1: THE BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE
A new series involving Batgirl, out on her own, trying to fit in with everyone else and talking non-stop. No seriously, she talks non-stop. I had a difficult time even trying to read this one. It seemed that word balloons were filling the pages over artwork that for me just wasn’t up to the style that I enjoy. This is not to say that some won’t find this fulfilling and enjoyable but for me it was substandard to what I’ve come to expect from DC. And in all honesty the biggest problem lied in the overuse of words, words and more words filling each and every page.
GOTHAM ACADEMY VOL. 1: WELCOME TO GOTHAM ACADEMY
So here we come to a problem. I have no idea who the main character is. From reading start to finish you get the impression she’s someone going to this preppy school based on a scholarship that she’s received from Bruce Wayne. As to who she is or what she’s doing there, no clue. But as the story unfolds you discover that she’s been there a year and her past friends now going there feel that she’s changed. Still she manages to accomplish feats most of us wouldn’t be able to when it comes to helping her friends. The artwork on this one is solid, in the style of comics drawn for kids that reminds me of a number of steampunk comics I read some time back.
On the whole this volume is a good way to expose kids to three different comics in one volume. Is it worth the price? Myself I’d much rather pick up the actual comics and decide from there than go this route. The fact that only 2/3 of what I saw would get me to buy any of these comics may account for my thoughts on the matter.
GRAYSON VOL. 1: AGENTS OF SPYRAL
Dick Grayson, former Robin and former Nightwing, has apparently joined a secret organization known as Spyral. Just what they’re up to isn’t quite clear but his first adventure has him dropping into the kidnapping of a Russian who seems to have some sort of power. Unfortunately for Grayson there are two other groups trying to take out the same target, one of which is being led by Midnighter from the Wildstorm series THE AUTHORITY. By the end of this issue we get a small glimpse of who is behind Sypral but not quite what they’re all about. It is enough to whet your whistle though. The artwork is well done, the story solid and it might make this one worth looking into.
BATGIRL VOL. 1: THE BATGIRL OF BURNSIDE
A new series involving Batgirl, out on her own, trying to fit in with everyone else and talking non-stop. No seriously, she talks non-stop. I had a difficult time even trying to read this one. It seemed that word balloons were filling the pages over artwork that for me just wasn’t up to the style that I enjoy. This is not to say that some won’t find this fulfilling and enjoyable but for me it was substandard to what I’ve come to expect from DC. And in all honesty the biggest problem lied in the overuse of words, words and more words filling each and every page.
GOTHAM ACADEMY VOL. 1: WELCOME TO GOTHAM ACADEMY
So here we come to a problem. I have no idea who the main character is. From reading start to finish you get the impression she’s someone going to this preppy school based on a scholarship that she’s received from Bruce Wayne. As to who she is or what she’s doing there, no clue. But as the story unfolds you discover that she’s been there a year and her past friends now going there feel that she’s changed. Still she manages to accomplish feats most of us wouldn’t be able to when it comes to helping her friends. The artwork on this one is solid, in the style of comics drawn for kids that reminds me of a number of steampunk comics I read some time back.
On the whole this volume is a good way to expose kids to three different comics in one volume. Is it worth the price? Myself I’d much rather pick up the actual comics and decide from there than go this route. The fact that only 2/3 of what I saw would get me to buy any of these comics may account for my thoughts on the matter.
July 5, 2015
This was, as previously noted, a sampler of three of DC's new books. You get the first issue of each of Grayson, Batgirl and Gotham Academy.
Grayson features the next step in the life of Dick Grayson, the original Robin and formerly Nightwing. He is now a special agent doing secret spy work for the somewhat mysterious agency known as Spiral. There is a great deal of good action, a dose of mystery - just what is Spiral and who are they working for good guys that we know they are - and excellent art. In sum, Grayson is the book that is most familiar to fans of superheroes and is one I'll likely continue to explore.
Batgirl is a reboot of the franchise following the departure of Gail Simone. Barbara Gordon has moved from Gotham to the hip precinct of Burnside, the Gotham equivalent of Brooklyn filled with all of the hip people and the requisite coffee shops, art galleries, parties and cute guys.There is a new villain and this is one for the information age, as he tries to get personal information to spread around the web, not to mention an over reliance by him on hashtags. We see an updated Batgirl costume that is less skintight spandex and more college girl trendy but underneath Batgirl is still Barbara, eidetic memory and all. This is the probably the slightest of the three stories and the one book I'm least likely to pursue.
Gotham Academy is a private school funded by Bruce Wayne. This is the least fully developed of the stories but after all it's only the first book of a series and is an introduction that really only hints at what's to come. That said, the art is well done and there is just enough there to tweak my interest sufficiently to at least pursue the story for the next couple of books. I'm not sure you can ask for much more from an introductory story to a brand new book.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Grayson features the next step in the life of Dick Grayson, the original Robin and formerly Nightwing. He is now a special agent doing secret spy work for the somewhat mysterious agency known as Spiral. There is a great deal of good action, a dose of mystery - just what is Spiral and who are they working for good guys that we know they are - and excellent art. In sum, Grayson is the book that is most familiar to fans of superheroes and is one I'll likely continue to explore.
Batgirl is a reboot of the franchise following the departure of Gail Simone. Barbara Gordon has moved from Gotham to the hip precinct of Burnside, the Gotham equivalent of Brooklyn filled with all of the hip people and the requisite coffee shops, art galleries, parties and cute guys.There is a new villain and this is one for the information age, as he tries to get personal information to spread around the web, not to mention an over reliance by him on hashtags. We see an updated Batgirl costume that is less skintight spandex and more college girl trendy but underneath Batgirl is still Barbara, eidetic memory and all. This is the probably the slightest of the three stories and the one book I'm least likely to pursue.
Gotham Academy is a private school funded by Bruce Wayne. This is the least fully developed of the stories but after all it's only the first book of a series and is an introduction that really only hints at what's to come. That said, the art is well done and there is just enough there to tweak my interest sufficiently to at least pursue the story for the next couple of books. I'm not sure you can ask for much more from an introductory story to a brand new book.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2015
This is a sampler of three different series. You get the first issue of Grayson, Batgirl, and Gotham Academy.
Starting with Grayson, we get the next step in Dick Grayson's life. He is presumed dead but is now doing secret agent work for the agency known as Spyral. Nice action and just a hint of what is to come. Nice artwork.
In Batgirl, Barbara Gordon has moved to a suburb of Gotham. All the trendy people live there. Babe has to try to balance her crime fighting and her normal life. Artwork felt cartoonish and better suited to Archie comics.
Gotham Academy is a private school funded by Bruce Wayne. Olive Silverlock is a second year student who is assigned to show her ex-boyfriend's younger sister around. Olive has had an unsettling experience over the summer that is just being hinted at so far and what exactly does Bruce Wayne have to do with it? Again, some nice artwork.
Grayson feels like it will be the most like a normal superhero comic with plenty of action, fighting bad guys, and twists in the story lines. Batgirl was a little too trendy for me. The so-called bad guy keep using hashtag in front of phrases and it seemed everyone was in an alternative lifestyle relationship. It just seemed to be trying just a little too hard to show how cool it was. Gotham Academy was the standout for me. It looked like it was going to be more of a mystery story with regular people instead of a superhero fighting costumed bad guys. While I love both types of stories, I liked the change from the typical in Gotham Academy.
I will definitely look more into Gotham Academy, probably check out more of Grayson, and pass on Batgirl. This is why I enjoy samplers. You get to try something without committing fully to it. Nicely done for a sampler.
Starting with Grayson, we get the next step in Dick Grayson's life. He is presumed dead but is now doing secret agent work for the agency known as Spyral. Nice action and just a hint of what is to come. Nice artwork.
In Batgirl, Barbara Gordon has moved to a suburb of Gotham. All the trendy people live there. Babe has to try to balance her crime fighting and her normal life. Artwork felt cartoonish and better suited to Archie comics.
Gotham Academy is a private school funded by Bruce Wayne. Olive Silverlock is a second year student who is assigned to show her ex-boyfriend's younger sister around. Olive has had an unsettling experience over the summer that is just being hinted at so far and what exactly does Bruce Wayne have to do with it? Again, some nice artwork.
Grayson feels like it will be the most like a normal superhero comic with plenty of action, fighting bad guys, and twists in the story lines. Batgirl was a little too trendy for me. The so-called bad guy keep using hashtag in front of phrases and it seemed everyone was in an alternative lifestyle relationship. It just seemed to be trying just a little too hard to show how cool it was. Gotham Academy was the standout for me. It looked like it was going to be more of a mystery story with regular people instead of a superhero fighting costumed bad guys. While I love both types of stories, I liked the change from the typical in Gotham Academy.
I will definitely look more into Gotham Academy, probably check out more of Grayson, and pass on Batgirl. This is why I enjoy samplers. You get to try something without committing fully to it. Nicely done for a sampler.
January 18, 2016
In this sampler, you get a taste of your favorite heroes and new adventures.you get a peek at three series that you will definitely want to check out -- I know I do! The art is great! Don't miss it!
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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