Gotham Academy

This week's most exciting news was undoubtedly the announcement of the Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy crossover, coming in June from Chynna Clugston-Flores and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell. The thing is, though, aside from the creative team, any details of the actual plot of the series have been a kept as hidden as the mysteries of a haunted forest and/or suspiciously supervillainous private school. I mean, sure, we can pretty much expect that we're going to see mysteries and friendship, but beyond that? Who knows. But to tide us over in the meantime, Boom Studios has sent over an exclusive look at the incentive cover for the first issue of the crossover by Gotham Academy artist Karl Kerschl --- and in the process, they have provided us with one major clue. There will be a tree involved.

Every now and then, a crossover idea comes along that's such a no-brainer, such a natural, easy fit, that you start to wonder why you're surprised that it's actually happening. For my money, that's one of the best kinds of surprises, and that's exactly what we're getting today, as Boom Studios has announced an upcoming crossover between Lumberjanes and DC's Gotham Academy.

Our judges have adjudicated; our readers have voted. We’re proud to present to you the best teen comic of 2015 — and four great runners up.

This week DC kicks off the crossover event story "Robin War" in a comic book entitled, appropriately enough, Robin War #1. The storyline will wind through this month's issues of Grayson, Detective Comics, We Are Robin and Robin: Son of Batman, while this month's issues of Gotham Academy, Red Hood/Arsenal and Teen Titans will all tie-in to the events of the storyline. It all wraps up in next month's Robin War #2. To help you tell your Red Robin from your Red Hood, and your Robin, singular, from your The Robins, plural, we've assembled a handy guide to the major players in "Robin War"...

It might be a crime-ridden urban hellscape that's frequently destroyed by a murder clown, but the one thing you can say about Gotham City is that it has some great tourist attractions. There's the Crossword Puzzle Museum, the Second National Bank (at the corner of 2nd Street and Second Avenue), and the Ace Chemical Plant/Monarch Playing Card Factory historical site. Any of these destinations would make for a fun and educational field trip. So of course, that's not at all where the kids from Gotham Academy are going on their first trip into the city. Instead, Olive, Maps and the rest of the gang have decided that they should immediately go into the nearest available blind alley, and I have never been more worried about their safety than I am right now. Check out an exclusive preview of the next issue, Gotham Academy #11, by Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan and Karl Kerschl.

Earlier this month, DC released the first paperback collection of Gotham Academy, Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl's fan-favorite series about Olive Silverlock, Maps Mizoguchi, and their fellow students at Gotham City's most prestigious prep school. We recently got the chance to chat with the entire creative team, and what ensued was a fast-paced and giggle-filled conversation, evidencing the same careful planning and casual camaraderie that has made the series itself such an immediate hit – audiences tend to sense when creators enjoy working on a project, and and it's clear that with Gotham Academy, this trio are having the time of their lives.

The return of the Joker and his latest rein of crazy over Gotham comes to an end in April with the concluding chapter of Endgame in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman #40. The effects of the Joker's assault on sanity won't only be felt in the pages of that book, but in a series of one-shots spinning out of Batgirl, Arkham Manor, Detective Comics, and Gotham Academy. In the case of Gotham's finest/spookiest/strangest private school, the endgame plays out on the dark and sinister night of a city-wide blackout, with Joker-infected crazies at large on the streets. Holed up at the academy, students Olive Silverlock, Maps Mizoguchi and their... "friends"... tell each other scary Joker stories --- and those stories come from a team of exceptional guest artists. Series writers Brenden Fletcher and Becky Cloonan are joined by Six Gun Gorilla artist Jeff Stokely, Adventure Time character designer Joy Ang, illustrator Clio Chiang, and Anya's Ghost author Vera Brosgol. Check out our exclusive preview... if you dare.

At this point, I'm not sure how Gotham Academy could get better. I mean, it's already exactly what I have always wanted in my life but never knew I could get, a teen drama with mysteries and secret passages, where Batman occasionally shows up and obscure villains from the TV show are running the library. That's a level of perfection that I could've only dreamt of a year ago. But if I had to make a suggestion for how it might be better, I'd probably suggest getting Babs Tarr, the ComicsAlliance-favorite artist of Batgirl, to do a cover, or maybe getting Adventure Time designer Joy Ang to take a crack at the characters, or maybe have everyone spend an issue talking about how terrifying the Joker is. These are all things that are happening. We are living in a magical time.

Aside from the obvious, I don't usually like to refer to things as being my "favorites." I talk about so much stuff that I love all the time that every time I settle on a favorite, I almost immediately end up contradicting myself when I remember something else that I love, like when I went on and on about how Impulse #3 is my favorite single issue of all time right before I re-read G.I. Joe #21. There's just so much out there that's great that nine times out of ten, settling on a single thing as my favorite ends up being pretty limiting, and if there's one thing I hate, it's having to go back and admit that I might've been wrong about something. For me to actually settle on something as a favorite, it has to be so obvious that it's above and beyond everything else out there that it's self-evident. So with that in mind, believe me when I say this: Gotham Academy is, without question, my favorite comic on the stands right now, and it just keeps getting better.

Boom Studios has a reputation in the comics industry for publishing an increasingly diverse group of books and creators. This commitment to diversity in genre and people is reflected in an all-new initiative the publisher announced today in Previews with a letter from founder Ross Richie. While 2015 is the 10th anniversary of Boom, the publisher wants to talk about what's next rather than what's come before. They call this discussion of the future Push Comics Forward and they don't want it to be only about Boom. Push Comics Forward is Boom's way of focusing on the ongoing conversation about diversity and the future of the industry. To learn more about this initiative and what to expect from Boom for the next ten years and beyond, we spoke with Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon.