The streets of Gotham are infamous for their tales of the desperate, the vigilantes who wear the emblem of justice on their sleeves, those who are inspired by the proclaimed heroes...and society's villains. Gotham's streets have been walked by all. Everyone begins at the rough corners of life with scuffed dreams, always looking towards the next turn around the bend. Gotham is the place that makes the heroes and villains we've all come to champion.
They just have to survive high school first.
Welcome to Gotham High where Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Jack Napier are all coming of age and forming the paths to their futures as Batman, Catwoman, and The Joker that circumstances have allotted them. Bruce returns to his past terrors that Gotham has bestowed upon him as a golden boy of financial wealth while the girl next door, Selina, acts out of love and desperation for her father's dwindling health and how Gotham's golden gates shun her from the means she needs to care for him. Then, you have Gotham's forgotten child, Jack, who roams the streets in search of his next thrill to avoid the reality of his life. All paths cross at Gotham High and when the Pranksters pay a visit and start a string of kidnappings, heroism and villainy will begin to flourish in the hearts of Gotham High's denizens.
Melissa de la Cruz never ceases to capture my attention with her detailed world-building. In Gotham High, I particularly liked her exploration of Bruce, Selina, and Jack's humanity and what was their reckoning, or the predominant forces, that eventually had them donning on masks across Gotham. More so, de la Cruz is able to convey a legacy of these characters in a way that portrays their personalities more outside the black and white lines of good vs. evil. Instead of labeling characters with these terms, we see: self-doubts, actions caused by necessity, the suffocation of feeling alone in this world, and all the moments in between that causes us to embark on paths towards unmarked futures. This was an idea that de la Cruz conveyed so elegantly throughout her narrative and that artist Thomas Pitilli captured throughout our journey in Gotham High. Pitilli was able to render the multifaceted emotional range of the characters and breathed a new era into the characters who originated inn the Batman series. He played a great homage to his predecessors through his cell work and design while still incorporating a modern artistic style.
Together, Melissa de la Cruz and Thomas Pitilli were able to bring a new era to Gotham. It's one where Bruce is still growing to his true strength, Selina demonstrates the fine dance between the black and white truths of life, and where readers will once again feel the drum of Gotham in their veins. But what makes a hero and a villain in these pages? Determine for yourself in this modern adaptation of Batman that takes a humanized look at Bruce Wayne's early years and the making of Catwoman and The Joker.
Favorite Quotes
"Bruce Wayne doesn't have friends. Bruce Wayne has followers."
"I can only avoid reality for so long."
BOOK INFORMATION
Gotham High
by Melissa de la Cruz & Thomas Pitilli Publisher: DC Ink Release Date: April 7th 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novels,
Sequential Art, Superheroes, Comics
Synopsis:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex and Eliza and The Witches of East End comes a reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers. Before they became Batman, Catwoman, and The Joker, Bruce, Selina, and Jack were high schoolers who would do whatever it took--even destroy the ones they love--to satisfy their own motives.
After being kicked out of his boarding school, 16-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents' murder. Selina Kyle, once the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier.
When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight--but is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes ... and where everyone is a suspect.
With enchanting art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies--all within the hallways of Gotham High!
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.
Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.
She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.
Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).
She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.
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TOUR SCHEDULE
Prize:
Win a copy of
Gotham High
by Melissa de la Cruz & Thomas Pitilli (US Only)
Starts: 7th April 2020
Ends: 21st April 2020