Welcome to Gotham Academy, Gotham City’s most prestigious school, which counts Harvey Dent and Dick Grayson among its former students.
Like many places in Gotham, it is filled with history, dark secrets, and hidden passageways. Admittedly, not every part of Gotham City has secret passages. but still… Gotham’s most prestigious prep school also happens to be just across the road from the Arkham Asylum.
It is not that difficult to imagine that life at Gotham Academy is anything but normal. In 2014, Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl decided to explore the lives of the students attending the famous school, particularly the special case of Olive Silverlock, her best friend Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi, and the rest of the Gotham Academy Detective Club.
Launched as part of the New 52 era, the Gotham Academy comic book series has continued with a second volume and a prequel comic since then, while the students have made some appearances in other titles and even had a crossover with the Lumberjanes!
So, let’s enrol in a special course with the Gotham Academy Detective Club right now in our Gotham Academy Reading Guide!
Gotham Academy Reading Order
Gotham Academy: First Year – The Prequel Comic
The creative team of Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher and Karl Kerschl have recently headed back to school! Joined by Marco Ferrari, they have returned to Gotham Academy to recount the events of Olive Silverlock’s first year, which was already filled with mystery, romance, and teenage drama.
Gotham Academy: First Year is a prequel that fans of the series will naturally enjoy, but it can also serve as an introduction to this part of the Gotham Universe for new readers.
- Gotham Academy: First Year #1-6 [2026]
Limited Series. Not yet collected.
Welcome to Gotham Academy: The First Semester
While Batman is confronting the Court of Owls, facing Joker’s latest crazy plans, or even fighting a new villain called Mr. Bloom, the young people of Gotham still have to attend school and pass their exams! Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi is a new student at Gotham Academy, and Olive Silverlock (and Maps’s brother’s ex-girlfriend) is assigned to help her acclimate to the campus. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? That is, if you don’t count the ghost story, the secret society conducting bizarre rituals, and weirdo billionaire Bruce Wayne, who funds the Academy.
The first twelve issues of Gotham Academy tell one complete story, while the rest are mostly short stories written and illustrated by different writers and artists in the comics industry.
- Gotham Academy: The Complete Collection
Collects Gotham Academy #1-18 and Gotham Academy Annual #1. Previously collected in:- Gotham Academy Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy
Collects Gotham Academy #1-6. - Gotham Academy Vol. 2: Calamity
Collects Gotham Academy #7-12 and DC Sneak Peek – Gotham Academy #1. - Gotham Academy Vol. 3: Yearbook
Collects Gotham Academy #13-18 and Gotham Academy Annual #1. - Issue #13 is a tie-in to Robin War. You don’t have to read the event.
- Gotham Academy Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy
Wait! That is not all! The kids of Gotham Academy had more adventures during their first semester. Those (optional) stories can be read between Vol. 2 and 3:
- Gotham Academy: Endgame #1 – A stand-alone issue part of the Endgame event where the students of Gotham Academy have been gathered into tents in the Gymnasium for their safety. To pass the time, they are telling each other stories about the Joker. Collected in The Joker: Endgame.
- Batgirl (2011) Annual #3 – Olive and Maps meet Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) during her Burnside era as she is chasing Gladius. Collected in Batgirl of Burnside: DC Compact Comics Edition
- Batgirl (2011) #51-52 – A Follow-up to the Batgirl Annual, where Olive and Maps cross paths once again with Batgirl when Gotham Academy is attacked. Collected in Batgirl of Burnside: DC Compact Comics Edition
Also, student Heathcliff Ray left Gotham Academy and became the tour manager/roadie for the band Black Canary, and appears as a supporting character in Black Canary: Kicking and Screaming and Black Canary: New Killer Star.
The friendship Crossover!
BOOM! Studios and DC Comics team up to bring together Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy in this non-canonical story that you can read whenever you want.
- Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy
Collects Lumberjanes / Gotham Academy #1-6.
Gotham Academy Rebirth: Second Semester
The creative team is back, joined by Adam Archer, at Gotham Academy for a second semester during the DC Rebirth era. This series is a direct sequel to the previous Gotham Academy comic, picking up where the story left off with new mysteries, dangers, and classic Gotham villains for the Gotham Academy Detective Club!
- Gotham Academy: Second Semester Vol. 1: Welcome Back
Collects Gotham Academy: Second Semester #1-3, #5-8. - Gotham Academy: Second Semester Vol. 2: The Ballad of Olive Silverlock
Collects Gotham Academy: Second Semester #4 and #9-12
Following the second semester, Maps teamed up with Batman and had to prepare herself for a different second year at Gotham Academy:
- Gotham Academy: Maps of Mystery #1 – This one-shot collects everything Gotham Academy released in 2021-2022:
- “They Make Great Pets” story from Batman (2016) #119-121: Maps and Batman investigate some mysterious disappearances. Collected in Batman Vol. 6: Abyss.
- “Sophomore Year” story from DC’s Saved by the Belle Reve #1: Maps is getting ready to start her second year of high school without her closest friend.
- “The Davenport House” story from Batman Black and White (2020) #4: A non-canon story featuring Batman and Maps as Robin. Collected in Batman: Black & White Compendium.
Maps’s Sophomore Year
Maps has started her second year at Gotham Academy. We can safely assume that this year is more ordinary than the first, as there are no new comics to tell the story of her and her friends. The character has still made a few (optional) appearances that you can check out:
- Batgirls #10-11 – Kyle and Maps Mizoguchi found themselves becoming supporting players in this story from Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad, taking them on a trip to the Zoo with Steph and Cass. Collected in Batgirls Vol. 2: Bat Girl Summer. (Kyle also appears in a few panels in issues #17-19 and in the Annual, but those are more extended cameos).
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2023) #10-12 (“Mother’s Day” story) – When Batman needs to know more about student Tristan Grey, he calls Maps to help him in his new mission, written and drawn by Karl Kerschl. Collected in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Legends of Justice.
