Gotham Academy #2 is an issue of the series Gotham Academy (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 2015. It was published on November 5, 2014.
Synopsis for "The Diary of Millie Jane Cobblepot"
Having been assigned to read the diary of Millie Jane Cobblepot for her history class, Olive Silverlock reads it with some disdain for the girl's morose prose. Millie had been placed in captivity by her own father, who hoped to extract information from her. Olive is startled from her reading by some thuds and scraping, which prompts her to explore. Out the window, she sees the looming Bat-Signal in the sky, and wishes it were put out. On the ground below, she sees cloaked figures running in the night, and is frightened suddenly when Batman himself peers back at her through the glass.
The next morning, a tired Olive can hear her fellow students gossiping about the ghost that's supposed to be haunting the North Hall, and apparently migrated in the night to the dorms, based on the sounds that everyone heard. Behind her, Pomeline Fritch is engaged in tonsil-hockey with boyfriend Heathcliff and warns him not to tell anyone about their role in the rumour. She catches Olive looking, and warns her to mind her own business. She stands to antagonize Olive, but fortunately, Professor MacPherson arrives in time to send Pomeline back to her seat. However, to the girls' displeasure, she decides to assign them as partners for their Gotham History projects.
At lunch, Olive attempts to sit at the same table as a solitary boy who is sketching in a book. When he appears displeased by the prospect, she decides to move on, but accidentally knocks his drink onto his sketch book, and when she apologizes, she notices that the sketch is of her friend Maps. Angrily, he claps the book shut and warns that it's private. Just then, Maps' brother Kyle asks Olive's time for a moment. Uncomfortably, Olive tries to beg off, using her history project as an excuse. Maps appears, and Olive apologizes, running off. When Maps notices the artistic boy nearby, she wonders if he will draw a character of hers for her.
In the library, Olive and Pomeline work on their project a separately as possible, given their forced partnership. They're interrupted by Mr. Scarlett, who offers them hints as to which books they should be reading, passing Olive a note with the name of a book he thinks will be of particular value to them. Olive excuses herself to look for the book on the note, wondering when she'll have the willpower to stand up to Pomeline. Using the Dewey Decimal Classification to locate the book, Olive spots a handsome young man near the stacks with the older books, and sees that there is something strange about his eyes.
The book turns out to be the Diary of Millie Jane Cobblepot, which they're already reading, but this one has hand-written annotations all over it. Among them is a map of the cemetery behind the North Hall. This is of particular interest to Pomeline, who immediately texts Heathcliff with the news. Olive asks to have the book back, but Pomeline takes it, commenting that Olive should already know all about what it's like to be a crazy teen - and so would her mother. Olive is stunned by that last jab.
At her chemistry class later, Olive obsesses about Pomeline's comment until one of her lab-mates causes an explosion that startles her, and she overreacts. Worriedly, she excuses herself from class to clear her head. She hides under the bleachers, watching Kyle as her practices his tennis serve. They had recently broken up, and she begins to cry because she both misses him and worries what he'd think of her if he knew what had happened over the summer. She is driven out of hiding by the barking of Ms. MacPherson's dog Ham, who barks loudly. When Ms. MacPherson spots her, she worriedly hides the cigarette she's been smoking behind her, and admits that it's an old habit. She has a seat next to Olive and wonders why she's watching Kyle, and Olive admits that she hasn't told Kyle what happened yet. Ms. MacPherson urges her to explain to Kyle that she's the same Olive as before, and get him back. Meanwhile, Ham digs next to a nearby tree, and discovers a large bone to chew on.
Olive returns to her room to find Maps sitting on her bed. Olive's roommate Lucy was creeped out by the ghost sounds near the room, and decided to trade rooms with Maps for the night. Maps promised to check it out, and is eager to hammer through the wall to find the answers. Out the window again, Olive and Maps spot the cloaked figures running again, and silently agree to investigate together. They head to the old cemetery behind the North Hall, where they can hear the hoots of the owls. There, they find that the door to the Cobblepot crypt has been opened.
Inside, they hear chanting, and Olive notes that this is the place that the diary map was pointing to. An old tree had grown over the entrance to a cave within it. As they follow the stairs within downward, they stop suddenly when they see a gathering of three cloaked and masked figures chanting over an alter. Olive is troubled by the resemblance of the masks to bats, but she wills herself onward, leaving Maps to keep watch. As she inches further into the room, she spots the diary that Pomeline grabbed from her earlier on it, and realizes that she has nothing to fear here. Angrily, she marches up to the altar and grabs the diary. Angrily, Pomeline warns that Olive has no idea what she's doing in taking the book, but Olive turns with a glare, responding that Pomeline has no idea who she's dealing with. As a lick of flames circles around her, Olive admits that she is her mother's daughter, after all.
Appearing in "The Diary of Millie Jane Cobblepot"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Achilles Milo
- Eric Jørgensen (First appearance)
- Ham (First appearance)
- Heathcliff
- Lucy Hunt (Mentioned only)
- Katherine Karlo (Mentioned only)
- Millie Jane Cobblepot (Mentioned only)
- Mr. Scarlett (First appearance)
- Sherk (Unnamed)
- Tina (Mentioned only)
- Tristan Grey (First appearance)
- Batman
- "Aunt" Harriet (Mentioned only)
- Zachary Bernard Gleeson (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham Academy
- The Cemetery
- The Dorms
Items:
- Bat-Signal
- Diary of Millie Jane Cobblepot
- Ushering in the Industrial Age of Gotham City, by Zachary Bernard Gleeson
Vehicles:
See Also