For all the takes we’ve had on Batman over the years, we somehow always keep wanting more. The new movie with Robert Pattinson is underway, but with the world on pause, who knows when we’ll actually see it.
Fortunately, we’ve still got all sorts of Batman comics to reckon with in the meantime, including a new graphic novel featuring an orphaned Bruce Wayne being taken in by his gay uncle Alfred.
Gotham High is written by Witches of East End author Melissa de la Cruz, and, as the title suggests, features some of Gotham's most notorious residents living out their most dramatic high school lives.
Basically, it’s the alternate universe fan fic everyone’s been writing online for years, but canon.
The story sees Bruce Wayne, who is described by Entertainment Weekly as “a rich Chinese-American loner” returning to Gotham City after a failed stint at boarding school. There, he encounters former friends Selina (eventual Catwoman) and Jack (eventual Joker) living far different lives than he remembers.
Obviously, Uncle Alfred isn’t going to be one of the forefront characters in a Gossip Girl-esque high school reimagining that revolves around a teenage love triangle, but it’s always cool to get new representation.
Every iteration of a long-established franchise that decides it makes sense for an existing character to be canonically queer paves the way for more flexibility when it comes to allowing rebooted characters to be the best versions of themselves. And while there probably weren’t fans clamoring for Alfred to be gay in a Batman reboot, if he can be, why can’t others eventually be as well? No doubt we will have many, many new iterations of Gotham-centric stories to provide the opportunities…hopefully the writers will take them.
Gotham High is currently available in comic book stores (if there are any still open) and will be available in all book stores on April 7.
