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malachiical) wrote2021-01-13 02:24 pm
malachiical) wrote2021-01-13 02:24 pm
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Gotham High 101
(Or Intro to Gotham High, but I couldn't resist the school joke!)
Because someone asked for it, here's a tiny primer for Gotham High, a Batman cartoon that seems like it basically would have been DC's answer to X-Men: Evolution (read: a high school AU), except it never actually got made. It never got past the initial pitch and concept art, actually. But it haunts my thoughts and I keep returning to the idea and wishing it existed and had a fandom!
Back at the beginning of 2011, Celeste Green and Jeffrey Thomas, a writer and a character designer/story artist respectively, made a post on their shared BlogSpot blog about being approached sometime in 2009 to create a spec series for DC that unfortunately never got off the ground. They made the post to share the story synopsis they'd come up with, the original piece of art that had gotten someone to approach them in the first place, and the art pieces that they'd designed for their official pitch.
The actual post they made is right here, and you could just click through and read it if you like, but I'll go ahead and share it all here with a bit more commentary:
The Story Synopsis:
We all go through incredible changes as teenagers: growth spurts, bad skin, a sudden insatiable need to uphold justice and avenge your murdered parents... Well, that is if you're Bruce Wayne.
As if being a freshman at Gotham High wasn't tough enough, Bruce's insomnia and technological fascinations are taking their toll. Instead of spending his time studying, he has begun to obsess over an emerging personality trait: Batman. But under the watchful eye of his guardian and steward, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce is forced to put his intelligence to good use: graduating high school. But given his classmates, can Bruce survive Gotham High?
So we have the basic conceit, recognizable as a Batman property but with some really interesting tweaks beyond just "Bruce Wayne is a high schooler." This isn't just a high school AU where Bruce is dealing with low-level high school stakes or silly high school versions of "supervillain" plots! He actually has a drive to avenge his parents' deaths still and, more than that, to "uphold justice," and it's Alfred who's forcing him to actually attend and graduate high school rather than just dropping out and going Full Dark Knight at, presumably, 15-16. Bruce is slacking, which makes for a fun version of his usual false persona as kinda-airheaded playboy. He's got "technological fascinations," he has insomnia, Batman is described as an emerging personality trait which is interesting all by itself. And his supervillain classmates are at least nominally dangerous enough to put lives at risk; at least they're willing to try to kill Batman.
This is the original drawing that inspired someone to ask for the Gotham High spec series, simply titled "comedic duo." A straightforward look at the initial designs for Joker and Harley Quinn, with Joker described as "the class clown" (and confirmed to still be "psychotic") and Harley's normal everyday-looking outfit resembling her supervillain costume, complete with face paint.
Honestly, I just wanted to start out with this one because it's, well, the start. I don't have as much to say about it: It's the Joker and Harley Quinn, they look like themselves, they're a staple to Batman stuff. Moving on, though, we have the even more interesting...
Class photo! That's what the file name is called, and it's the Gotham High Class of 2009, the year Jeff and Celeste were approached to come up with the idea. This is maybe the most interesting image of the bunch, given that it shows all the major players and their designs... but maybe the reason it's the most interesting has to do with a totally different post, an article on Screen Rant about the unmade series, where they actually get into what "high school cliches" each character would have at least nominally slotted into. In order and in full, we have:
This picture and the descriptions given over on Screen Rants are the biggest glimpse into potential characterization that we have, but the other pictures are still interesting and round out some details.
Titled "Boys Will Be Boys," this picture gives us a bit of an idea that a)in true Gotham fashion, the villains in the series definitely do not all get along, b)Edward and Oswald seem to potentially be friends, c)Waylon and Bane seem to be friends, and d)Waylon and Bane are also bullies and the jocks absolutely do not respect the nerds in this school. The title might even imply that Gotham High is as corrupt/apathetic as Gotham City is in much of media, and that the faculty doesn't really care about bullying like this.
Now here's a little bit of info! Jay does not have "school spirit" (which is actually the name of the picture), but he is attending the game at least in this image. Maybe that has to do with the fact that Harleen's a cheerleader! As is Pamela! This also confirms what we could have suspected, that Waylon is on the Gotham High football team, and also tells us that Bruce is on the team as well. And as just a tiny detail, they seem to go up against high school teams from Metropolis and Central City, though who they're playing in that particular game is anyone's guess.
This image is called "Secret Admirer," which seems to confirm that Barbara has a crush on Bruce, for anyone who ships that! Selena is also flirting pretty hardcore with Bruce, who seems like he's not exactly being a smooth playboy about it. This also shows that Bruce has a small bat symbol on his own shirt, which was slightly hidden in the class photo picture. We have the "Vote 4 Harvey Dent" posters I was talking about before, and the stuff on the bulletin board wayyyy in the back is hard as hell to read but I managed to make it out: another class president advertisement, a notice that the 2009 yearbook is "ON SALE NOW!" in the library during lunch, a Gotham vs. Metropolis presumably football announcement (maybe Metropolis is who they were playing above), and a sign-up sheet for tryouts for an unspecified musical.
The fact that we did not get Batman and his rogues in high school trying out for and putting on a musical breaks my heart. That is all.
Finally...
The last picture is titled "Vote 4 Me," and I'll be honest, it's one of the least interesting ones to me. Harvey and Pamela being rivals does make me laugh, as does how desperately "SERIOUSLY?!" Harvey seems to be and how much the student body does not seem to give a shit, but I'm not the biggest fan of Pamela being played as a hot airhead. That said, the fact that she's interested in politics and running for student body president at all means the idea that she's obfuscating airheadedness is a definite possibility. And again, I'm not sure if she's challenging Harvey when Harvey was president the year before (maybe the students have complaints?) or if Harvey ends up winning this specific race.
The biggest thing I want to point out is look at Jonathan's fucking barbell earrings. This just reminds me that he's "the hipster" and now I'm laughing all over again.
So, this post is basically meant to break down what information we have about this cartoon that never existed but which I wish did. There's a lot we have no idea about, of course, but also some stuff we do know, can put together, or can guess about. There's a lot to play with for anything who's interested, and while not all of the decisions are ones every fan is going to like, to say the least, there's enough that's fun or even downright hilarious and some things that could be taken in a few different directions. And while the pictures make it all look very low-stakes high school, the synopsis offers some interesting darker and dangerous directions.
TL;DR I made an entire post advertising a nonexistent Batman high school AU cartoon because I wish there were a fandom. The end!
Because someone asked for it, here's a tiny primer for Gotham High, a Batman cartoon that seems like it basically would have been DC's answer to X-Men: Evolution (read: a high school AU), except it never actually got made. It never got past the initial pitch and concept art, actually. But it haunts my thoughts and I keep returning to the idea and wishing it existed and had a fandom!
Back at the beginning of 2011, Celeste Green and Jeffrey Thomas, a writer and a character designer/story artist respectively, made a post on their shared BlogSpot blog about being approached sometime in 2009 to create a spec series for DC that unfortunately never got off the ground. They made the post to share the story synopsis they'd come up with, the original piece of art that had gotten someone to approach them in the first place, and the art pieces that they'd designed for their official pitch.
The actual post they made is right here, and you could just click through and read it if you like, but I'll go ahead and share it all here with a bit more commentary:
The Story Synopsis:
We all go through incredible changes as teenagers: growth spurts, bad skin, a sudden insatiable need to uphold justice and avenge your murdered parents... Well, that is if you're Bruce Wayne.
As if being a freshman at Gotham High wasn't tough enough, Bruce's insomnia and technological fascinations are taking their toll. Instead of spending his time studying, he has begun to obsess over an emerging personality trait: Batman. But under the watchful eye of his guardian and steward, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce is forced to put his intelligence to good use: graduating high school. But given his classmates, can Bruce survive Gotham High?
So we have the basic conceit, recognizable as a Batman property but with some really interesting tweaks beyond just "Bruce Wayne is a high schooler." This isn't just a high school AU where Bruce is dealing with low-level high school stakes or silly high school versions of "supervillain" plots! He actually has a drive to avenge his parents' deaths still and, more than that, to "uphold justice," and it's Alfred who's forcing him to actually attend and graduate high school rather than just dropping out and going Full Dark Knight at, presumably, 15-16. Bruce is slacking, which makes for a fun version of his usual false persona as kinda-airheaded playboy. He's got "technological fascinations," he has insomnia, Batman is described as an emerging personality trait which is interesting all by itself. And his supervillain classmates are at least nominally dangerous enough to put lives at risk; at least they're willing to try to kill Batman.
This is the original drawing that inspired someone to ask for the Gotham High spec series, simply titled "comedic duo." A straightforward look at the initial designs for Joker and Harley Quinn, with Joker described as "the class clown" (and confirmed to still be "psychotic") and Harley's normal everyday-looking outfit resembling her supervillain costume, complete with face paint.
Honestly, I just wanted to start out with this one because it's, well, the start. I don't have as much to say about it: It's the Joker and Harley Quinn, they look like themselves, they're a staple to Batman stuff. Moving on, though, we have the even more interesting...
Class photo! That's what the file name is called, and it's the Gotham High Class of 2009, the year Jeff and Celeste were approached to come up with the idea. This is maybe the most interesting image of the bunch, given that it shows all the major players and their designs... but maybe the reason it's the most interesting has to do with a totally different post, an article on Screen Rant about the unmade series, where they actually get into what "high school cliches" each character would have at least nominally slotted into. In order and in full, we have:
- Matt Hagen (Clayface): the art geek
- Harvey Dent (Two-Face): the politically-minded class president
- Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin): the dorky fat kid
- Waylon Jones (Killer Croc): the super jock
- Edward Nigma (The Riddler): the incredibly intelligent nerdball
- Barbara Gordon (Batgirl): the cute, smart, girl-next-door type
- Bruce Wayne (Batman): "cooler than all of them"
- Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow): the hipster
- Selina Kyle (Catwoman): the dangerously hot chick
- Jay (Joker): the Jugallo...
- Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn): ...and his Jugalette
- Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy): the sexy goth girl
- Bane: the meatheaded, steroid-pumping wrestler
- Victor Fries (Mr. Freeze): the "cool" guy
This picture and the descriptions given over on Screen Rants are the biggest glimpse into potential characterization that we have, but the other pictures are still interesting and round out some details.
Titled "Boys Will Be Boys," this picture gives us a bit of an idea that a)in true Gotham fashion, the villains in the series definitely do not all get along, b)Edward and Oswald seem to potentially be friends, c)Waylon and Bane seem to be friends, and d)Waylon and Bane are also bullies and the jocks absolutely do not respect the nerds in this school. The title might even imply that Gotham High is as corrupt/apathetic as Gotham City is in much of media, and that the faculty doesn't really care about bullying like this.
Now here's a little bit of info! Jay does not have "school spirit" (which is actually the name of the picture), but he is attending the game at least in this image. Maybe that has to do with the fact that Harleen's a cheerleader! As is Pamela! This also confirms what we could have suspected, that Waylon is on the Gotham High football team, and also tells us that Bruce is on the team as well. And as just a tiny detail, they seem to go up against high school teams from Metropolis and Central City, though who they're playing in that particular game is anyone's guess.
This image is called "Secret Admirer," which seems to confirm that Barbara has a crush on Bruce, for anyone who ships that! Selena is also flirting pretty hardcore with Bruce, who seems like he's not exactly being a smooth playboy about it. This also shows that Bruce has a small bat symbol on his own shirt, which was slightly hidden in the class photo picture. We have the "Vote 4 Harvey Dent" posters I was talking about before, and the stuff on the bulletin board wayyyy in the back is hard as hell to read but I managed to make it out: another class president advertisement, a notice that the 2009 yearbook is "ON SALE NOW!" in the library during lunch, a Gotham vs. Metropolis presumably football announcement (maybe Metropolis is who they were playing above), and a sign-up sheet for tryouts for an unspecified musical.
The fact that we did not get Batman and his rogues in high school trying out for and putting on a musical breaks my heart. That is all.
Finally...
The last picture is titled "Vote 4 Me," and I'll be honest, it's one of the least interesting ones to me. Harvey and Pamela being rivals does make me laugh, as does how desperately "SERIOUSLY?!" Harvey seems to be and how much the student body does not seem to give a shit, but I'm not the biggest fan of Pamela being played as a hot airhead. That said, the fact that she's interested in politics and running for student body president at all means the idea that she's obfuscating airheadedness is a definite possibility. And again, I'm not sure if she's challenging Harvey when Harvey was president the year before (maybe the students have complaints?) or if Harvey ends up winning this specific race.
The biggest thing I want to point out is look at Jonathan's fucking barbell earrings. This just reminds me that he's "the hipster" and now I'm laughing all over again.
So, this post is basically meant to break down what information we have about this cartoon that never existed but which I wish did. There's a lot we have no idea about, of course, but also some stuff we do know, can put together, or can guess about. There's a lot to play with for anything who's interested, and while not all of the decisions are ones every fan is going to like, to say the least, there's enough that's fun or even downright hilarious and some things that could be taken in a few different directions. And while the pictures make it all look very low-stakes high school, the synopsis offers some interesting darker and dangerous directions.
TL;DR I made an entire post advertising a nonexistent Batman high school AU cartoon because I wish there were a fandom. The end!