DC’s range of graphic novels aimed at young adults have been consistently charming and entertaining. Not only are these fun ‘slice of life’ style stories, they also tend to be accessible and inclusive, eschewing lengthy lore explanations in favour of relatable content and fun. Whistle, A New Gotham Hero continues the trend and tells a story of Gotham City crime busting that doesn’t require a post-graduate degree in Batman Studies to enjoy.
Our protagonist is 16-year-old Willow Zimmerman. She lives in a run down part of Gotham that’s slowly but surely getting worse thanks to indifference from City Hall and various community areas becoming over-run with vegetation over-night, a process the locals call ‘greening’. Willow’s mother is sick and they can’t afford the healthcare.
Willow works part-time at a dog shelter to try and make ends meet, but over all things are pretty bad. Then she gets another job with a real estate tycoon called E. Nigma and things get a lot more complicated.
Even though it doesn’t sound like it, this is a super-hero origin book. Willow’s transformation into Whistle is a little jarring and ‘dog based’ powers are a little silly, but this is a story based in Gotham City, this sort of daft fantasy is very much expected. One of the things that really helps sell the story is Manuel Preitano’s artwork. It’s gentle, detailed stuff that really does make Gotham feel like a place that people actually live in. Gabby Metzler’s colours are soft and pastel-like for the most part, and this makes everything easy on the eye, drawing the reader rapidly into the story.
Lockhart’s storytelling is excellent throughout. Detailed, atmospheric, accessible and fun, Whistle is a comic book that will absolutely bring young readers into the world of DC comics and has a little bit of something for everything. Also, we’re a sucker for a story that features cute dogs. Recommended, and certainly one to add to the Christmas stocking filler list.
