Kelly Guentner, host of Back Issue Breakfast Club and Cosplay Cafe
Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero is a Young Adult graphic novel written by New York Times best-selling author E. Lockhart, with art by Manuel Preitano. It introduces a brand new character to the DC Universe, along with her lovable dog, Lebowitz.
"Sixteen-year-old Willow Zimmerman has something to say. When she’s not on the streets protesting City Hall’s neglect of her run-down Gotham neighborhood, she’s working nights at the local dog shelter. But as much as she does for the world around her, she’s struggling at home taking care of her sick mother. She’s got no time for boys (though there’s one she really likes), and no means to adopt the amazingly loyal stray Great Dane, Lebowitz, who follows her around.
Without health insurance and money running out, a desperate Willow reconnects with estranged family friend E. Nigma -- ex-addict, party promoter and real estate tycoon. Nigma opens the door to an easier life, offering Willow a new job hosting his glamorous private poker nights with Gotham City’s elite. Now, Willow is able to afford critical medical treatments for her mother. Plus, the job gives her a taste of the high life she’s never had."
Willow is a character that is easy to connect to. She has passion for her city and wants to do the right thing within her neighborhood. She has a close relationship with her mother and the struggle that she and her mother have with her mom's illness really tugs at the heartstrings. It's easy to see how Willow would get swayed by Edward Nygma's glamorous lifestyle when he comes into her life and offers her a job that pays well. He becomes a sort of surrogate uncle to her while Pamela Isley becomes like an aunt of sorts. Both show kindness to Willow and show a genuine interest in helping both Willow and her mother. One thing that this book does really well is that it shows that there are very few people who are truly good or truly evil-instead, it is our decisions that can lead us down various paths. We see Willow stray down the path from social activist to joining Edward's morally bankrupt world, and then we see her struggle to find her way back onto a more righteous path.
There are a lot of Easter Eggs for other recognizable characters and parts of the DC universe and Gotham is very well-fleshed out and feels like a city just as real as New York or Chicago, just like Willow feels like a well-rounded, realistic character that hopefully has a bright future within the DC Universe.
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