Summary: In the DC Universe school is back in session with new stories starring Damian,Jon, Dick, Babs and even Maps!
Plot/art: These over-sized anthology specials DC has been doing periodically these last few years have been really fun so far and this latest back to school themed special just might be my favorite of the bunch. Like any anthology there are going to be some stories that hit better than others and that's definitely true here though the misses were definitely outweighed by the hits. Of the eight stories here there was only one story I didn't care for at all and two that I don't think really fit the tone of the rest of the book despite the stories themselves being pretty solid. 

I'm going to put this out there...I don't like Tiny Titans. So yeah, that's the one miss for me. I'm just not a fan of the style of humor Franco and Baltazar use and I didn't get what the Tiny Titans visit with the Suicide Squad had to do with school, sure it took place in Belle Reve but that title just felt like a play on Saved by the Bell than something important to the book especially as the Suicide Squad was only in one other story.

The other two stories that weren't the greatest inclusions here were the Black Lightning story by Brandon Thomas and the Azrael story by Dan Watters. With Black Lightning we had a semi-timely story about why someone like Jefferson would serve under an odious President like Trump-Lex Luthor that had a great theme about service and humility that was solidly done...but it was a little too serious for the book. It's a similar story with the Azrael story as we get a horror themed flash back to Jean Paul Valley's Catholic School experience that had a great intensity about that I really enjoyed...but again it stuck out like a sore thumb. It's an anthology so you can have a variety of tones but when every other story is light and fun straying from that does take away from the reading experience.

As for what I liked? Everything else! King Shark as an English teacher with undercover Suicide Squad? Fantastic! Dick and Babs going to Prom and having their ride in interrupted by Supervillain antics which cause them to lose prom king and queen? I'll be re-reading that for sure! Damian and Jon helping a non-binary student fit in? A little heavy handed, but otherwise fun as always. And the best part? More Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan and Karl Kerschl! Man, I miss these characters and I'm really hoping this isn't the last we see of them.

Grade:8/10

Summary: Jessica Jones stops fighting her other selves and enlists them to help protect her family from the Purple Man.
Plot: The Variants #3 is another fantastic issue by Simone that has some  great action, some humor, a dash of melancholy and even more mystery. What I love is that after fighting a version of herself that seemed just like a slightly darker version and one that took up Captain America's mantle that it's a version that is still Jewel that gets Jessica to calm down and stop seeing her other selves as antagonists. For those of you who have forgotten, Jewel is the superhero alter ego Jessica used before she was expelled from the Avengers, so that it takes seeing her younger more innocent form to make her care for these alter egos is a fun play on psycho-analysis. And the clash between the male or perhaps gender-fluid version of Jess was a lot of fun, I loved the fight in the elevator.
Art: Noto is really on top of his game not only delivering excellent action scenes but also excelling at the quiet scenes at the diner. The subtle differences in the various Jess's are fantastically done, making each one unique but also still obviously Jessica Jones is a tough task but Noto makes it look effortless.
Grade:10/10