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DC Anthology Specials
DC's Zatannic Panic! (2025-) #1
Spooky stories for terrifying times, featuring bone-chilling tales from some ofcomics’ most fearsome fabulists and harrowing artists! With spine-tingling shorts starring Batman, Ambush Bug, Raven, The Demon, Plastic Man, Swamp Thing,and, of course, the Mistress of Magic herself, Zatanna, as they summon spirits andstruggle against the supernatural!
Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2025
5 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Warren Johnson
166 books414 followersDaniel Warren Johnson is a Chicago-based comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. He's worked on titles for most major publishers, including Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image. His current series with Skybound/Image Comics is EXTREMITY, a sci-fi/fantasy title he is writing and drawing, and continues to update his webcomic Space-Mullet in his spare time.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 18, 2025
Catchy title.
Anthologies are hit or miss, mostly miss if we're being honest. This one is no exception, but I do love Halloween and DC Mystic, so of course I was going to read this year's offering.
First up, Zatana. She takes on an evil magician who hijacks her in the middle of a show.
And wins. Duh.
And what would Halloween be without Batman?
I don't know. And neither do you.
Ride along as he discovers he may be part of a cycle of...DarkKnight stuff.
Really, who knows with that guy?
Art was pretty, story was gibberish.
Next up, Plastic Man recruits (to put it nicely) trick-or-treaters to help him save their parents from too much doom scrolling.
In Skartaris...
Some guy known as The Warlord, aka Travis, battles a dinosaur god in a leopard print loincloth. Travis wears the loincloth, btw, not Dino-Jesus.
I did. not. get this one at all.
However, I'll bet this character would make a fun rabbit hole to run down one day.
Jason Blood defers to Etrigan, who takes on (and off) the crown of Hell and fights a bounty hunter.
Swamp Thing and Constantine try to save a teenage werewolf.
And manage to act like this is the first time in history anyone has put wolfsbane and werewolf repellent in the same sentence.
Bless.
Raven takes on a creepy, supernatural serial killer.
Then goes trick-or-treating with the Teen Titans.
And Ambush Bug wraps it all up in a cute ending issue that ties all the stories together.
Recommended as a Spooktober read.
Anthologies are hit or miss, mostly miss if we're being honest. This one is no exception, but I do love Halloween and DC Mystic, so of course I was going to read this year's offering.
First up, Zatana. She takes on an evil magician who hijacks her in the middle of a show.
And wins. Duh.
And what would Halloween be without Batman?
I don't know. And neither do you.
Ride along as he discovers he may be part of a cycle of...DarkKnight stuff.
Really, who knows with that guy?
Art was pretty, story was gibberish.
Next up, Plastic Man recruits (to put it nicely) trick-or-treaters to help him save their parents from too much doom scrolling.
In Skartaris...
Some guy known as The Warlord, aka Travis, battles a dinosaur god in a leopard print loincloth. Travis wears the loincloth, btw, not Dino-Jesus.
I did. not. get this one at all.
However, I'll bet this character would make a fun rabbit hole to run down one day.
Jason Blood defers to Etrigan, who takes on (and off) the crown of Hell and fights a bounty hunter.
Swamp Thing and Constantine try to save a teenage werewolf.
And manage to act like this is the first time in history anyone has put wolfsbane and werewolf repellent in the same sentence.
Bless.
Raven takes on a creepy, supernatural serial killer.
Then goes trick-or-treating with the Teen Titans.
And Ambush Bug wraps it all up in a cute ending issue that ties all the stories together.
Recommended as a Spooktober read.
November 9, 2025
A fairly entertaining mixed bag of Hallowe’en treats.
The Greatest Magician There Ever Was - 3.5 stars
Ouroboros - 3 stars
Full-Size Bars - 3 stars
In Your Eyes - 2.75 stars
Splitting Heirs - 3.5 stars
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse - 3 stars
The Trick-or-Treater of Gladestone Street - 3 stars
The Haunted Comic! - 2.5 stars
The Greatest Magician There Ever Was - 3.5 stars
Ouroboros - 3 stars
Full-Size Bars - 3 stars
In Your Eyes - 2.75 stars
Splitting Heirs - 3.5 stars
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse - 3 stars
The Trick-or-Treater of Gladestone Street - 3 stars
The Haunted Comic! - 2.5 stars
October 8, 2025
I've always had a soft spot for the infrequent holiday anthologies from both DC and Marvel. The highlights of this years' Halloween are the Zatanna lead story, the dark and ambitious Batman palindrome, and a creepy Plastic Man trick-or-treat tale. There are eight stories in all from a pleasant variety of artists and writers, so chances are everyone will like at least one or two of them. All of the stories are interestingly tied together in an unlikely and surprising manner by Ambush Bug at the end. Fun stuff!
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October 29, 2025Did I mainly pick up Zatannic Panic! for the name? Obviously. Does it live up to that any better than misfiring Valentine's special Lex And The City? If anything, worse. The title story does have John McCrea art, but fits into the recent pattern of defining Zatanna mainly by her daddy issues, which is getting very tired. McCrea aside, the contributor who most interested me was probably Head Lopper's Andrew MacLean doing Constantine and Swamp Thing, but I don't get the sense he really understands either character, though there was a certain amusement to werewolf John having a snout in both senses. There's a supposedly palindromic Batman story that simply isn't (it only repeats the first two pages as the last two - whereas Ice Cream Man is the most recent example of a comic that did this properly, and that for a whole issue, not just a measly short); an Ambush Bug story that reminds me why I never got Ambush Bug; and a Warlord story that doesn't even feel particularly Hallowe'en, let alone any cop. As for the Etrigan, I like some Cavan Scott but this one I could barely even follow. Meaning the highlights by default are a Raven story which is unspectacular but at least very seasonal, and, gods help me, one written by Daniel Warren Johnson. Who, yes, has the significant advantage of Riley Rossmo drawing Plastic Man, but also manages a nod to the issues of the day without devolving into his usual cry-wank. Truly uncanny.
October 4, 2025
Overall this was a really solid collection of short stories. I was a little disappointed with the writing on a few of them, but seeing ambush bug at the end tie them all together really did it for me. Target audience definitely reached in that regard. Also I loved the art throughout the entire book, all of the artists did a phenomenal job with their respective styles. I want to do a quick run down of each of the stories.
The first story holds onto the name sake of the special as we join Zatanna in one of her magic shows as she performs the coffin escape trick. But in the middle of the act as she is about to come out, she finds herself in a strange world that seeks to terrorize her. Deathly visions of her father, children bleeding from their eyes, giant monsters. But Zatanna remembers back to learning about magic under her father, and the concept of distracting the audience even when it is an audience of one. And right now that is her. She is able to use her magic to reveal the true culprit behind this and reveal brother night. She is then able to banish him and use her power to burn the trap world down and head back into the coffin to pop out and finish her act! But strangely enough brother night is still in the audience and teasing more to come. Huh? Where? This is a one shot short story, unless this is meant to be a prequel to one of her previous series.
The next story has an amazing concept but pretty poor execution. The story is called ouroboros, as in the snake that eats its own tail. And it tells the story of batman dealing with a cult that worships the serpent and an ancient order of knights who oppose it. All fighting in ab endless cycle of violence/ While looking over information and tapestries about the group, the order fighting agains then happens to look a lot like batman. We then see as he breaks in and defeats the cult before performing the sacrifice. The really unusual and cool thing about this comic is that it sets out to be a palindrome story, so you can read it from either way. But the story isn’t big enough to really have any tangible effect either way. It’s a very cool concept, just feels like it really doesn’t have enough to hit the mark.
Now the next one is really weird, how often does plastic man deal with demons? On this Halloween night all the kids find themselves trick or treating on their own as their parents are glued to the TV’s in worry of all the local news. But there is their friendly neighborhood plastic man with a weird outfit and his special full sized candy bars to save the day and cheer them up. Except the kids are immediately horrified as they suddenly turn into the same goopy substance plastic man is made of…and he ABSORBS THEM?! WHAT?! With the combined powers of all these kids he then draws out and faces the demon creature that has absorbed their parents and uses the kids to draw out the demon inside and smash it. Once the demon was destroyed and the parents returned to normal, plastic man released the kids and apologized from tricking them. HUH?! Who helped Eel do this?! I know be can’t do this on his own lol. Just what?!
The next story feels something ripped straight out of the show Primal, in the best possible ways. It follows warlord during a normal outing of saving people and today he has come across a masked woman whose baby dino with a a purple diamond pendant has been taken by slavers or warriors or something idk. We get a bit of a history lesson on warped as he defeats all of them, how he always grew up on action heroes and always dreamed of flying and being more than a man. He wanted to be a hero but his real life fell short, even after joining the Air Force and dropping bombs in Vietnam. But then he crash landed in Skartaris and it felt like destiny. But as he finishes dishing out pain to these warriors and saving the girl and her Dino, he finds that he is surrounded by a different foe…a swarm of different animals all with the same purple diamond pendant. They knock him out and suddenly he finds himself in a cavern surrounded by the animals as they bow down to their monster god in the rock above them. The lady has taken off her mask to reveal a reptilian face, and in a different language they proclaim they have found the one they are looking for and now give their own bodies to him for the chance to come back. As it turns out they worship a warrior much like warlord, a creature cast down and locked up in Skartaris that has been looming for a worthy host. All of its followers just gave up and destroyed their physical bodies to power their master, and now all Warlord has to do is step out of the beam of light he current resides in and they can swap bodies and the true hero of Skartaris can return. As you can imagine…Hell no. The creature continues to try and gaslight warlord into thinking that they are one and the same and no different from each other. But warlord doesn’t relent, we watch as he seemingly spends years waiting in that single area of light. Staying alive form the water that drips down and growing older and more shriveled up as the time goes by, ever refusing to submit to the creature. The time finally comes when warlord has become a dying old man who will go any day, so he decides in his dying breath…the creature will go with him! He lunges up and grabs the chains around the monsters neck and chokes it to death. In its death the illusion is cast away and warlord is returned to full health and brought back into his world. “In Skartaris, the sun never sets…and the fight never ends. The warlord would have it no other way.”
The next story follows etrigan with a target on his back. Jason blood found out the hard way that a lot of people want Etrigan dead, after an imp sent a flaming arrow into his back while walking in Gotham. Turns out some lord of hell died and proclaimed etrigan to be his heir. As Jason tries to hold his own agains the demons sent to kill him, he chants the oath and swaps into the demon Etrigan to fight. Even for such a short story I respect the commitment to having Etrigan rhyme, that’s no easy feat in my opinion. But as Etrigan starts to fight, suddenly he shrivels in pain as a crown from hell forms around his head. As the demon assassin sent to kill him continues to slash him down, he gets down and admits defeat and proclaims the throne is now hers. Suddenly the crown shifts from his head…to hers. Now the target is on her head and she is immediately dragged down into hell by the other imps!
The next story follows swamp thing and Constantine. Swamp thing was just enjoying the night until he felt a monster wake him up in the night…a werewolf. Suddenly he finds Constantine out there hunting it…with slash marks against his chest. They do not say it, but they both know what this means…Constantine will soon shift. Turns out John was trying to exorcise the beast before it attacked him and ran out here. John knows she will shift soon, so he hands swamp thing a gun loaded with silver bullets. He wants swamp thing to use it on him when he goes out of control, but he makes swamp thing promise not to use it on the toe he werewolf and to find a cure no matter what. Suddenly the other werewolf comes out of the brush and tackles swamp thing, right as John starts to shift completely into his werewolf form. Suddenly it’s a double werewolf and swamp thing full brawl as John is using his last breaths to beg swamp thing to kill him. But as swamp thing reaches out the gun, he suddenly draws it back and sends out finds to take over the werewolves instead, he will not kill John. But as the fighting continues suddenly one of the werewolves throws back in pain as its hand goes down on a plant…wolfsbane. And if one exists here then a basic infinite amount can when swamp thing is at the helm. Suddenly swamp thing turns his entire body into the flower and uses them to completely surround the werewolves until they shift back into human form. And that’s when we find out the first werewolf was nothing but a child. Constantine was able to return him back to his parents and swamp thing disappeared into the night.
The next story is so screwed up, as we follow Raven trying to stay on patrol while ignoring the ridiculous holiday that is Halloween. But then she hears a cry for help, as a mother claims her child is missing but the cop refuses to listen to “fairy tales.” Wack. Raven flies down to see what’s going on and the mother claims her child has been taken by the trick or treaters of gladestone street. She claims that every year a mysterious masked child shows up and a kid goes missing and no one has been able to do anything about it. WHAT?! Legit?! That’s awful. Raven goes out to see what she can do, and as she uses her powers to sift through all the emotions…suddenly she catches wind of something. A creepy little child with a mask and knife approaching the passed out missing girl as he talks about getting something good to eat. Raven approaches and interrupts the “treat” and the creature responds by sending demons formed out of mist to attack raven. She is able to hold them off for the most part…until they reform into the form of her father, Trigon! Suddenly none of her blasts are doing anything, this can’t possibly be real. She’s right. Suddenly she redirects her attention to the strange trick or treater and sends a blast of energy through his mask. A trail of smoke comes out of the mask and the image of her father disappears alongside the trick or treated, who claims that they will be back for something good to eat next time. THAT’S HORRIBLE! We can’t just leave it there?! This dude will be back next Halloween. I’m wondering if the cops were pushed away due to mystical element hiding the activities. We gotta come back with Constantine, and Zatanna, and whoever else to kill this thing for good!
The last story is probably my favorite purely because of bias towards my love of ambush bug. The last story follows ambush bug in typical fashion as a client walks in…and abruptly disappears. Meaning only one thing…a haunting! The issue then follows ambush bug as he goes out to try and solve this haunting, after all the multiverse may depend on it. I
Unfortunately his son, the toy wonder, will just have to wait on trick or treating. And there where the really awesome part of this story comes in, as ambush bug proceeds to jump into the rest of the stories we just read trying to solve this mystery. He jumps into the batcave and spies on Alfred and Bruce watching the video on the cult, before deciding to leave as they got their own stuff going on. He uses the panel borders to protect himself from the fight plastic man is dealing with, and gets splattered with imp goop after Etrigan destroyed one next to him. While wandering in the forest he found a bunch of wolfsbane, and couldn’t get any help from the audience members at Zatanna’s show, mainly brother night,lol. He also pops into the “sketchy” part of metropolis, in a Superman story that wasn’t completed and only sketched out. Finally he ends up on the street with Raven and presents to her that he is on a case, but only has a weird chocolate bar, wolfsbane, and demon goop to show for it and no connection. She advises that he not eat any of those things and that she senses no threat, only his conflict. She suspects the only thing that needs him is his son. As ambush bug heads back to the office in defeat, be suddenly hears a moaning from behind his bookcase. He hasn’t cleaned it since the 80s, but decides to push it back and have a look. Only to realize there is no ghost but Argh!yle the entire time! His archenemy and living sock. Turns out he walked in and slipped under the book case. Sufficient to say, ambush bug dropped him off in Skartaris and the went home and apologized to cheeks for being late, and then went out to enjoy a night of trick or treating!
The first story holds onto the name sake of the special as we join Zatanna in one of her magic shows as she performs the coffin escape trick. But in the middle of the act as she is about to come out, she finds herself in a strange world that seeks to terrorize her. Deathly visions of her father, children bleeding from their eyes, giant monsters. But Zatanna remembers back to learning about magic under her father, and the concept of distracting the audience even when it is an audience of one. And right now that is her. She is able to use her magic to reveal the true culprit behind this and reveal brother night. She is then able to banish him and use her power to burn the trap world down and head back into the coffin to pop out and finish her act! But strangely enough brother night is still in the audience and teasing more to come. Huh? Where? This is a one shot short story, unless this is meant to be a prequel to one of her previous series.
The next story has an amazing concept but pretty poor execution. The story is called ouroboros, as in the snake that eats its own tail. And it tells the story of batman dealing with a cult that worships the serpent and an ancient order of knights who oppose it. All fighting in ab endless cycle of violence/ While looking over information and tapestries about the group, the order fighting agains then happens to look a lot like batman. We then see as he breaks in and defeats the cult before performing the sacrifice. The really unusual and cool thing about this comic is that it sets out to be a palindrome story, so you can read it from either way. But the story isn’t big enough to really have any tangible effect either way. It’s a very cool concept, just feels like it really doesn’t have enough to hit the mark.
Now the next one is really weird, how often does plastic man deal with demons? On this Halloween night all the kids find themselves trick or treating on their own as their parents are glued to the TV’s in worry of all the local news. But there is their friendly neighborhood plastic man with a weird outfit and his special full sized candy bars to save the day and cheer them up. Except the kids are immediately horrified as they suddenly turn into the same goopy substance plastic man is made of…and he ABSORBS THEM?! WHAT?! With the combined powers of all these kids he then draws out and faces the demon creature that has absorbed their parents and uses the kids to draw out the demon inside and smash it. Once the demon was destroyed and the parents returned to normal, plastic man released the kids and apologized from tricking them. HUH?! Who helped Eel do this?! I know be can’t do this on his own lol. Just what?!
The next story feels something ripped straight out of the show Primal, in the best possible ways. It follows warlord during a normal outing of saving people and today he has come across a masked woman whose baby dino with a a purple diamond pendant has been taken by slavers or warriors or something idk. We get a bit of a history lesson on warped as he defeats all of them, how he always grew up on action heroes and always dreamed of flying and being more than a man. He wanted to be a hero but his real life fell short, even after joining the Air Force and dropping bombs in Vietnam. But then he crash landed in Skartaris and it felt like destiny. But as he finishes dishing out pain to these warriors and saving the girl and her Dino, he finds that he is surrounded by a different foe…a swarm of different animals all with the same purple diamond pendant. They knock him out and suddenly he finds himself in a cavern surrounded by the animals as they bow down to their monster god in the rock above them. The lady has taken off her mask to reveal a reptilian face, and in a different language they proclaim they have found the one they are looking for and now give their own bodies to him for the chance to come back. As it turns out they worship a warrior much like warlord, a creature cast down and locked up in Skartaris that has been looming for a worthy host. All of its followers just gave up and destroyed their physical bodies to power their master, and now all Warlord has to do is step out of the beam of light he current resides in and they can swap bodies and the true hero of Skartaris can return. As you can imagine…Hell no. The creature continues to try and gaslight warlord into thinking that they are one and the same and no different from each other. But warlord doesn’t relent, we watch as he seemingly spends years waiting in that single area of light. Staying alive form the water that drips down and growing older and more shriveled up as the time goes by, ever refusing to submit to the creature. The time finally comes when warlord has become a dying old man who will go any day, so he decides in his dying breath…the creature will go with him! He lunges up and grabs the chains around the monsters neck and chokes it to death. In its death the illusion is cast away and warlord is returned to full health and brought back into his world. “In Skartaris, the sun never sets…and the fight never ends. The warlord would have it no other way.”
The next story follows etrigan with a target on his back. Jason blood found out the hard way that a lot of people want Etrigan dead, after an imp sent a flaming arrow into his back while walking in Gotham. Turns out some lord of hell died and proclaimed etrigan to be his heir. As Jason tries to hold his own agains the demons sent to kill him, he chants the oath and swaps into the demon Etrigan to fight. Even for such a short story I respect the commitment to having Etrigan rhyme, that’s no easy feat in my opinion. But as Etrigan starts to fight, suddenly he shrivels in pain as a crown from hell forms around his head. As the demon assassin sent to kill him continues to slash him down, he gets down and admits defeat and proclaims the throne is now hers. Suddenly the crown shifts from his head…to hers. Now the target is on her head and she is immediately dragged down into hell by the other imps!
The next story follows swamp thing and Constantine. Swamp thing was just enjoying the night until he felt a monster wake him up in the night…a werewolf. Suddenly he finds Constantine out there hunting it…with slash marks against his chest. They do not say it, but they both know what this means…Constantine will soon shift. Turns out John was trying to exorcise the beast before it attacked him and ran out here. John knows she will shift soon, so he hands swamp thing a gun loaded with silver bullets. He wants swamp thing to use it on him when he goes out of control, but he makes swamp thing promise not to use it on the toe he werewolf and to find a cure no matter what. Suddenly the other werewolf comes out of the brush and tackles swamp thing, right as John starts to shift completely into his werewolf form. Suddenly it’s a double werewolf and swamp thing full brawl as John is using his last breaths to beg swamp thing to kill him. But as swamp thing reaches out the gun, he suddenly draws it back and sends out finds to take over the werewolves instead, he will not kill John. But as the fighting continues suddenly one of the werewolves throws back in pain as its hand goes down on a plant…wolfsbane. And if one exists here then a basic infinite amount can when swamp thing is at the helm. Suddenly swamp thing turns his entire body into the flower and uses them to completely surround the werewolves until they shift back into human form. And that’s when we find out the first werewolf was nothing but a child. Constantine was able to return him back to his parents and swamp thing disappeared into the night.
The next story is so screwed up, as we follow Raven trying to stay on patrol while ignoring the ridiculous holiday that is Halloween. But then she hears a cry for help, as a mother claims her child is missing but the cop refuses to listen to “fairy tales.” Wack. Raven flies down to see what’s going on and the mother claims her child has been taken by the trick or treaters of gladestone street. She claims that every year a mysterious masked child shows up and a kid goes missing and no one has been able to do anything about it. WHAT?! Legit?! That’s awful. Raven goes out to see what she can do, and as she uses her powers to sift through all the emotions…suddenly she catches wind of something. A creepy little child with a mask and knife approaching the passed out missing girl as he talks about getting something good to eat. Raven approaches and interrupts the “treat” and the creature responds by sending demons formed out of mist to attack raven. She is able to hold them off for the most part…until they reform into the form of her father, Trigon! Suddenly none of her blasts are doing anything, this can’t possibly be real. She’s right. Suddenly she redirects her attention to the strange trick or treater and sends a blast of energy through his mask. A trail of smoke comes out of the mask and the image of her father disappears alongside the trick or treated, who claims that they will be back for something good to eat next time. THAT’S HORRIBLE! We can’t just leave it there?! This dude will be back next Halloween. I’m wondering if the cops were pushed away due to mystical element hiding the activities. We gotta come back with Constantine, and Zatanna, and whoever else to kill this thing for good!
The last story is probably my favorite purely because of bias towards my love of ambush bug. The last story follows ambush bug in typical fashion as a client walks in…and abruptly disappears. Meaning only one thing…a haunting! The issue then follows ambush bug as he goes out to try and solve this haunting, after all the multiverse may depend on it. I
Unfortunately his son, the toy wonder, will just have to wait on trick or treating. And there where the really awesome part of this story comes in, as ambush bug proceeds to jump into the rest of the stories we just read trying to solve this mystery. He jumps into the batcave and spies on Alfred and Bruce watching the video on the cult, before deciding to leave as they got their own stuff going on. He uses the panel borders to protect himself from the fight plastic man is dealing with, and gets splattered with imp goop after Etrigan destroyed one next to him. While wandering in the forest he found a bunch of wolfsbane, and couldn’t get any help from the audience members at Zatanna’s show, mainly brother night,lol. He also pops into the “sketchy” part of metropolis, in a Superman story that wasn’t completed and only sketched out. Finally he ends up on the street with Raven and presents to her that he is on a case, but only has a weird chocolate bar, wolfsbane, and demon goop to show for it and no connection. She advises that he not eat any of those things and that she senses no threat, only his conflict. She suspects the only thing that needs him is his son. As ambush bug heads back to the office in defeat, be suddenly hears a moaning from behind his bookcase. He hasn’t cleaned it since the 80s, but decides to push it back and have a look. Only to realize there is no ghost but Argh!yle the entire time! His archenemy and living sock. Turns out he walked in and slipped under the book case. Sufficient to say, ambush bug dropped him off in Skartaris and the went home and apologized to cheeks for being late, and then went out to enjoy a night of trick or treating!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 2, 2025I'm not a big fan of anthology series overall--I think they're too disjointed. And usually, there are one or two good stories while the rest are just blah. That was the case here as well. It started off good but then quickly went downhill. I'm disappointed because I thought there would be some really good scary stories.
November 1, 2025
A cute little one-off special. Some stories are better than others - I found the Warlord story weak, and the palindromic Batman story was a good but poorly executed concept.
The Plastic Man, Raven and Ambush Bug stories were the highlight of this anthology. I really enjoyed the art in the Swamp Thing story too. I'm left wishing DC did more with Ambush Bug these days.
The Plastic Man, Raven and Ambush Bug stories were the highlight of this anthology. I really enjoyed the art in the Swamp Thing story too. I'm left wishing DC did more with Ambush Bug these days.
October 11, 2025
As always, anthologies are rather hit or miss, but this one was more of a miss for me, unfortunately. Most stories had very unsatisfying endings, and were solved too quickly and too easily.
Zattana: the greatest magician there ever was ☆☆
By Lyndon Radchenka
I love Zatanna, but this wasn't quite it for me. The flashbacks were a bit jarring and the conclusion felt too quick and too easy. I liked the art in the different world though!
Batman: Ouroboros ☆,5
By Roberto Recchioni
The colours are very pretty. I liked the general vibe, but quite honestly I don't know what was going on here. I have no idea what happened or what this story was trying to say, which is unfortunate, because I was excited about the title. The Ouroboros somehow suits Batman. But this was just confusing
Plastic Man: Full size bars ☆
By Daniel Waren Johnson
I'm slowly starting to think this isn't the book for me. What even was this. Now, I'm not familiar with plastic man. Unfortunately, this didn't really make me like him. Had me wondering if he was good or evil for a while. Again a too easy solution.
The Warlord: In Your Eyes ☆☆☆☆
By Alex Galer
Didn't know this character, but I actually really enjoyed this. The whole are you good as a hero if you kill idea is a fun one, and I liked the determination of the hero. A bit of an ambiguous ending though.
The Demon: Splitting Heirs ☆☆
By Cavan Scott
Very simple one, some good lines, enjoyed the rhymes, but overall nothing special
Swamp thing & Constantine: what a horrible night to have a curse ☆☆☆
By Andrew MacLean
I liked Swamp Thing and Constantine's friendship. First time reading Swamp Thing and I quite liked him! Not my favourite artstyle, but a fun one nonetheless.
Raven: the trick or treater of Gladstone street ☆☆
By Rowan MacColl
Decent story, but a bit basic. Doesn't like the conclusion and like all of these, solved too easily.
Ambush Bug: the haunted comic ☆☆☆☆
By Callie C. Miller
This was so cute. Loved the meta-humour. Loved the inclusion of the earlier stories. This was my favourite one of the bunch to be honest, despite having no idea who Ambush Bug was.
Zattana: the greatest magician there ever was ☆☆
By Lyndon Radchenka
I love Zatanna, but this wasn't quite it for me. The flashbacks were a bit jarring and the conclusion felt too quick and too easy. I liked the art in the different world though!
Batman: Ouroboros ☆,5
By Roberto Recchioni
The colours are very pretty. I liked the general vibe, but quite honestly I don't know what was going on here. I have no idea what happened or what this story was trying to say, which is unfortunate, because I was excited about the title. The Ouroboros somehow suits Batman. But this was just confusing
Plastic Man: Full size bars ☆
By Daniel Waren Johnson
I'm slowly starting to think this isn't the book for me. What even was this. Now, I'm not familiar with plastic man. Unfortunately, this didn't really make me like him. Had me wondering if he was good or evil for a while. Again a too easy solution.
The Warlord: In Your Eyes ☆☆☆☆
By Alex Galer
Didn't know this character, but I actually really enjoyed this. The whole are you good as a hero if you kill idea is a fun one, and I liked the determination of the hero. A bit of an ambiguous ending though.
The Demon: Splitting Heirs ☆☆
By Cavan Scott
Very simple one, some good lines, enjoyed the rhymes, but overall nothing special
Swamp thing & Constantine: what a horrible night to have a curse ☆☆☆
By Andrew MacLean
I liked Swamp Thing and Constantine's friendship. First time reading Swamp Thing and I quite liked him! Not my favourite artstyle, but a fun one nonetheless.
Raven: the trick or treater of Gladstone street ☆☆
By Rowan MacColl
Decent story, but a bit basic. Doesn't like the conclusion and like all of these, solved too easily.
Ambush Bug: the haunted comic ☆☆☆☆
By Callie C. Miller
This was so cute. Loved the meta-humour. Loved the inclusion of the earlier stories. This was my favourite one of the bunch to be honest, despite having no idea who Ambush Bug was.
October 22, 2025
As someone who bought the physical copy I was sold off the cover. I was bitterly disappointed after reading. I was thinking it would have heavy horror based themes but instead it was Halloween themed pg13. It’s my own fault for having too high expectations. The problem wasn’t that it’s an anthology ( I love anthology’s) but it’s poor storytelling and creative thinking. Only about half of the story’s (4/8) did I think were hits or had potential. The other half of the story’s didn’t hold a plot and the “twists” were poorly executed. I still want to give 3/5 because half of the story’s were fun and held some depth. I’m not giving it total hate, it may be a bit for you but either way I’m sure a you’ll enjoy a few. I especially enjoyed the plastic man and warlord story lines.
October 6, 2025
I have always enjoyed Zatana and wish she got more attention. This book has some decent stories but there are a couple of duds. There is a good mix of art and styles on display. The Plastic Man story was weird in a good way with some great body horror art. The constantine story was nice as well. At the end of the day, this is another anthology book that falls in line with the vast majority of books like it.
October 8, 2025
That was SO fun!! I loved the last story as we sped ran through everything again with some funny commentary. I really liked Batman’s and Raven’s stories. Those were really good. I also enjoyed Swamp Thing and Constantine’s werewolf mess.
Overall I really enjoyed this comic. It was a fun little thing to read to get into the spooky season and I really liked the various art styles and stories.
Overall I really enjoyed this comic. It was a fun little thing to read to get into the spooky season and I really liked the various art styles and stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2025
It was ok.
Definitely not worth 8.99. It should have been 2 bucks. Some of these stories were flat out awful. I appreciate the creativity and all but man this was bad. 1 good story out of all of them. The art was bad on most. A few good ones but mostly bad. Get it on sale.
Definitely not worth 8.99. It should have been 2 bucks. Some of these stories were flat out awful. I appreciate the creativity and all but man this was bad. 1 good story out of all of them. The art was bad on most. A few good ones but mostly bad. Get it on sale.
October 25, 2025
As many of the other reviews have pointed out, anthologies tend to be hit or miss, and this is no exception. However, I ended up enjoying most of the stories at least, and only really disliked one.
With that in mind, I understand the price point being a hard sell.
With that in mind, I understand the price point being a hard sell.
October 4, 2025
Great Halloween issue!
October 5, 2025
a somewhat disappointing anthology
dnf
October 6, 2025I haven’t enjoyed any DC anthology issues that I’ve read. I think I’ll take the hint now and stop trying with these. At least the cover is cool…
October 7, 2025
Swamp Thing and Constantine story in this rules. Plastic Man one was good too.
October 11, 2025
some of these were hit and miss but put me in the spooky spirit nonetheless
October 12, 2025
a valiant (?) effort but boring, really, due to length limitations.
October 15, 2025
If you want a fun Halloween Comic with some underrated characters, and even a clever Batman adventure thrown in, This is for you!
October 22, 2025
I bought this for Zatanna and Raven, and their stories are... fine. All the stories are just... fine.
October 31, 2025
*2.5 stars
December 28, 2025
Just a multiverse of madness but I bought this comic for Zatanna only. Such a shame we only saw her once in a comic collection named after her.
January 25, 2026
Great collection of stories. Really loved the ambush bug part putting all of it together in a way. Wish there were more Zatanna, the title is catchy as hell. Loved the varying art styles as always.
February 1, 2026
i had lowkey forgotten ambush bug exists
February 2, 2026
Who the fuck is warlord?
October 31, 2025
3.5 rounded down to 3⭐️
DC’s Zatannic Panic! #1 is an oversized DC Comics prestige format one-shot written by Lyndon Radchenka, Roberto Recchioni, Daniel Warren Johnson, Alex Galer, Cavan Scott, Andrew MacClean, Rowan MacColl, and Callie C. Miller. It is cover dated October 2025
DC’s annual Halloween inspired anthology series. Stories in this year’s volume include Zatanna being sent to another dimension when one of her magic tricks gets hijacked, a Batman palindrome tale, Plastic-Man teaming up with children to rescue their parent’s obsession with the depressing TV news cycle, Warlord’s resolve being tested, Etrigan battling power hungry demons, Swamp Thing and Constantine try to save and cure a werewolf, Raven searches for a missing trick-or-treater, and Ambush Bug is on the case of a DC multiverse mystery.
The Zatanna, Plastic Man, and Ambush Bug stories were my favorite. A Warlord story was an unexpected and interesting surprise. All of the stories cover unique ground with a wide variety of art styles. I always enjoy DC Comic’s anthology issues and especially look forward to the annual Halloween issue. They are so much fun and this issue is no exception!
DC’s Zatannic Panic! #1 is an oversized DC Comics prestige format one-shot written by Lyndon Radchenka, Roberto Recchioni, Daniel Warren Johnson, Alex Galer, Cavan Scott, Andrew MacClean, Rowan MacColl, and Callie C. Miller. It is cover dated October 2025
DC’s annual Halloween inspired anthology series. Stories in this year’s volume include Zatanna being sent to another dimension when one of her magic tricks gets hijacked, a Batman palindrome tale, Plastic-Man teaming up with children to rescue their parent’s obsession with the depressing TV news cycle, Warlord’s resolve being tested, Etrigan battling power hungry demons, Swamp Thing and Constantine try to save and cure a werewolf, Raven searches for a missing trick-or-treater, and Ambush Bug is on the case of a DC multiverse mystery.
The Zatanna, Plastic Man, and Ambush Bug stories were my favorite. A Warlord story was an unexpected and interesting surprise. All of the stories cover unique ground with a wide variety of art styles. I always enjoy DC Comic’s anthology issues and especially look forward to the annual Halloween issue. They are so much fun and this issue is no exception!
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