Teen Titans Academy, Vol. 1: X Marks His Spot

It's hard to read this and not get an X-Men vibe, given the setting of a school for teenagers with superpowers. But, of course, it's clearly the DC universe and ties in with other Titans stories. The plot concerns a new intake of students (some familiar from previous comics, most not) one of whom is secretly a villain up to... I'm not really sure what because he hasn't done much that's obviously bad yet.

The main appeal is the new characters and the problem here is that there's a sufficiently large cast that, even by the end of the volume we don't really know who all the key ones are - Brick, Summer, Gregg, and especially Dane just don't get any development or backstory yet. So it may be something of a slow burn, possibly with DC trying to out the ideas to see which ones prove popular so they can be used more going forward. Having said that, the section where the Bat Pack become the main protagonists is good, balancing comedic moments with a serious backstory. And at least the collection includes the issue of Suicide Squad that was part of the plot arc, something that DC often overlooks when they put these together.

It's certainly intriguing enough for me to want to read more, although mainly to see what they do with the new characters than for the central mystery of Red X's identity, which remains unsolved at the conclusion. Stitch and the Bat Pack are great, and Bolt is fun, too, but give me more of Summer...