Summary: Batman and Maps fight a vampire menace, while the Gentleman Ghost rights a wrong, Swampthing soothes a murder victim and Batman helps a henchman go straight. 
Plot: Now we all know that any anthology is going to have its share of hits and misses but this issue might be my favorite as nearly every story was a solid hot for me with the Artemis story being a miss for me(I literally skipped it this month and I think it's over?) The only bad part is that this was the last issue with Karl Kerschl and his continuation of Gotham Academy with this team up between Maps and Batman was just so awesome on every level. Not only did we get to see Maps become more confident(and become an official Robin) but Kerschl just nailed Bruce's personality. I really wish he was the main writer for Batman. Aside from that I really enjoyed Rob Levin's team up between Falseface and Gentleman Ghost, it was really great to see these two characters reflect on what justice means to them as they are both traditionally villains and Levin really made them feel like multifaceted humans rather than simple villains. Building off that Smith gave us insight into helping a murder victim not only get justice but come to terms with his own death and the way it mirror Alec's own death made it really moving. It was short and sweet but it had a real punch to it. And ending the issue strong we got a story about Batman confronting a henchman before a big heist hoping to help the guy go straight. Sure, we've seen that kind of thing before but with Batman being constantly involved in big events of late it was nice to see a really grounded story like this. Anthologies ebb and flow with the talent behind them so who knows what next month will bring but I'm definitely going to keep supporting this book as I think one and done stories really suit characters like Batman really well.
Art: Kerschl was definitely the best of the bunch, his sharp, clean line work is just a joy to see and his action is kinetic and easy to follow. Charlie Adlard's black and white work in Henchmen was really good too, the shadow work was really well done and gave the whole story a great, tense mood.
Grade:8/10

Summary: Investigative Reporter Kate Marsden has tracked serial killer Darwin Collier all the way to the jungles of Peru but finds another monster.
Plot: Dan Watters and Ram V's take on the Creature of the Black Lagoon succeeds in every way that the earlier Image adaptation of Dracula by James Tynion IV failed: it's fresh and exciting while still feeling recognizable as the original. Now, perhaps I'm being too harsh on Tynion's earlier work, by it's very nature adapting Dracula is going to necessarily harder as it's been made into a film purportedly over 200 times and has nearly as many comic book adaptations which obviously means finding a new angle is going to be tough. On the other hand the Gillman while certainly visually iconic as a Hollywood Monster only had three films originally by Universal, the latter two of which are little known or seen, a cameo in Monstersquad and the recent  film The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro so as such has much more room for exploration and Watters and Ram V do just that, moving the creature to Peru instead of Brazil and adding in a plot of a reporter who is tracking down a serial killer who drowns their prey who just so happens to encounter the creature. Their's a great feeling of intrigue and true crime that is completely new but the myth of an aquatic off shoot of man remains and his mode of killing being similar to the serial killer brings some interesting comparisons that I'm excited to see developed. We're only on the first issue but this feels like something you shouldn't miss if you're a fan of the Universal monsters.
Art: Where Roberts really succeeds here are in the faces of his characters. The expressions of the characters are so vivid and readable that you're able to learn so much about the people with out needing any dialogue or narration which is no doubt a huge help to Watters and Ram V as it frees them to move the plot forward while Roberts gives us the needed characterization. 
Grade:10/10