Mystik U is an Elseworlds limited series released by DC Comics in 2018. It was written by Alisa Kwitney and Jordie Bellaire and can essentially be considered a College AU featuring DC's magical characters.
Zatanna Zatara, daughter of acclaimed magician Giovanni Zatara, mistakenly believes that she has no magic- until, during a live show, she accidentally sends her father to Hell. For her own safety she's taken to Mystik U, an institution where she is taught to properly control her magic. There she meets other students, including June Moone and her alter, Enchantress; Davit Sargon, a turban-wearing sorcerer who has a strange attachment to a magical ruby; Pia Morales, a kindhearted girl with healing abilities; and Sebastian Faust, the charismatic Bad Boy son of evil sorcerer Felix Faust.
But all is not as it seems at Mystik U. There are threats lurking in unexpected places- and one of them, the mysterious entity known as the Malevolence, may very well be the death of them all...
Mystik U includes examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: Enchantress is usually portrayed as a villain, though she's had heroic turns before. Here, she's a heroic character and an ally of Zatanna's, though she isn't always easy to get along with.
- Adaptational Modesty: Enchantress's design takes heavy cues from her look in Suicide Squad (2016). However, whereas Enchantress essentially wore what amounted to a Chainmail Bikini in the film, here she's fully clothed in an appropriately witchy-looking green dress.
- Zatanna herself also qualifies. For the most part, she abandons her usual fishnets in favor of leggings.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Pia Morales plays with this. We're led to believe that she's a healer and that she brought her cat back from the brink of death. It's later revealed that her abilities aren't healing at all, but rather necromancy. Not only that, but the main villain, the Malevolence? Turns out she's a future version of Pia.
- Back from the Dead: This is what has actually happened when Pia believes she's healed Zatanna.
- Big Bad: The Malevolence, aka Pia's future self.
- Canon Foreigner: Pia Morales was created exclusively for this comic. As was the Malevolence.
- Forced Transformation: Zatanna and her friends are briefly turned into small animals in order to incapacitate them. Specifically, Zatanna turns into a ferret, June turns into a fox, Pia turns into an owl, Davit turns into a tortoise, and Sebastian turns into a raccoon.
- Morphic Resonance: Zatanna is turned into a ferret at one point. Specifically, a black-and-white "tuxedo" ferret. She even has a spot on her chest that looks like a bowtie!
- Mythology Gag: Enchantress's design in this comic is very heavily modeled after her design in Suicide Squad (2016). She has stringy black hair, dark sunken eyes with thick eyeshadow, and a crescent-moon headpiece.
- Perky Goth: June's Enchantress side has shades of this. She has a very dark overall aesthetic, but she also has a lot of energy.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Unbeknownst to anyone, least of all her, the Malevolence is Pia's future self.
- Wizarding School: Asides from being a college instead of a boarding or high school, Mystik U is a fairly typical example.
