Zatanna (2010) #1-6

Zatanna #1-6

Originally released in 2010

Written by Paul Dini

Art by Stéphane Roux (#1-3), Chad Hardin (#4-5), Jesús Saíz (#6)

Looking into Paul Dini's other work with DC's comics, he wrote a series about Zatanna, which is understandable given that he's a big fan of the character by all accounts.  These issues cover two separate three-issue storylines; one that serves as an introduction to Zatanna for new fans, and one where she heads to Las Vegas.

The first issue has Zatanna involved in a police investigation, as an undead sorcerer known as Brother Night is aiming to expand his control of San Francisco's magical criminal element to its more mundane one.  To that end, he and his gang of magical creatures (a half-dragon woman, a cloaked being that forcefully shape-shifts others, and a young boy named Teddy) set out to kill Zatanna to prevent her from interfering.

 

However, they aren't particularly successful.  Whereas these characters seem to specialize in one particular ability, Zatanna's magic can seemingly do anything, as long as she says the words backwards.  That doesn't mean that she's unstoppable, though - she's seemingly got the durability of a normal human, and she has to be able to say or write something in order to use magic. (by my understanding, a common way for stories to negate her powers is for her to be tied up or gagged, though thankfully, Dini doesn't stoop to that level, with his solutions for getting Zatanna into and out of problems being more creative than that)

Dini's writing remains entertaining, and the art is consistently solid even with the pencillers changing every couple of issues.  Between this and Gotham City Sirens (and the DC Animated Universe), I definitely intend to read more of his work.  The main villains (Brother Night and Mammon) haven't been particularly memorable so far, though by my understanding, the team is more or less starting from scratch here. (Zatanna had a four issue mini-series before this point, but that's about it for solo material as far as I can tell, so she doesn't have a storied history of solo titles or an extensive rogues gallery to draw from)

I like how, so far, each storyline lasts only three issues - it never feels like it outstays its welcome, or like it's too rushed, and while they have ties to the broader DC universe (the ghost of Zatanna's father, Giovanni Zatara, plays a role in one of the storylines, and her fellow Justice League members Black Canary and Vixen make brief appearances), for the most part, the stories stand on their own.

This series only lasted sixteen issues, which is a shame - it had a longer run than some series, but it feels like there's a lot of potential here, and Zatanna seems like a fun character to write about.  Still, the short length means that I could finish off the rest of it in a day or two, and it's an entertaining introduction to DC's scintillating sorceress.