Zatanna
| Zatanna | |
|---|---|
| File:7SZatanna4.jpg | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Hawkman #4 |
| Created by | Gardner Fox Murphy Anderson |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Zatanna Zatara |
| Team affiliations | Misty Kilgore, Justice League of America, Sentinels of Magic |
| Abilities | Can use magic with commands spelled backwards. |
Zatanna (nicknamed "Zee") is a fictional character, a superheroine in the DC Comics universe.
She is a wizard, the daughter of two other wizards, and shares the family's inherent ability to cast powerful spells; like her father, Golden Age magician John Zatara, she does this by describing the desired effect in backwards speech (e.g., sdrawkcab hceeps).
Character biography
Zatanna has one of the most unusual backgrounds in comics. Zatara himself was a descendant of Leonardo da Vinci (who happened to be a secret magician in the DC universe), the Freemason Cagliostro, Alchemist Nicholas Flamel, and Nostradamus. In addition, her uncle is Alchemist Evan Fulcanelli. Her mother is Sindella, a member of the Homo Magi race, who have been suggested to come from Atlantis. (It has been implied that Zatanna is descended from King Arion of Atlantis.)
First appearance
She was a stage illusionist before she discovered her true magic powers when investigating the disappearance of her father. The story of this search was the subject of the first major comic book crossover story arc as she meets various superheroes like Batman, Hawkman and Hawkwoman and Green Lantern.
Justice League member
She assisted the Justice League of America on a number of cases before finally being elected to membership in Justice League of America #161. During her tenure with that group, her power level was briefly reduced to having control of the four elements of Empedocles (earth, air, fire, and water); this limitation was reversed in World's Finest Comics #277.
While she was a member of the group, the villan Dr. Light brutally raped the Elongated Man's wife Sue Dibny, and when captured went so far as to threaten to go after the other JLA members' wives as well. The JLAers present decided to have Zatanna erase Light's memory of the rape; it was also agreed that she should go further, tampering with Light's mind so that he wouldn't pose a threat to their loved ones ever again. Zatanna used her magic to do so, accidentally lowering his intellect as a result. In the midst of this procedure, Batman appeared on the scene and tried to stop the group from altering Light. Consequently, Zatanna was forced to erase Batman's memories of the event as well. This was revealed in the 2004 miniseries Identity Crisis. (In that same miniseries, Zatanna was present when a group of Leaguers later confronted Doctor Light. However, they ran afoul of Deathstroke the Terminator, whom Light had enlisted as his protector. Deathstroke directed a blow at Zatanna's liver, causing her to vomit violently; this rendered her temporarily unable to speak or cast spells.)
After her departure from the team, she regained her full power and she continues her stage career with the additional calling as a sentinel against mystical threats.
Come Together
In the 1993 miniseries Zatanna: Come Together, Zatanna was shown as worried about her lack of focus in using her magic. She eventually decided that her father's style of magic was wrong for her, and began exploring her mother's mystical heritage. She also began wearing a purple costume. This has largely been ignored in subsequent appearances.
Seven Soldiers
In 2005 Zatanna is one of the main 7 in Grant Morrison's 30-issue mini-series Seven Soldiers of Victory Here, it was revealed that the reaction of her peers to the mindwipes, as well as the inadvertently deaths of several people (including Ibis the Invincible and Doctor Terrence Thirteen) in a failed magic ritual on her part, was so extreme as to make her lose her self-confidence, and with it, her magic. However, with the help of Etta Candy and the news of an impending apocalyptic battle, she regains her powers.
Vertigo
Zatanna also appears in DC's Vertigo imprint. She appears several times in The Books of Magic, typically to counsel Timothy Hunter, the main character. In Hellblazer she was the tantric partner of John Constantine at one point in the past.
An alternate version of Zatanna with blonde hair was seen in Books of Magick: Life During Wartime. The world depicted in that series is populated by both humans (known there as the Bred) and by races of the Faerie (known as the Born). A war is going on between the Born ruling elite and a coalition of Born and Bred who intend to overthrow the current dictatorial regime. This version of Zatanna fights for the Coalition.
Depictions in other media
The animated version of Zatanna first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series (voiced by Julie Brown) where she was depicted as simply being an illusionist with no apparent magic powers. She developed a close friendship with Bruce Wayne during the years in which Bruce was travelling the globe, learning skills that would later serve him as Batman. He came to Zatara as "John Smith" to learn to be an escape artist, but also found his young daughter growing attracted to him. Later in life, she came to Gotham with her magic show, but found herself being framed by a cynical and criminal magic debunker, Montague Kane. Her efforts to restore her name and stop Kane put her side-by-side with the Batman, whom she ended up recognizing as "John Smith".
Since then, further depictions both on online Flash animation shorts and in Justice League Unlimited (voiced by Jennifer Hale) have shown her with powers. Somewhere between Batman and JLU, she gained both significant magical powers and knowledge of the real secret identity of Batman. This granted her membership to the expanded 57-member superhero group, which helped Batman when Circe transformed Wonder Woman into a pig. Zatanna led Batman on a chase of the goddess, culminating in Batman having to sing "Am I Blue?" (thus exposing a hidden part of himself) to get Circe to reverse the spell.
DCAU fan-favorite writer Paul Dini wrote both of Zatanna's major appearances as chronicled above, and apparently likes the character quite a lot. (In 1998, Alan Burnett told Wizard Magazine: "Paul Dini wanted to use Zatanna because he’s secretly in love with her. It’s something we try not to talk about too much.") Dini recently married magician Misty Lee, who has been cited by Zatanna fans as a real-life version of the character, so the last laugh may indeed be his.
In addition, there were also two episodes of a Cartoon Monsoon contest entry where Zatanna was a teenage hero who was more like a cross between Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Zatanna is also referenced in 2 issues of Y: The Last Man when the main character's girlfriend dresses up as Zatanna.
in Gotham girls, she only made 2 appearances. in " a Little night magic", after doing the day's magic show she decides to walk home on her own and lead to some Mini-Adventures. first she turned a robber's gun into a snake, then she splite a truck in half when she almost got ranovered, then turn some steet thugs into toads when they took her hat. the other, "Hold the tiger", she stopped Catwoman from stealing the Cat's Eye Opals from a jewely store but instead of arresting her, she asked Catwoman for help her get her white tiger back.