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Revision as of 12:19, 20 December 2005
Comics character| Zatanna | |
|---|---|
| File:Zatannabolland.jpgBrian Bolland, artist. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Hawkman #4 |
| Created by | Gardner Fox Murphy Anderson |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Zatanna Zatara |
| Team affiliations | Justice League, Sentinels of Magic |
| Abilities | Can use magic with commands spelled backwards. |
Zatanna 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 threatned to after the other JLA's members as well. After erasing Light's memories of the event, the JLA decided to also tamper with his mind so he wouldn't pose a threat to their loved ones anymore. Zatanna used her magic to do so, accidentally lowering his intellect as a result. She also had to erase Batman's memories of the event, after he tried to stop them altering Light. This was all revealed in the 2004 miniseries Identity Crisis.
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.
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 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 there 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 the Born ruling elite and a coalition of Born and Bred who intend to overthrow the current dictatorial regime. The version of Zatanna that exist on this world fights for this 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.") Paul 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.