#warlock of ys

[aboutzatanna]

So, when Zatanna debuted in Batman: The Animated Series she was just an ordinary stage magician with no magic powers but later when she appeared in Justice League Unlimited she had actual magical powers. So why didn't she initially have her magical powers?

In the JLU tie in comic, Justice League Unlimited #40 by writer Ben McCool and artist Dario Brizuela (link), we get some answers:

We find out that as a child Zatanna misused her powers so Zatara had them taken away from her:

(Shout out to the artist Dario Brizuela and colorist Heroic Age, this sequence is beautifully drawn)

Zatara comes off as a good parents in sequence; fair but not harsh or stern and willing to correct his child when she does wrong.

In the present day Zatanna wakes up and we learn that her father disappeared at some point and since Zee can use magic, it's likely she figured out how to tap into some of her abilities over the years:

Zatanna and Doctor Fate head to Central City where Shadow Thief has run amok causing everyone's shadow to come alive and attack everyone.

After some light dissing on Captain Boomerang (oh hey, look it's Alan Scott):

The JL takes on the 8 story tall shadow monster whilst Zatanna and Doctor Fate track down who could be responsible for augmenting the Shadow Thief's powers which leads them to....

......the Warlcok of Ys and Zatara himself! The Warlock is from one of the earliest Zatanna stories (link).

Despite Warlock's attempts to restrain them, Zee manages to tap in to her power and take on the Warlock:

"You're so gonna wish I had my morning coffee!" XD Ngl that panel cracked me up.

Sadly the father/daughter reunion doesn't last but we do get a touching moment nonetheless:

Zatara doesn't come off as the best of fathers in this story but I love the continued affirmation that the League members are her family. The power pulsating in Zatanna's mind is obviously referring to the Medulla Gem and the line about 'his people' is a reference to the Homo Magi, both of which are pulled from Sindella's story and Zatara being forced to stay away from Zatanna is pulled from Zatanna's debut story 'Zatanna's Search'. It looks like the writer combined both stories into one.

Sadly, this plot point is never followed up on. But it was cool to see a writer, especially one for a tie in book do a deep dive on a characters history. Usually tie in comics are treated as an after thought but there are times when the stories are as good if not better than the show.

As for Shadow Thief, well no story, especially one with a Green Lantern, is complete without a trebuchet showing up in some form:

[doctorslippery]

(via Dave's Comic Heroes Blog: Remembering Writer Gardner Fox)

[the-firebird69]

There is ordinance in the tip of Florida in the 30 and 40 mile caverns. If the salt water goes in, the worst case scenario. all of the ordinance would go up. And slightly different times, about two or three seconds, which is good, And it's stored in containers. encapsulated in some cases. which the means of might not detonate until after But the worst case scenario is it would flow. in one of them, it would. be about 80 feet deep and 300 feet wide. \that is small but ok combined ok...and it would tear ahole about five hudned feet down...ys Even though it's going to be 800 foot, it would rip a hole 500 feet down, and the uranium is not rich enough in the soil for it to ignite past that. Some of it will and will create a fireball. 500 foot is nothing to spit at But it's not that big by comparison to the area, but the whole cavern will collapse. And that's a problem. If the cabin collapses, it'll. create a earthquake, which would be around a 9.5. and that would be in South Fort Myers. That's the worst case scenario this really no possible way for them to go off at the same time And we mean each of the 530 to 40MILE across cameras. However, um, they could go off one after another. and it would create a series of earthquakes. Even if they're spaced a few minutes apart. which would probably happen to three of them So that worst case scenario would be a 10 on the Richter scale. in South Fort Myers. It'll be a 9.8 in North Fort Myers. And it would be about a 9.4 in. put to Gorda. And usually that's catastrophic. But our son's house is on sand and almost the whole place is sand. And it would move around a little. sometimes jump a little but there won't be that much damage. The debris field is a problem. It would be about 80 miles. But our son is about 150 miles from there And that's worst case scenario. Yet if something like that can happen, we are usually prone to move him. And he is requesting the royal service never changes. And we do have parameters, and we're going to examine them for everything. And he never gave an order to ignore it. We have been held to it, but in this case, they might allow it to happen. These things are not predictable. And they have to rely on data that they get too, which, you know, we don't want to comment on. There's a chance that the black ship might get hit very badly if it's too close in And we're preparing to get him a temporary. temporarily relocated. Student See, next few days. And he says the warlock would want him to go up there to. Tampa to bring them in from Alabama. And that there pretty fickle people when it comes down to it. Even Tommy F. M. we have to have the anser as to if so oor not tonight for ourselves and y eh if not keep checking he says get i ready she does too and put yoruself i n my shoes and we shll now and prep it

Thor Freya

too much talk no we eeded this it is hell here bad and yeh these will move watn change need it tampa good we look no way out needs it now and we are sloth damn e do it work has to

Frank Castle Hardcstle and emergency evacuation mb. they might ok

we perp for that too

Duke Nukem Blockbuster and due to radiation and now the war nad we see it too

[johnvenus]

How YJ & JLDark Dropped The Ball With Zatanna (1/5)

So, this is something that I have been wanting to get off my chest for a while now.  This isn't meant to be an incoherent rant but a fair and balanced comparison of Zatanna's character arc in the comics with her character arc on YJ and JLD to show what worked, what didn't and what could have been.

Zatanna's been around for 58 years now (first appeared in 1964) but it feels only a handful of her stories gets referenced these days. Hence these two posts are meant to be draw a thoroughline through her entire history.

I am going to recap of her character development from her introductory arc in 1964 to the 2011 Paul Dini ongoing. My main focus will be on the period between her joining the League in 1978 to her final appearance in JL Vol1 and the 1987 Zatanna Special.  Then compare how it stacks up to her depiction in YJ and JLD.     This is a super condensed version of her history but as a follow up I will create separate posts for some of the stories posted here to explore them in greater detail.

Part One: Zatanna’s Search and early JL appearances    

Part Two: Joining the League, Sindella’s story and the introduction of the Homo Magi:

 https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679908715915313152/how-yj-jldark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

Part Three:  New Look, meeting Raven, romance with Barry Allen, losing her powers, becoming League chairwoman:    

https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679909340257370112/how-yj-jl-dark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

Part Four: Detroit era, final JLA arc, the 1987 Zatanna Special and everything that happened in between:  

 https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679910087824916480/how-yj-and-jld-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna-45

Part 5: Zatanna in the 90′s, Books of Magic, Identity Crisis and first ongoing + thoughts on her depiction in YJ and JLD:  

https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679911011538616320/how-yj-jldark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

I also want to make the case that the best Zatanna writer isn't Ram V, James Tynion IV, Greg Wesiman, Grant Morrison or even Paul Dini but Gerry Conway (@gerryconway).

Art by: Brian Bolland

First, a little backstory;  

So, in the 50′s superheroes had largely fallen out of favor with the exception for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, most of them had been cancelled. Sci fi, westerns, horror, fantasy were all the rage. Then came ‘Seduction of the Innoccent’ by Dr Frederick Werthman which blamed comic books for juvenile delinquency and ‘spreading homosexuality’ and that combined with the Red Scare lead to the creation of the ‘Comic Codes Authority’. The CCA was meant to regulate comics so congress wouldn’t and the former’s stringent censorship killed off every genre except for superheroes.    

In the late 50′s, DC (then known as National Periodic Publications) had some success reviving the Flash but this time with a new character, Barry Allen, under the mantle. This lead to them reviving Green Lantern with Hal Jordan, the Atom as Ray Palmer as well as reinventing Hawkman and Hawkgirl as alien space cops as opposed to reincarnated lovers. Many of them had no connection to their predecessors at first, Barry was the exception  since he was explicitly stated to have been inspired by the comic books about Jay Garrick’s Flash.      

Zatanna debuted not long after the Atom and shared a more explicit connection with her predecessor, John Zatara, by being his daughter. John Zatara first debuted in ‘Action Comics’, the same one that Superman debuted in. It was an anthology comic back then so they weren’t stated to be in the same universe. He was just one of the many features in the comics. But the character proved to be popular enough that he had a long running back up feature in Action Comics and later World’s Finest up until 1951 after which the character disappeared.  

Zatanna's Search

Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman #4 written by Gardner Fox with art by Murphy Anderson. This was the first part of ‘Zatanna’s Search’. Katar and Shayera are investigating the appearance of unaccounted for artifacts at the museum. The two of them split up to search two different locations from where the artifacts originated from. They each find a girl standing still in a catatonic state murmuring gibberish. They bring the girl aboard their ship orbiting the earth whereupon they learn that the girl is speaking backwards with each ‘half’ speaking one half of the sentence.

The Hawks manage to restore the girl to her normal state and we learn that her name is Zatanna Zatara. She is a magician and the daughter of the Golden Age hero John Giovanni Zatara. Her father went missing and she’s been searching for him for ‘years’. 

 In order to hasten her search Zatanna tried to use a spell to appear in two different locations at the same time but the spell went wrong and caused her to be stuck in place. She used whatever magical ability she could muster to lure the Hawks to their location. Katar asks how she figured out their secret identity, to which Zatanna only smiles, a magician never tells their secrets.  

The Hawks decide to help Zatanna search for her father but their instruments reveal that he is no where on earth. Thus the issue ends with Zatanna having to continue her search for her father with a small tease of what’s to come:

Zatanna would then ‘appear’ in Detective Comics #336  written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff starring Batman and Robin. I say ‘appear’ because her role in the story  is not revealed until the Justice League #51, the finale of ‘Zatanna’s Search’.

Her next appearance was in  Atom #19 written by Gardner Fox with art by Gil Kane. Since her father is nowhere on ‘earth’, she has to widen her search to other dimensions and planes of existence. Hence why she sought out Ray Palmer/The Atom. She needs his help to access a sub atomic world that exists in a book called ‘the Book of Magic’ (yes, this is it’s first appearance).  

At the time the dwarf star matter that allowed Ray to shrink only worked on him and was fatal to anybody else. This wasn’t a problem to Zatanna who had magic to protect her.  The two of them venture into the subatomic world of Catamoore wherein they encounter the Druid. A being who can absorb magical power and has enslaved the inhabitants of the land of Catamoore: 

Zatanna learns that her father had been here to confront the Druid. She fights him  but she is still a rookie and fighting him only causes him to absorb more of her power. It takes some prodding from Ray for the two of them to figure out how to beat the Druid and free the inhabitants.    

The two of them return to their world but with Zatanna still continuing her search for her father and we get a tease of who she might meet next.  

She would then appear in  Green Lantern #42 written by Gardner Fox with art by Gil Kane.

Hal is following the trail of a flying pirate causing chaos (ah, comics!) and this leads him to a gate way to another dimension called ‘The Land of Ys’ where he is psychically contacted by Zatanna:

     We also learn that Zatanna has a heroic side by being willing to sacrifice herself to stop the Druid:  

So the Warlock wants to use GL’s power ring to crossover into the main universe where he would grow unimaginably powerful.   Zatanna's powers also begin to wane but she realizes that she can still use her powers here, but only if she speaks her sentences forward.  

GL and Zatanna confront the Druid and we also learn that John Zatara was in this world as well.    

Talk about an ‘I must scream’ situation but don’t worry, this won’t be the Warlock’s last appearance.  I don’t think comics back then thought too deeply about the fates heroes would sometimes subject villains (see also, the JL leaving the Crime Syndicate to float in an enclosed bubble in a rift between universes).    

The inhabitants of Ys decide to remain there..   This place hasn’t appeared in any modern comics but I wouldn’t mind this place being explored more. Especially considering the fact that the Warlock himself, even though he is evil, is driven by the desire to escape the monotony of his world.  

For the inspiration being the Land of Ys, check out this link:  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys

Zatanna would appear next in Detective Comics #355 in which she helps Elongated Man/Ralph Dibney round up some gangsters while she recovers some magical items (the Ting Tripod and the Book of I Ching) that could help her search for her father.  

Like all the stories in Zatanna’s Search, this one is also written by Gardner Fox with art by Carmine Infantino whose definitely showing why he is considered a legend.

IMO, he is the best artist in this cross over followed by Gil Kane.  

Unlike the previous heroes, Ralph is well aware of Zatanna’s search for her father and the story is about him recounting his case to Sue Dibney.  Also note Zatanna being established to have talent besides magic even back then.   

The ‘Book of I Ching’ and the ding tripods are references to certain things in real life:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_(vessel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching

Zatanna’s story would culminate in Justice League of America Vol 1 #52 titled ‘Z as in Zatanna and Zero Hour’  (no connection to the actual Zero Hour event that would happen 40 years later),  in which she gathers all the aforementioned heroes including Batman to thank them for their help in finding her father.

Batman is confused as he had never met her before. Zatanna explains that the witch Batman and Robin fought in ‘Tec  336 was actually herself in disguise and that she magically planted the ‘thought’ in Robin that lead to her seeming ‘defeat’ and that she was being controlled by the villain of the issue (the Outsider). 

This was actually a retcon by writer Gardner Fox, it’s clear that in ‘Tec 336, that this witch character wasn’t originally meant to be Zatanna. From what I’ve heard the creative team wanted to include Batman in the story due to his increased popularity thanks to the ‘66 Batman show (ah, the more things change....) so Fox retconned an earlier story he wrote so he can justify putting Batman in the issue.  

Bats even makes the cover of the story:  

Anyway, back to Zatanna’s Search; Zatanna recounts to the League how she found her father. After the encounter with Elongated Man, Zatanna met Allura; an elemental trapped in the ‘Sword of Paracelsus’ who promises to help her find her father. After freeing Allura from the sword, the latter hides inside Zatanna.  

Zatanna summons duplicates of the heroes  to help her fight them off:

(I admit, I felt a bit cheated that it wasn’t the real Justice League she summoned and for obvious reasons this is not an ability we see her use again.)

But whose sending these obstacles her way? Why, it’s her father of course:  

But why?

The duplicate League members (more specifically Batman) quickly realize that the enemies aren’t trying to harm Zatanna, they’re after something else which turns out to be Allura whom they exorcise from Zatanna’s body:

Thus, comes the big reveal that Allura was the one who cursed John Zatara so that if he ever saw  or tried to communicate with his daughter  in any shape or form, they would both die. Hence why he fled the earthly plane and in to other dimensions so he can find Allura’s good half.  However, when he found the good Allura in the ‘Land of Kharma’, he found out that the good half cannot leave the land. That’s when Zatanna, lead by the evil Allura found her way there.  

Once the evil Allura is exorcised from Zatanna’s body, she fights the good Allura (referring to her as sister) and is finally forced to lift the curse she placed on John Zatara, thus father and daughter are finally reunited:

Not much is known  about Allura (no connection Supergirl’s mom whose name is  Alura In Ze but with only one ‘L’).   The Allura in Zatanna's comics is described as  'Mistress of the Dark Elementals', she would be appear a couple of more times in Zatanna's stories (which I will cover in this post and the coming posts) and is the closest Zee has to an arch enemy.

The Sword of Parcelsus that she was trapped in is a references to Paracelsus, a 14th century alchemist who is considered the father of toxicology.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

Here is a link to a blog which does a good job of linking to various references in the story.    

https://50yearoldcomics.com/2016/12/13/justice-league-of-america-51-february-1967/

The story itself is very much a product of it’s time. Some strange choices like Zatanna creating duplicates of the League, randomly retconning an old Batman story to include him here when he could have met her in this story for the first time and of course, I would have liked more details Allura.   However, there are interesting story elements here, Zatanna is powerful but still young and inexperienced. There is a nascent rogues gallery for her here in the form of the Druid, Warlock and Allura. Plus some world building elements like the Land of Ys, Catamoore and the Land of Kharma.  Sadly, many of these elements have been forgotten and neglected over time.    

Thus far, the only addition to this story happened in 1980, in  DC Blue Ribbon Special #5 written by Gerry Conway with art by Romeo Tanghal which showed the moment Zatanna  first found out her father was missing, learned more about his backstory and her magical heritage.  

After Zatanna's Search ended, Zatanna appeared intermittently throughout the 60′s,  She would get her own feature as a back up title of Supergirl's 1972 ongoing. during this time we are introduced to Zatanna's stage manager plus love interest: Jeffery Sloan who also bears a suspicious resemblance to the writer Len Wein.  

Source: Supergirl #1

The back up stories were nothing to write home about, some were cute while others were just bad. The tone and style of storytelling is best summed up by this image:    

Later, after Supergirls first ongoing was cancelled, Zatanna would occasionally get a story in Adventure Comics. The most notable being 1971′s  Adventures Comics #413-415 which is later reprinted as ‘DC Super Stars of Magic’ (1977) written by Len Wein and drawn by the incomparable Gray Morrow.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mansion, John Zatara is attacked by a mysterious mystical assailant. When Zee and Jeff meet him, he banishes them to another dimension where they have to fight their way back which includes taking on Gorognus, a cyclops like being who can turn others into stone with just a look:

The art by Gray Morrow is just gorgeous and the climax  involves Zatanna fighting her father: 

(Anybody else heard Jeff screaming ‘yaaa’ right after Zatanna said ‘and you’re murdering Jeff’ ?)

And yes, the villain turns   out to be Allura who is now inexplicably blonde for some reason. Is her ‘good half’ evil now? Did the bad half possess the good half? Was it a colouring error?

Also, poor Jeff. He should talk with Steve Trevor and Larry Lance about being a normal guy in love with a superheroine. But unlike the aforementioned who gets some chance to shine, Jeff is so utterly darn helpless when it comes to the kind of things Zatanna deals with on a daily basis.  

Gorgonos would make one more appearance in Adventure Comics #419 (1972) also written by Len Wein.

Guest Starring In The League + Meeting Barry

Zatanna guest starred in JL a couple of times before joining the League.

She appeared in Flash #198 written by Michael Friedrich and drawn by Don Heck. The story involves Zatanna being pulled into another dimension during a magic show and Barry following her into it as the Flash. The story is notable because Zee is already acquainted with Barry and also knows his secret id (no mention of when that happened) and also she kisses him as part of her act.

They also published a fan letter where the reader was asking for more Zatanna and for her to get her own comic. If there were any cross overs between Barry and Zatanna prior to this, let me know because I couldn’t find any.  

Then in JLA #86 written by Micheal Friedrich with art by Dick Dillen and Joe Giella. Zatanna arrives at the League HQ to celebrate the anniversary of the League helping her find her father. Of course they’re drawn into trouble and is likely her first meeting with Superman. But this story is so bad and the only notable things is that it introduced ‘The Champions of Angor’ whom fans of JLI might recognizes but I’m going to skip over this specific one.     

Both of Mike Friedrich's stories are kind of pervy, especially the JL one with characters practically drooling over Zatanna in ways that don't feel in character for any of them. The Flash story is better as its more teasing and playful with wonderful Don Heck art.

I bring this up because her connection with Barry is something that will come up in later stories and this is where the seeds were planted.

Zatanna gets a much better showing in JLA #100 written by Len Wein with art by Dick Dillin and Joe Giella. She was one of the many players in a three part crossover between the JLA, JSA and the Seven Soldiers of Victory in which the heroes team in small groups to travel across space and time to rescue the Seven Soldiers in Victory who were believed to be dead.

This would be the first time we get to see Zatanna interact with the other magic users, in this case, Dr Fate and Johnny Thunder:

Each of the teams have a JLA and JSA member on them and each group gets their own separate story in a different setting.  Zatanna’s story appears in JLA #102 where she, Barry and Red Tornado travel to the times of Ancient Greece to rescue the E2 Speedy/Roy Harper who it turns out has been turned into a half animal by the witch Circe. The same fate befalls the trio who came to rescue Speedy which Zatanna manages to undo by flapping her sparrow wings to the tune of her backward spell. The trio then manages to beat Circe and rescue Speedy.

Though Zee flirts with Barry in the issue, she doesn’t pursue, since he is married and all. 

Initially I wanted to cover Zatanna’s mom’s story in the same post but too many images caused the editor to slow down and not save any of my edits so I had to split it into two posts.   

For now, here is a scan of Zee, Wonder Woman (during her Emma Peel phase) trying to cut a huge cake together:

Next up: her new look, joining the League for real, Sindella’s story and the origins of magic.

Part 2:  https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679908715915313152/how-yj-jldark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

[kitzatara]

Since we are FINALLY getting a Zatanna show who would you like to see with regards as to the villains and her allies in the show ?

I’d love to see her stage crew. They’re all super wonderful in the comics. The ones created by paul dini and even jeff sloane from the eighties and such. I’d also love to see misty Kilgore, I don’t necessarily want her show to be a seven soldiers adaptation. I think that project should include everyone, but to see misty and maybe set up seven soldiers would be awesome i think. And her xousin Zachary of course.

For villains I’d love to see her fight brother night or the puppet. Both from her solo series. They’re her villains exclusively and it’d be nice if she took them down. I wouldn’t complain if she fought the watlock of ys, the druid, and allura making this an adaptation of the search for her father. Because again they’re her villains, and to make her “rogues gallery” the villains seems like fair.

I also lowkey want to see her take on morgaine la fey in all her golden mask glory. I know she’s mostly etrigans villain, but he could show up. Establish that they’re buddies as she helps him kick morgaines ass.

I think I want the jld members to have minor appearances. I want the show to be about her and not really a team up with the others. It’d be nice to see etrigan, deadman, swamp thing, or Frankenstein since those four in particular are really fond of Zee. I’d prefer her to meet up wity Xanadu, Orchid, or Nightmare Nurse more to have it be more girl power? But again only briefly or they show up to fight the minor bad guys while Zee takes on the main villain.

I don’t think i want john in the show. And if he is maybe only in the final episode. Because he’s been in everything and this ain’t about him. This is Zee time. They can all come together for JLD. I don’t want felix faust either and I don’t want batman. Maybe a flashback to them as kids but eh. I also don’t want Timothy hunter.

The end lol thank you @armysonemeu

[onlylonelylatino]

Doctor Fate and Zatanna vs the Warlock of Ys by Dario Brizuela

[kyokobeaute]

here, have some Mischievous Youths 

[thenihilistofthevoid]

Link 2 Signatures

“Come out, the circuit that leads to victory! I set Drone Fatty and Scud Drone in the Link Markers, Link Summon! Deploy, Link 2! Battledrone Sergeant!” Name: Kengo Dojun/Blood Shepherd Current Partner: Akira Zaizen

"Now, open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe! I set Altergeist Marionetter and Altergeist Meluseek in the Link Markers, Link Summon! Appear now, Link 2! Altergeist Hexstia!" Name: Ema Bessho/Ghost Girl Current Partner: Shoichi Kusanagi (Jin and Saburo conspired to get them together and it works out pretty well)

“Appear now, the circuit that determines truth! Arrowheads confirmed, the Summoning Conditions are 2 LIGHT “Hallowed Tricksters” monsters. I set Beauty of the Hallowed Tricksters and Familiar of the Hallowed Tricksters in the Link Markers, Link Summon! Descend, Link 2! Great Professor of the Hallowed Tricksters, Ys!” Name: Saburo Kusanagi/Warlock Current Partner: Takeru Homura @kitameguire​

[teknositesii]

Yeni Çıkacak PlayStation 4 Oyunları Belli Oldu!

Yeni çıkacak PlayStation 4 oyunları bekleyenlere müjde! Sony, oyun dağıtım ağı olan PlayStation Network (PSN)'i yenileme kararı aldı. Bu yenileme ile birlikte daha önce hiç görmediğiniz PlayStation 4 oyunları sizlere sunulacak? Peki bu oyunlar hangileri? Gün gün listelenmiş halde oyunları sizler için hazırladık. Detaylar yazımızda.

Yeni Çıkacak PlayStation 4 Oyunları Bekleneni Sunuyor mu?

Yaz aylarında hevesli olan oyuncular maalesef bir süre daha beklemek zorundalar. Çünkü Sony, PlayStation 5 tanıtımını erteledi. Bu durumun üzüntüsünü yaşayan oyuncular mecburen PlayStation 4' e ve onun oyunlarına yönelmek zorunda kaldı. Sony, yeni oyunlarını kullancıları ile buluşturmadan önce hangi gün hangi oyunu kullanıcılarına sunacağını söyledi. Peki listede hangi oyunlar var?

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[aboutzatanna]

14 Zatanna Villains We Would Like To See Come Back And Why

One of the things people often ask about Zatanna is ‘how do you challenge someone who can make almost anything happen by just speaking backwards?’.  

It’s a question that many different writers have tried to answer over the years, even long before Paul Dini’s 2010 ongoing and JLD and here are all of them  in one place.    

Zatanna’s solo outings tend to be sporadic but she does have a nascent rogue gallery that with just a few tweaks could be just as good as the Flash Rogues. Since some of these villains are from mid-late 20th centuries, I will talk about what works, what doesn’t work and suggestions on how they could be made better.

I am also skipping cosmic entities like Xaos, Pralaya and Upside Down Man.  I’m focusing on villains who are human or humanoid looking villains with their own goals, conflicts and powers.      

Lets dig in:  

  1. The Druid  

The Druid is the first enemy that we ever see Zatanna square off against with the help of the Atom in Atom #19 as part of ‘Zatanna’s Search’.  He is an inhabitant of the sub atomic world of Catamoore located inside the Book of Magic,  whose people he has enslaved. His power is to absorb magical powers from his enemies and make them his own. Given how often writers talk about the challenges of coming up with believable threats for Zatanna, an enemy who can absorb her magical power and force her to work with her non magical skill set sounds perfect.

The Druid’s role in Atom #19 was largely functionary but if he is ever brought back I would love to see writers try and flesh out his motivation and to show why he came to rule Catamoore and why he is the only inhabitant with that ability.     

2. The Warlock of Ys 

The Warlock first appeared in Green Lantern #42 which was also part 3 of Zatanna’s Search following up form her appearance in the Atom. 

The Warlock is the ruler of the Land of Ys, a land accessible only by a blue flame gateway. Over the eons, many have accidentally fallen into the gateway and into the Land of Ys ‘the other side of the world’.  This dimension was said to have been created after the Big Bang and while the real world often changed and fluctuated, the Land of Ys was an eternal now with none of it’s inhabitants dying or aging.  The ruler of this inhabitant was the Warlock  who wanted to use GL’s ring to access the real world where his powers would be unstoppable. GL and Zatanna manage to stop him by casting a spell that caused him to remain motionless. He returned in JLA #166 when Zatanna joined the League as well as a one shot appearance in Justice League Adventures  Vol 1 #41, the official tie in comic to JLU and in Brave & The Bold Vol 1 #9 and #10.  

The interesting thing about the Warlock is that he comes from a dimension that is completely stagnant and he is driven by a desire to escape from the monotony of his world but appearing in the real world risks the chance of him growing powerful enough to be unstoppable. Thus Zatanna must fight him on his turf but the catch is that her own powers work differently in the Warlock’s dimension.    

Exploring why the Warlock is the only magic guy in his own dimension and why he is meant to grow so powerful in the real world could lead to some great stories with the character. 

Also the man needs a re design. Crimson red skin, weird hats and leotards just don’t cut it, man. It’s the New Twenties now.   

3. Allura 

Allura is the closest Zatanna has to an arch enemy. One thing that puts her above every other villain on this list is that she is the one responsible for kicking off Zatanna’s heroic journey by cursing her father and causing him to disappear from her life. Then later, she appeared to Zatanna pretending to be an ally to lead her to her father knowing that the curse would result in both of them dying if they ever saw each other face to face.  

Allura returned again in DC Super Stars of Magic where she possessed John Zatara and again in the 1987 Zatanna Special.  

The problem with Allura is the fact that we don’t know why she hates the Zataras, why is she a spirit that needs to inhabit a body to live on earth and what exactly makes her a ‘Dark Elemental’? Does it have anything to do with characters being Plant and Fire elemental in the DCU?  

Thus for Allura to truly soar as a villain, writers need to figure out her backstory motivation.  Does she have a good reason for hating Giovanni that has extended to his daughter as well?       

As a villain she represents a dark counterpart for the Zataras. Somebody who would use their powers in ways the Zataras would never do and use them for their own gain. 

Her primary abilities are  are curses, illusions and possession.  

4. Merba

Merba was a one shot character that appeared in Zatanna’s back up stories in the short lived 1972 Supergirl stories.    

He is a descendant of Merlin who has magical powers of his own and according to Zatanna was banned from stage performing for endangering the audience. Merba’s main claim to fame is trapping Zatanna in a the enchanted rock that once held Excalibur which forced Zatanna to magically seek out King Arthur’s direct descendant to pull her out of it.   

Merba serves as a good foil for Zatanna in that they are both descendants of great magicians but while Zatanna uses her powers to entertain and help people, Merba uses his abilities to terrorize others and serve his ego. The fact that he is a descendant of Merlin (who is currently a villains in JLD)  but not even close to being as powerful as he is could serve as a source of pathos. Even in his appearance he is not a mustache twirling villain but more of a juvenile delinquent with magical powers. He could be the Loki of her rogues gallery.  

  5. Gorgonus  

Gorgonus appeared briefly in Zatanna’s back up feature Adventure Comics which was later reprinted as ‘DC Super Stars of Magic’ and he returned one of more time in Adventure Comics. Gorgonus is a combination of a cyclops and Medusa, a hulking brute who can also turn you into stone just by looking at you.     

Not every villain has to be a personal nemesis, some villains can just be physical threats   In this case we have a character whom Zee has to fight without looking at him and usually while also protecting someone else from his gaze. There is also the fact that in his second appearance he simply wanted to go home, so stopping him shouldn’t be just as simple as imprisoning him. Given the kind of situation he survived in his first appearance, he could be a recurring physical threat that never really goes away. Exploring how he came to be that way and if there are other mash ups of Greek monsters and whether he has connections to the actual Medusa could be another way to expand on his character.        

6. The High Lord  

The High Lord from the Hidden City is responsible for kidnapping Sindella, imprisoning her and using her as a battery to power the Hidden City. He returned again in Zatanna Special in which Zee had to rescue the inhabitants of the city who were wasting away from a magical illness but this time he acted more like an ally.  

The High Lord is not exactly a villain. After all, his actions, while cruel and unjust are for the sake of protecting the city of Homo Magi and to preserve the Homo Magi race who are few in number.  If he were to be brought back then the best way to utilize him would be to lean into the moral ambiguity of the character and maybe even have him redeem himself.  

7. Caligro  

Caligro is a one shot villain that appeared in DC Comics Presents in which Superman and Zatanna teamed in a ‘Multiverse of Madness’.   

He is a stage magician who resents the Zataras because they use real magic and his act went bust because nobody wants to see a fake magician when everyone knows real magic exists. 

The plot of the story involves one of Zatanna’s spells going awry and opening a rift that grants everyone on earth, including Caligro, magical powers at the expense of hers. Superman now has Zatanna’s power and she had to guide Superman into repairing the rift while being hindered by Caligro who took advantage of his newfound powers to attack the Zataras.  

At the end of the story, the two heroes successfully repair the rift and restore everything to normal which left poor Caligro back at square one.

It’s sad that he disappeared into limbo because his entire conflict is a great piece of world building, like of course there would stage magicians put out of business because everyone in the DCU is well aware that magic exists and some of them would resent the Zatara’s for having actual magical powers.

      8. Hellrazer/The Cult of Fiatlux  

I know I said, no cosmic entity but this guys is a little different;  Hellrazer is a demon ‘that not even hell could contain’ so he had to be locked up elsewhere. While there he plotted to invade earth by setting up the Cult of Fiatlux with leaders scattered around the world like an illumanti organization, they gathered wealth, resources and monitored advancements in science and also magic in order to find a way to release the demon into our world.  

The ‘demon whom even hell can’t contain’ is a great hook for a villain, especially in a time when hell is often over used as a concept for story telling.  Plus he has an awesomely creepy design. In the story, he possessed Zatanna to try and make his way back to earth and also resents her for the fact that she banished him back into his dimension.    

9. Adam

  Adam is a creepy but charismatic cult leader who kidnapped Zatanna and attempted to replicate the power of the Homo Magi in himself.  He bound Zatanna and kept her drugged in his place for weeks and hindered all her attempts to escape while he injected himself with a virus containing the Homo Magi gene.  

Finally, she managed to summon Martian Manhunter and Cynthia Reynolds (who was teleported along with her friend) but when they find Adam, they realize he bit off on more he could chew. According to Zatanna, Adam unlocked a power that most mystics spent a life time working towards. He achieved contact with something known as the ‘Godhead’ and he’s become simultaneously aware of all of creation giving him painful existential crisis 24/7 while the Godhead slowly consumes his mind. 

This lead to the high point of the arc, wherein Zatanna had to travel inside Adam’s mind to separate him from the Godhead while Martian Manhunter acts as her tether to the earthly plane and  has to contain Adam’s mind while the latter’s freak outs caused reality itself to warp around the room.  

Luke McDonnell gave us a lot of trippy visuals of Zatanna’s perilous  journey through Adam’s mind while also showing us how reality warps around the room Martian Manhunter and co are in.     

Also consider the internal conflict of Zatanna now having to go through a tough ordeal to save the person who kidnapped her and the unpredictable consequences if she doesn’t.     

Unfortunately, despite the great build up, the reason why the story arc isn’t fondly remembered is because of the ending. After reaching the core of Adam’s mind (guided by her father’s spirit), Zatanna realizes that she has to surrender to the Godhead. She returns back to the mortal world where Adam is briefly  unconscious but when he awakes, he is changed, so is Zatanna. Then after espousing something about existentialism they both disappear together in a flash of light.   

Suffice to say, the ending was underwhelming. The majority of the story arc was written by Gerry Conway but the last two issues  of the story were written by JM DeMattis. Writing Zatanna out of the title was part of the larger story arc of that iteration of the JL falling apart but I wish DeMattis (who is an otherwise solid writer) came up with a better solution than having Zatanna run off with her own kidnapper, even if their minds were changed by a mutual spiritual experience..  

The story line was quickly retconned and swept under the rug in the pages of the Spectre Vol 2 #7 and 8 in which Adam dies in the first panel, the Godhead is all revealed to be an illusion created by Wotan (a Dr Fate villain) and after a bizarre body horror story, Zatanna is returned to her usual self.  

Still, I can’t help but think how cool it would be to see the journey into Adam’s mind and reality warping around the room in animation or in live action (think something like Legion).  Obviously any adaptation would have to come up with a better ending than what we got in the comics.     

Like Caligro, Adam makes sense as a villain in a world of aliens and magic. .Of course there is a creepy cult guy who wants that power for himself and suckered in a whole bunch of people to follow his command.   

10. Brother Night 

Brother Night was created by Paul Dini for the 2010 Zatanna series. His absence since the series end earned him a spot here.  

He is a seedy magical gangster who killed children to attain his power and is now attempting to expand his empire into the human world.  

Whilst I have a lot of appreciation for Dini’s Zatanna, unfortunately, his handling of magic and world building elements can feel a little shallow.  

Brother Night seems to be a combination Freddy Kreuger, Joker with a few elements from the Exorcist thrown in.  He is also the only Zatanna villain to be animated seeing as he showed up for a short in the JL Action (which also featured Harley Quinn, gee I wonder who could have wrote it?).  

The most intriguing element to me is the fact that he is a magic gangster who trades human souls. Law enforcement has trouble dealing with regular gangsters, what do you do when a gangster armed with magic and not afraid to use it in all sorts of horrifying ways shows up? If Brother Night returns I would like to see the gangster element being played up more than the serial killer aspect.   

11. Fuseli  

Fuseli is a nightmare demon who was hired by Brother Night to break Zatanna through her dreams. She manages to beat him and trap him in her top hat and later on, she uses him to uncover hidden secrets from her mind. 

Not every villain has to be a world ending threat or an overly violent threat. You need variety in a rogue gallery and I think Fuseli really works as a comedic villain and as someone who can be an ally or an enemy depending on the circumstances.  

12. Oscar Hampel 

Back during Zatanna’s guest appearances in ‘Tec it was  hinted that she had a fear of puppets.This was likely Dini’s way of explaining why she got wacked in the head while trying to talk down the Peyton Reilly version of Ventriloquist and Scarface.   

Later in Zatanna’s own series it was established that she had pupophobia and even threw up in Oscar The Grouche’s trash can while guesting on Sesame Street. 

Naturally, it didn’t take long for a puppet based villain to appear in the series. 

Oscar Hampel was a juvenile delinquent who began working as a puppeteer. One night he was caught by his boss while trying to steal from his safe so Oscar killed him. The one who witnessed it was a young Zatanna and he attempted to kill her but John Zatara appeared,turned Oscar into a puppet and then erased the memory from Zatanna’s mind. This was the root of Zatanna’s fear of puppets.  

As a living puppet, Oscar is not much of a threat to Zatanna. What really works about him is representing the past sins of John Zatara. Even if Oscar threatened his daughter, condemning him to a life time of living as a puppet drifting back and forth between conscious and unconscious is a horrific punishment.   

A puppet can look incredibly creepy (like when he was stalking Zatanna while she was at an awards ceremony) but if he is to be brought back he needs a power up.  Like being able to possess puppets like an extension of his body or being able to control people like puppets.

  13. The Hypnotist  

The Hypnotist first appeared ‘The Batman & Robin Adventures #12′  written Hilary Jay Bader (who also wrote several episodes of B:TAS, S:TAS and Batman Beyond) with art by Joe Staton.  

This was the comic that confirmed that the Zatara’s can do real magic and not just stage magic. However in the comic they use made up gibberish to cast spells and not the classic backwards talk.     

As you might have guessed the Hypnotist is a...well....hypnotist who can control people with just his words. Zatara doesn’t like him because he uses his powers for evil. Sure enough, he steals a magical amulet from Zatara which amplifies his powers allows him to leave both Zatanna and Bruce paralyzed.  

Zatara teaches how to resist the Hypnotist’s mind control and Bruce manages to beat him the first time by tricking him into thinking the amulet doesn’t work.  Zatara entrusts Bruce with the amulet which the Hypontist returns to steal years later.  Then he kidnaps Zatanna and after a short clash between Batman and the Hypnotist, it’s Zatanna who beats him by making the amulet disappear. 

He later re appeared in the probably-not-canon-anymore  ‘Adventures of the DC Universe Annual #1′ in which he is beaten by Rose and Thorn who was helping Zatanna track down the amulet.      

The Hypnotists powers works based on belief. If he believes in the power of amulet his powers become more potent.    

Both the Zataras and the Hypnotist uses words as their weapon and an enemy who can also take you out with a single phrase is the ideal challenge for someone like Zatanna as well.   

14. Tigress

Before Artemis Crock or Paula Crock there was character in the Golden Age named Tigress who often clashed with John Zatara. She was a thief and a grifter whose schemes that John Zatara often had to foil. So far the comics haven’t established any connection between the Tigress that John Zatara fought and the Crock versions of the characters.  Zatanna’s friendship with Artemis Crock/Tigress on the YJ show was a clever nod to this obscure bit of comic book history.  This version of Tigress also had a brief cameo in Scooby Doo Team Up wherein the gang teamed up with Zatanna to find John Zatara.

As a villain, I like the concept of Tigress as a normal human who can be a thorn in the side of a powerful magician like John Zatara.  If she is brought back I would like to see her played as an Irene Adler type who can outsmart John Zatara and maybe now she wants to test his daughter.  Also, if DC wants to incorporate the YJ version of Artemis into the main DCU in some shape or form then I think the most organic way to do it would be through this version of Tigress. Just reveal that the original Tigress was the sister of the Paula Crock version and that she had a daughter who learned her mothers trade but ended up befriending Zatanna rather than being enemies.  Give her a different name like ‘Diana’ Crock to separate her from the comic book version of Artemis Crock who is a different character altogether from the YJ cartoon version.  

Honorary Mentions:

These guys aren’t unique to Zatanna as a villain but they’ve interacted enough with her to deserve some acknowledgement.

(1/3) Klarion & Uriah

Klarion is normally a foe for Etrigan but thanks to the YJ show I think most people associate him with the Zataras and Dr Fate.   In the show he is a Lord of Choas, a lot more villainous sinker of Atlantis and his clash with the Team over the helmet of Fate which lead to Zatara becoming Nabu’s host. In the comics he is not a Lord of Choas and mostly messes around for gun.    

Zatanna doesn’t have history with Klarion but she did encounter another resident of Limbo Town; Urah. He first debuted in Robin Vol 1 #158 by Adam Beechen wherein he tried to a create a judgement beast out of the Draaga (the animal familiars of Limbo Town including Teekle) but was stopped by Robin and Klarion. He reappeared in Zatanna #16 also written by Beechen in which he tried to steal the Book of Maps (a roadmap to all known dimensions) so he can take over Limbo Town leading to Zatanna chasing him through multiple dimensions before finally catching him.    

Since Klarion is connected to Etrigan and is not really villainous, Uriah could serve as a more villainous antagonist for Zatanna. It also allows her to explore more magical realms like Limbo Town.      

(2/3) Tannarak

Tannarak is a Phantom Stranger villain but he has clashed with Zatanna notably in Books of Magic and Come Together and later appeared in Everyday Magic. Though he is an immortal sorcerer and Lord of Chaos in the PS books, his clashes with Zatanna paint him as an opportunistic asshole.  

(3/3) The Key

Back in JLA #191 (1980), there was a story arc in which the Key used Amazo’s ability to absorb the League’s life span energy in order to cure himself from his dwarfian state (I should note that the Key was not born a dwarf but an accident while fighting the League left him with a normal sized head and a dwarf body that’s also a degenerative).  This lead to a fight between Amazo and the JLA (now with only half their powers) with the League not realizing that defeating Amazo would result in Key’s death.  The one who picks up on this is Zatanna who gives the key a portion of her life span energy which cures him of his life threatening dwarfian condition and left him feeling indebted to her.   

A Whos Who entry would later on confirm that Zatanna giving the Key part of her magical energy is what caused her power loss at the time.    

This plotline was never followed up on and a heavily revamped version of the Key would appear in JLA #6 (1997). The only other time Zatanna was shown confronting the Key was in the AU ‘Black Canary/Zatanna: Bloodspell’ OGN by Paul Dini but really, it’s the kind of appearance that could have been fulfilled by any villain. Though I wonder if Dini was subtly referencing the JLA story by going with the Key.    

It’s a shame that there was no follow up, I would have loved to see how this would have shaped the Key’s character going forward. Does he go back to being a villain or does he try to live a normal life? Does he try to use his powers for good? If he ends up working for a villainous organization again does he try to spare Zatanna? Did Zatanna place any safeguards in case the Key went rogue again? Would it be ethical to forfeit his life span energy if he went bad again?  Would he help Zatanna if the latter was in life threatening trouble? Is Key the president of the Zatanna simp club? Gah, so many possibilities here.     

(Also chalk this up as another reason why Identity Crisis made no sense because her first instinct here is to do something selfless to restore the Key’s condition not lobotomize him).    

The reason why I made the Key and honorary member is because he’s not unique to Zatanna and is more of  recurring foe for the JL long before Zatanna even debuted yet the two have a unique connection thanks to that JLA story.   

Anyway, that’s it for now. Hopefully one day Zatanna gets an ongoing akin to James Robinsons Starman or John Ostrander’s Spectre or O’Neill’s Question run that explores her character and her world fully or at the very least are utilized in JLD.   Like I said, there is a lot of untapped potential with these guys especially since a lot of them fall into the ‘every villain is the hero of their story’ trope.  

[doctorslippery]

(via ALEX GARCIA: JSA: DR. FATE)

[johnvenus]

How YJ & JLDark Dropped The Ball With Zatanna (2/5)

Welcome to Part 2 of the post wherein I recap Zatanna’s character in DC comics to compare it with her depiction in JLD and YJ.  

Part One: Zatanna’s Search 

https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679908146955862016/how-yj-jldark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

In this post we will cover Sindella’s story arc in the comics as well as the origins of magic and Homo Magi. 

Joining the League:

Zatanna finally joined the League in JLA #165 written by Gerry Conway with art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLoughlin. Conway would be responsible for much of Zatanna's character development going forward.

In the real world, Zatanna was inducted to the League by winning a fan poll. In universe, it was because the League voted her in. One particular Leaguer is eager for her to join:

(For context: the League used to have a rule about only 12 members at a time joining which initially barred Shayera Hol from joining.)

Unfortunately, Zatanna is not interested in joining; sporting a new look and attitude, she makes her point very harshly before disappearing:

Poor Ray. :( He was so excited to see her to join.

Whilst Ray recounts the events of Zatanna's Search to the audience, we learn an interesting fact:

Zatanna's Search took place 3 years in universe which is the same number of years it took in publication wise as well. This means some of the stories are happening in real time while others are subject to the sliding time scale.

While reminiscing, Ray realizes something and just as he calls Batman, he is suddenly knocked out by....Green Lantern? Meanwhile, on earth, Batman realizes something and puts two and two together as well.  

Meanwhile, on earth, Zatanna is trying to open a portal to another dimension and we get a few clues as to her real motives: 

As it turns out, the Hal Jordan at the meeting wasn’t the real Hal but an imposter. It was the Warlock of Ys all along and he had  switched places with Hal. He also placed a curse on Zatanna so she woldn’t be able to warn others of the Warlock nor  use her backwards spell. Hence why she was casting her spells with forward sentences. He wasn’t responsible for her new look however. 

After helping the League defeat the Warlock Zatanna gives her real answer on joining the League:  

(As someone who is a fan of the Wonder/Zee relationship, it’s pretty cool that in universe, it’s Diana advocating for more female Leaguers that paves the way for Shayera and Zatanna to become full fledged League members).  

It's also established in this issue that:

-John Zatara has a mansion in Gotham City and Batman visit him in this issue to ask about Zatanna's sudden change in attitude.   Paul Dini would later build on it to establish Bruce and Zatanna as childhood friends, although no such indication is given here. See? Dini didn’t just randomly pull the Batman/Zatanna connection out of nowhere, there was always a connection between the two.  

-John Zatara has retired. Although artists are still drawing him like he is in his 30′s.  

-'Zatanna's Search' took three years in-universe).   If you're wondering about Zatanna's age, an early Whos Who established that John Zatara disappeared when she was a child. However, later Whos Who would give a more specific answer that her father disappeared when she was 18.  Since she tells the Hawks that she has been searching for her father for years in her first appearance, she must have at least been 20 in her first appearnace. This puts her in the early-mid 20′s when she joins. This would put her in the same age bracket as Supergirl and Barbara Gordon. Not as old as the League members (who were all believed to be in their late 20′s and early 30′s) but not as young as the side kicks (Dick, Roy, Donna) who were all still in High School at this point. Once the childhood friendship is established though, she is aged to being the same Batman and all the rest. Which is how I prefer it.      

-Zatanna cannot use her backwards spell so she starts chanting spells forward.  The Warlock remarks that he had no idea she could do magic besides her backwards spell. Also note that the spells cast during this were elemental based. This is a hint of things to come.

-This entire comic was built on a typo in JLoA #51 wherein GL refers to the Warlock of Ys as the Warlock of Dis. Obviously it was a sign than the Warlock was secretly taking over Hal and switching places with him.

After Zee joins the League in JLoA #161, she become a mainstay of the League. From #162 onwards, Gerry starts laying the seeds for the story of Zatanna’s mom; Sindella.  

The story arc involving her mom begins as a sub plot in #162 before becoming the main plot in from 164-165.   All of it written by Gerry Conway with art by Frank McLaughlin and Dick Dillin.Whats cool about the way he handles it is that the A plot is about the League fighting another threat while Zatanna's story is the B plot slowly brewing and building up in the background.

So while helping the League excavate rubble from a destroyed site, Zatanna suddenly experiences a psychic backlash that causes her to faint.She wakes up on the Satellite and is embarrassed about it but Ralph sets her at ease and acts as a mentor to her while she reveals:  

Source: Justice League of America #162  

So while Zatanna, Ralph Dibney and Red Tornado investigate, the main plot is about Green Arrow and the League facing Anton Allegro. The latter is a musician whom Ollie Queen blew off when he was rich and spoiled then later as Green Arrow, accidentally deafened him while trying to stop some crooks. Ollie felt so guilty about the whole thing he kept paying Anton's hospital bills until he lost his fortune. Now Anton is back, playing a magic synthesizer that summons demons and hell bent on revenge against all those who wronged him (which includes not just Ollie).  

Elsewhere:

Source: Justice League of America #162

The plot thickens.   There is an Arkahm Asylum in New York? I don’t think this was ever brought up again.  

In case you’re confused (like I initially was), the Zatara’s mansion in Gotham and their house in the Upstate NY near Arkham Asylum are two separate locations. Also note that Zatanna was born in NY although later on she would be more associated with San Francisco.   

When they get to the Zatara’s house in NY, the house itself comes alive and attacks them: 

Inside the house is a whirlpool with someone trapped inside. Zatanna claims she knows exactly who sent the banshee after them and mind wiped her and once the whirlpool is disspelled we learn that it was her own father; John Zatara.  

In the following issue, #163, neither  Zee nor the League are happy with Zatara's antics.

While the League leaves to deal with Anton Allegro, Zatanna confronts her father and even puts a spell on him to make sure he's telling the truth. (See this is another reason why Identity Crisis makes no sense, Zatanna has been mindwiped before and we can see how upset she and the other Leaguers are about it. So why would she and the other League members go through the process of mindwiping Dr Light, never mind other villains?)

We learn that Zatara and Zatanna were both performing at a show when Zatanna suddenly transformed into wearing a costume resembling her mothers. According to Zatara, Sindella died in a car crash and he feared that she had come back as a ghost trying to haunt them. Hence why he put the spell on Zatanna and tried to exorcise her spirit from their house but something wrong and he was trapped in the vortex but still tried to keep Zatanna safe:  

Basically, if your loved one died in a traumatic event, they can come back as a vengeful spirit even if you had a good relationship with them. Its a neat idea that I don't think has been used anywhere else.

Daughter and father reconcile and attempt to contact Sindella's ghost.....right as Allegro starts playing his demonic music, then they lose contact right as Allegor stops.  This is when the two plotlines begin to converge.

In the next issue #164, we learn that Sindella's summons weren't coming from the other world but from somewhere north of Turkey. In fact, she might not ecen be dead after all.

We then get the story of how John Zatara and Sindella met:

Man, characters were so melodramatic in their old days.  

Anyway, in order to Sindella they must first defeat Anton Allegro. Zee surmises that his musical instrument can pierce between the dimensions (hence why they almost contacted Sindella prior).

So Zatanna goes with the League to help them defeat Anton Allegro. She does a combo with Black Canary’s sonic cry that manages to beat him (these must be the comics that inspired Dini to write Zatanna/Black Canary: Bloodspell).    

After defeating Allegro, the League and the Zatara's make their way to the north of Turkey where GL and the Zataras along with Allegros instrument manages to pierce the dimensional barriers revealing a place called the Hidden City where;

The League takes on the Hidden Ones but an entire city of magic users is overwhelming even for them.  After their defeat the League is kept in a separate prison with the Zatara’s in a separate one:

Awww. :(  

Zatanna casts a spell to try and speak to her mother and it manages to knock her out of the vegetative state. We finally get some backstory on how she ended up that way:  

Meanwhile Green Arrow and Red Tornado are on the satellite where Arrow is still recovering giving RT a chance to explain to Arrow about the previous issues events. Tornado has been doing his own research about the area that Zatara first met Sindella. 

He shows Ollie a documentary from the 1950′s in which an archaeologist named Hugo Holcroft. The latter is presented as a colonialist figure who thumbs his nose as he explains the local legend of Northern Turkey. Millions of years ago while humans still lived in caves and were still evolving there was a separate branch of humanity called the Homo Magi’ who had natural inclination towards magic. Thanks to that they were able to advance far quicker than Homo Sapiens who were still figuring out basic tools. But there was a catch, if a Homo Magi ever had a child with a normal human, that child would only have half of their ability. Continued intermarriage with humans would cause magical gene to be wiped out. This is similar to how non dominant genes like having red hair is passed down in real life.

Thus, in order to preserve their lineage, the Homo Magi secluded themselves from humans. He also claims that the Magi had a fatal attraction to humans which would cause them to fall helplessly in love with humans.Another reason for their seclusion. It gets weirder when he claims that humans evolved into modern day humans and different races (white, African, Asian) , the Homo Magi remained the same ‘since Roman times’. This is of course contradictory because neither Sindella nor the High Lord look like Neanderthal and other races existed before the Roman times. I think Sir Hugo is meant to be a bigoted colonialist and unreliable narrator with the characters discovering which is true or not. After all, in the story he dismisses the local legends as the inhabitants drinking too much goat milk and outright states he doesn’t believe in magic.      

So Arrow and Red Tornado head to northern Turkey where the Hidden City is located and they manage to find their own way inside, when Green Arrow comes face to face with one of it’s inhabitants.   

Back in the Hidden City, the League has a collective big brain moment where they figure out how to escape their prison, "hey Diana isn't your lasso magic as well?".

Once they are outside they are confronted by Green Arrow and an army of magic users:  

The army that they were fighting disintergrates before them.  None of them were the true Homo Magi, only illusions that Sindella was forced to conjure up by it’s true inhabitants and it came at a cost:  

IMO, this is when the story dropped off. Not because Sindella died but confirming that the Magi had fatal attraction towards humans.   

One main flaw with Gerry Conway’s writing is that his endings can often be abrupt and anti climatic but OTOH, he is great at world building and build up to the climax.    

Also, consider the layers to this story:   

-The JL *failed* to save the day. This was during a period when they had a 98% success rate.

-The tragedy of Sindella; born to be a glorified battery for her people, finding brief happiness with Zatara only to be forcibly separated from her family, imprisoned and yet still fought to protect her daughter from a similar fate.

-Zatanna trying her hardest to save her mother only for said mother to die protecting her.

Overall, its a story with a lot of great ideas but the execution, especially in the final act is lackluster. Its a story that I would love to see revisited, retold and updated. Unfortunately I fear if DC retold Zatanna's Search and Sindella's story they would probably find a way to shoe horn John Constantine. (Yeah, I'm not a fan of the pairing I'll explain why later.)

See, this is why I was so disappointed with Young Justice reducing Sindella to just a bystander who died of cancer. Sindella's story is what introduced readers to the term Homo Magi and if you think about it, the story of the Homo Magi isolating themselves also goes a long way towards explaining why there are so many hidden mystic societies in the DCU like Azarath where Raven is from, Skartaris from Warlord, Gemworld from Amethyst, the realm of Kor ruled by Dr Mist, the Land of Nightshades where Nightshade/Eve Eden is from,  etc.  

Next issue, we see Sindella's funeral with the Trinity reflecting on what happened:

I'm with Batman on this. Different culture or no what the Hidden Ones did with Sindella is too cruel to just brush off.   Also, Bruce you’re airing your grievances to a superpowered alien and an immortal Amazon warrior, maybe Barry, Ollie, Hal or Dinah would agree with you more on this.  

I like how WW is comforting her here and yes, the JLA is her home now.

In the same comic, Zatanna is eager to jump back into action. Diana calls her a strong woman.

The story arc that followed Sindella's arc the one with the Secret Society members (Wizard, Zoom, Floronic Man, Blockbuster and Star Sapphire) infiltrating the League by switching minds with its members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Hal Jordan) was said to be the inspiration for Identity Crisis. Though since there aren't major developments for Zatanna here beyond what I covered above, I'll skip it.

Growing Up With The League

With the League, as her home, Zatanna becomes a mainstay of the League. She was powerful but still had a strong need to prove herself which can often lead her to lose sight of her strengths:

Source: JLA #175  

Source: JLA #176 

Under Conway’s pen, Zatanna would often pplay a vital role in saving the day either through her magic or her cleverness: 

Source; JLA #178  

There is a lot going on in the Justice League during the 70′s and 80′s period. Zatanna is not the only one getting character development here, there’s Red Tornado grappling with his humanity, Ollie’s growing social consciousness and disillusionment with the League which also creates rifts in his relationship with Black Canary who wants to remain with the League, Firestorms being young and naive, Martian Manhunter dealing with being an exile from his own people, not to mention stuff that happens in characters own titles (particularly the Hawks, Flash and Atom) that gets mentioned and also shapes their actions in the main JL title. But I’m mainly going to focus on Zatanna’s development.    

She was the League’s primary magic user and the one they call upon when they need help with magical threats. She also continued to wear her mother’s costume, which I interpret as a tribute to her. Also, under Conway’s pen, Zatanna would never *just* her father’s daughter, he gave equal billing to both John Zatara and Sindella.  She also begins to surpass her father when it comes to magic both in knowledge and power.    

Another noticeable element from his run was that Zatanna would often exclaim  ‘Hothat’s Ring’  and other such things likely inspired by Marvel’s Dr Strange often proclaiming ‘By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth’. I don’t mind it, it could be a result of her mother influencing her mind in that story arc or she said it as a tribute to her or maybe a result of her own growing knowledge of magic.  

In DC Comics Presents Vol 1 #18 written by Gerry Conway with art by Dick Dillin, we get a Superman and Zatanna team up. This title was basically 'Brave and the Bold' but with Superman teaming up with a different hero every issue.  

(Notice the intro box acknowledges John Zatra and Sindella?) 

Also I think this issue the only time we see Zatanna use time manipulation under Conway’s pen when she uses her magic to assist Superman in saving that van. Honestly, I’m cool with her not manipulating time, reality or casually talking to the dead. I think that’s too much and writers can find other ways to showcase her power.  

While Superman goes to the Fortress of Solitude to investigate his weakness to magic, Zatanna and her father travel to the mansion of Madam Van Jung where we learn more about the source of magic:   

Unfortunately, right as Zatanna tries to contact the other dimension, Superman is conducting an experiment to immunize himself from magic causing the spells to short circuit thus opening a magical rift that gives everyone on earth magic powers. Naturally, chaos erupts as everyone has uncontrollable magical abilities. Neither Zatanna nor Superman has their powers but Superman now has magical powers and Zatanna has to guide him on how to use them. I wish the story had gone all the way and gave her Superman’s powers but I digress.  

Also introduced in the story is Caligro, an actual stage magician who resents the Zatara’s because their real magic has put his stage sorcery out of business. Now with magical abilities he tries to attack Superman and Zatanna.   The two manage to beat him and close the rift, thus restoring the magical   balance leaving poor Caligro back at square one. Sadly, he wouldn’t be seen again after this story but I love the concept of him.

  Eventually we see her become the chairperson of the JL and acknowledged not just by the League but by the JSA as well:

Source: JLA #171  

I should note that this isn’t the Thanagarian Hawkman aka Katar Hol who was on the JLA on E1. This was the Egypptian reincarnated Hawkman who was on the JSA and on E2. Man, the Hawks were so much simpler back then.    

Next up: The snake head costume, the romance with Barry, Zee becoming chair lady, team up with Wonder Woman and so much more!

Part 3: https://johnvenus.tumblr.com/post/679909340257370112/how-yj-jl-dark-dropped-the-ball-with-zatanna

[kitzatara]

Ok bro since we are getting a Zatanna MOVIE (SOOO EXCITED BTW FINALLY) if it were up to you what do you wanna see and what do you not want to see in terms of plot and characters?

I’m so excited. I trust that writer to at least make Zee compelling. Promising young woman was such an interesting movie.

Things I want to see:

For the plot. What I’d want most from it is Zatanna being a capable and determined sorceress who comes up against many different foes and overcomes them in different ways. I want it to be like an odyssey.

I’m thinking Maybe she starts off doing shows to keep up the family act and practicing her real magic via crime fighting. Then she discovers or is told that her dad is still alive/savable. She sets out to find him and comes up against Warlock of Ys, Brother Night, maybe a quick cameo with Circe and finally Allura. Each magic user presenting a different challenge or type of magic that correlates with a memory she has of her dad or something she picked up in show biz. I think she should consider giving up or stops believing he’s alive after hitting a dead end or having a close call. But she decides to never stop believing and that’s the key to magic. They’re reunited and they are able to catch up and bond again and the movie ends with them starting a revival show. Then either in the crowd or in an end scene we see sindella. Setting up the next movie to be about the hidden ones.

Fan service things I’d like to see

1) A full stage performance. It’s a must.

2) Zatanna not being afraid of her powers, unknowledgeable, or otherwise incapable of using them by some excuse or other. Full spellsholic mode she’s using magic for stuff all the time especially in fights.

3) i want fight scenes. Not just using magic for fun or for sluething. I want magic fights.

4) i want it to be a healthy balance of fun and angst. Not fully serious and dark. I don’t want a brooding Zatanna. I want her affected by lost but not consumed by it. I want her stage crew to be shown as her support system. They’re all misfits or dealing with something and they help each other. (I am not at all worried about Emerald pulling this off.)

5) her white tiger!!!!

Things I don’t want

1) I’m not 100% against it but I’d prefer no big cameos. And if there are I’d really only want Xanadu or Nightmare Nurse. Like she goes to Xanadu as a starting point. Very oracle of delphi or to Asa to see if he’s truly alive. I think john and swamp thing can wait for the show they’re allegedly getting. Or maybe they can be the end scene. Oh deadman can also show up. Lil ghost buddy.

2) I don’t want anyone making fun of her name. I’ve had enough 😤

3) I don’t want fully reversed spells. Follow lacey chaberts example from YJ. Her spells sounds great.

4) No one can make fun of her outfit unless she turns them into fish like in bloodspell.

@armysonemeu thank you for the ask cx

[chilvane]

femmefareeha replied to your post “clary: there isn’t going to be a consequence to bringing you back me,...”

Ys my ass into like three shows w like christian shit going on.... There's a name for the children of Lilith too n Lucifer s3 is gonna get into tht too is2g

keep in mind it’s possible this might change but tht demon teased at the end of season 2 is probably lilith herself who is the demon who’s blood was given to experiment on jonathan w/. i wasn’t teasing so much tht warlocks are gonna b important but tht lilith herself is a V Big Player in the next coming season(s)

[xehanortsreport]

I feel like you'd be a warlock morty or maybe a ranger.

g u ys....

[thisdayincomics]

November 25

The dimensional universe known as the Other Side of the World was created in a different way from any other known universe. There was no big bang, but all was created in a steady state flow of primal matter, resulting in a place where time - as we know it - doesn't exist. There, nothing ages or dies; and if something's destroyed it is immediately replaced. The being known as the Warlock of Ys is the only known native of that universe. In time he became bored with his world and, with the aid of his magic mirror, saw Earth. He longed to go there in order to experience something new and perhaps to conquer the world, but even his might powers could not enable him to leave his own world. In the late twentieth century the Druid, a long-time friend of the Warlock and ruler of an enchanted subatomic realm, requested to banish his foe, the magician Zatara to the Other Side of the World. The Warlock agreed to this, as Zatara would be unable to use his magical powers in his realm. The Warlock ignored the pleas of Zatara, believing the magician was helpless and left him to wander the land alone. The Warlock was occupied creating a magical crystal ball out of a rare element, a process that took millennia to bring to completion and would finally allow him passage to Earth. Zatara somehow found out about the Warlock's plans and took the crystal ball to prevent the Warlock from leaving the Other Side of the World. Zatara vanished without a trace afterwards. The Warlock first appeared in Green Lantern #42 (November 25, 1965).