Zatanna 10-16

Zatanna (Volume 2) #10
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Cliff Chiang

In this issue, Zatanna makes the incredibly naieve mistake of not thinking a talking Ventriloquist Doll was not a psychotic killer. I assume all ventriloquist dolls are psychopaths unless proven otherwise. Anyways, Oscar reverses the spell and now Zatanna is the doll. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Zatanna (Volume 2) #11
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Jamal Igle

In this issue Zatanna has been stuck as a doll for a month and is saved by her – friend? – Mikey who I can’t remember who she is but I guess she is a member of Zatanna’s supporting cast. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the artwork. I love that there is a therapist just for magicians.

 

 

Zatanna (Volume 2) #12
Written by Matthew Sturges
Art by Stephane Roux

Matthew Sturges takes over writing for this issue alone. I like how he emphasizes the magic of San Francisco and all of its magical secrets. In this issue, she fights a villain named backslash who is really just a trashy uneducated magical fool who thinks he can kill whoever he wants and that makes him kinda scary. I love how Zatanna uses Palindromes to fight him. That’s brilliant. Zatanna even meets a new fairy friend. This was a great one and done issue.

Zatanna (Volume 2) #13
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Jamal Igle

In this issue a mystical cat appears to Zatanna and gives her a vision of a future encounter with the Spectre. Zatanna goes to see the Spectre to ask him about this in a rather amusing scene. Meanwhile, Brother Night escapes from prison. He sure is a terrible villain and I like how Dini has built him up in this series as Zatanna’s primary foe. Meanwhile, in the end we find out the detective is actually Brother Night’s son! I enjoyed this a lot. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

 

Zatanna (Volume 2) #14
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Jamal Igle and Travis Moore

What is going on? What happened to the story arc Paul Dini started. Now Adam Beechen is guest writing the title and nothing from the previous issue is even mentioned. This was clearly filler. It was just about Zatanna fighting a succubus who takes over her cousin Zachary and it was well-written and everything but it was definitely filler and I was looking forward to the story arc with Brother Night.

 

Zatanna (Volume 2) #15
Written by Derek Fridolfs
Art by Jamal Igle

Ok I am getting really pissed off. The storyline that Dini was building to was really great. This was another one and done issue from a different write that was only ok. What the hell? Did Dini quit? Why was this storyline just abandoned. Come on DC!

 

 

Zatanna (Volume 2) #16
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Victor Ibanez

This is the final issue of this series and everything that Dini was building to I guess will never be resolved. Very disappointing and pathetic on DC’s part. Even though this was a well written story and it had great art I, and I am sure most regular readers of this series too, wanted to see Dini end his story. So sad.

Magical Therapists And Creepy Dolls

Zatanna (Volume 2) #8
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Cliff Chiang

 

Dini returns to this book as Cliff Chiang does wonderful art on this issue and he creates another scary ass villain for Zatanna to face – this time in the form of a vetriloquist doll – always a frightening thing whether it is in Goosebumps, the Twilight Zone, or here. Great issue. I also love that there is a therapist just for magicians and of course Detective Chimp woudl go to her too!

Mystical Victory

Zatanna (Volume 2) #3
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Stephane Roux

 

Zatanna defeats Brother Night rather brilliantly by freeing the sould that empower him. I didn’t expect this to happen so quickly but we all know Brother Night will be back. I loved this issue as Dini continues to come up with clever ways for Zatanna to use her powers and I was glad John Zatara wasn’t under Brother Night’s control for too long. Fuseli is a great character and I hope he comes back before too long. I was hoping he would become Zatanna’s reluctant sidekick but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Good stuff.

Creepy Fuseli

Zatanna (Volume 2) #2
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Stephane Roux

 

It’s Zatanna versus the nightmare Imp Fuseli – who is actually from a real painting called Fuseli’s Nightmare. I like this creepy character and Roux duplicates the painting very well. Brother Night is creepy as ever and seems to have the soul of Zatanna’s Dad under his control. This book has been really good so far and I love what Dini is doing with the character. This storyline takes place back when Zatanna was member of the JLA during McDuffie’s run it seems – that makes sense since it was announced around that time.

A Great Start For The Mistress Of Magic

Zatanna (Volume 2) #1
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Stephanie Roux

 

What a freaking great week for comics! I was pleasenty surprise by two new series – Legion and this – the debut of Zatanna’s new ongoing series. I wasn’t sure about it because honestly Zatanna is kind of a hit-or-miss character for me and I always thought it was kinda strange of Dini brings her into anything he is writing – but I was wrong because this was awesome! Dini sets up Zatanna’s rogues gallery with some creepy mystic villains led by the frightening – and pefect for San Francisco – Brother Night, a former hippie turned evil mystic. Fuseli is creepy as well along with the rest of the villains. I love how Zatanna is portrayed here, always confident and ready for her next move. Much better then she has been written since Identity Crisis as being filled with self-doubt. When she change into work clothes – it was breathtaking. Kudos to Roux for that. A great start for this book all around!