WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? – Episode #37 ZATANNA By Bruce MacIntosh Countdown is DC's weekly title that features continuing stories about characters with whom the average fan may be unfamiliar. If Countdown mystifies you because you don't know everything about these characters, fear not! The Pulse will look into its crystal ball and spell things out for you. This week we wave our magic wand over Zatanna, the Enchantress in Fishnets.
DC's magnificent mystic has played an important role in many of the events over the last few years, and in Countdown is currently trying to help Mary Marvel find her way after being endowed with the dark magic powers of Black Adam. Zatanna Zatara was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in Hawkman #4 (Oct/Nov 1964).
Zatanna is a descendant of Leonardo da Vinci (depicted in the DC universe as a magician), and is related to Nostradamus, Cagliostro and alchemists Nicolas Flamel and Evan Fulcanelli. Her younger cousin, Zachary Zatara, is also a magician in the DCU, who recently had a brief stay with the Teen Titans (v. 3, Issues #34-39.)
She worked as a stage illusionist before discovering her magical abilities and after many years superhero-ing as one of the most powerful magicians in the DCU, she has returned to the stage. She continues to help other heroes when called upon.
Through the Sixties and Seventies, the magical maiden appeared as a guest in several books - especially in the pages of the Justice League of America, (starting with Issue #51, Feb 1967). However, she was never officially considered for membership until a five-part epic (which was fairly uncommon in the days of one-and-done stories) that ran from the Justice League of America #161 through #165 (Dec 1978 through Apr 1979). It was not until this late date that her origin story was finally recounted.
That adventure started with the assembled members of the JLA casting (paper!) ballots for the election of a new member. The charming enchantress appeared in a flash of light, refusing to join the League, and torching the ballots with a spell. (An early effort by the Diebold lobby for adoption of electronic balloting.)
Zatanna's most interesting gimmick – besides the fishnet stockings – was her backwards-spell-speak. In this story, however, her rhyming spells were not spoken backwards. The Atom deduced, therefore, that everything she had said was the opposite of what she really wanted! It turned out that her new costume, flaming ballots, and general antisocial attitude towards the JLA was actually a warning from her mother, thought dead since Zatanna was a baby.
Zatanna had been the product of her human father Zatara (a DC character from the 1940s) and Sindella, a member of the race Homo Magus. That race had fled the Earthly plane two thousand years prior, to avoid their stock being diluted by constant interbreeding with mere humans. (They had one big weakness: They fell hopelessly in bed with the first human of the opposite sex they set eyes on.) Both Sindella and her daughter were the sole members of the race of Homo Magus per generation who possessed the "Medulla Jewel" (in their brains, natch.)
The Jewel would power the entire magical race for that generation, so they were desperate to capture and enthrall its possessors. Sindella sacrificed herself and was captured shortly after giving birth to Zatanna, to protect the identity of the infant. Thirty years later, Mom was running out of gas and the sorcerous race was eager to find her successor. Hence, the warning to her now-adult daughter. Against all odds the JLA prevailed, but not without Sindella sacrificing her life.
In spite of that tragedy, Zatanna soldiered on and played an integral part in the team's adventures until its temporary dissolution in 1984. She appeared briefly with the later re-formation of the team with different members. She puttered around along on the fringes of the DC Universe, with guest appearances in Swamp Thing and The Books of Magic, until her important role in 2004's Identity Crisis.
Identity Crisis recounted a previous Justice League where Zatanna was a member. At that time, the villain Dr. Light brutally raped Sue Dibny, the Elongated Man's wife. When apprehended, he threatened the families of the other JLA members. Zatanna was prepared to magically erase Light's memories of the incident, as she had done previously to other villains possessing knowledge dangerous to the League. However, the question of the morality of tampering with Light's mind ignited a heated debate among the League members. A stalemate among the members was broken by the Flash (Barry Allen), and Zatanna finally erased Light's memories - which also resulted in diminishing his intellectual abilities. (It also explained why he was always such an easily-defeated putz in the 80s and 90s.) Batman appeared suddenly while Zatanna was doing her mind-wipe thing, and lest he screw up the process Zatanna was forced to freeze him. The JLA members voted to similarly erase Batman's memories of the incident.
Back in the present in Identity Crisis, Batman finally discovered his memories had been affected, which naturally soured his relationship with Zatanna. Last year, in the pages of Detective Comics, she assisted Batman at one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pits. Zatanna asked him why he came to her. Batman said, "I needed someone I can trust… But I had to settle for you." Ouch.
Batman is apparently more forgiving than previously thought, however. In Detective Comics #824 he asked Zatanna for information on a card-counter who was scamming the Penguin. Bats never referred to the events that had strained their relationship, and even called her by her nickname, "Zee".
The Dark Detective and the Saucy Sorceress have teamed very recently in Detective Comics #833 and #834 (also penned by Countdown writer, Paul Dini) to determine the mysterious circumstances behind the death of Zee's former stage assistant. That story revealed the friendship between Zatanna's father and Thomas Wayne, and that Bruce and Zatanna were also childhood friends. We also learned that it was Zatanna's father who trained Bruce Wayne in the art of escape.
Zatanna's mind-wiping technique has not been limited to Dr. Light and the Batman, and has caused her some alienation among other DC heroes. A recent Catwoman storyline (Issue #50, Feb 2006) the former feline felon learned that her recent reformation was the result of Zatanna's mystical mind-wipe, under the encouragement of the other JLA members. Similar to Dr. Light's reaction upon learning of the magician's mental interference, Selina Kyle lost control and took her anger out on Zatanna – by throwing her out a window. Zee survived, but Catwoman continues to mistrust her. In an ironic act of penitence, Catwoman has Zatanna mind-wipe Angle-Man and Film Freak to forget Selina Kyle's own secret identity as the Catlike Combatant. (Catwoman #57, Sep 2006).
Shoehorned between Zatanna's integral role in 2004's Identity Crisis and her recent appearances in Catwoman and Detective Comics, was the eponymous limited-series that was part of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory 2005 septilogy of titles. In her 4-issue mini, Zee tried to deal with burn out from the events of Identity Crisis and various other personal and professional failures. The plot was fairly convoluted and the story is fantastical in typical Morrison-esque fashion. However, it did serve to reinforce the magician's almost unique position in comics as being one of the most human superheroes: she often screws up and is plagued by her faults and failures. In fact, she is one of the only characters who consistently must deal with her foibles on a personal level, and suffer the consequences of her failures. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons the character is so frequently utilized by writers in the DC Universe.
Speaking of which, Zatanna has also been a frequent guest in many Vertigo titles. As mentioned earlier, she appeared several times in The Books of Magic to guide fledgling magician Timothy Hunter, and an alternate version of Zee with blonde hair appears in the odd story, Books of Magick: Life During Wartime. She also played a key role in several Hellblazer story arcs.
The Comely Conjurer has never had her own ongoing title, but had her own four-issue limited series, Zatanna (1993) in addition to the aforementioned Seven Soldiers: Zatanna. She also appeared in several one-shots, including the Zatanna Special (1987) and Zatanna: Everyday Magic (2003, also written by Paul Dini).
She continues to appear throughout the DC Universe, but always in a supporting role. She has officially resigned her full-time membership in the Justice League, but will assist on cases that require her unique brand of mysticism. I'm afraid that her guidance of Mary Marvel will be for naught, as "Black" Mary simply has too much dark power to handle. As we learned months ago from DC's "Seduction of the Innocent" promos (and Who Counts in Countdown? Episode #44), it looks like she will forswear Zatanna's positive and upbeat assistance for the dark and malevolent guidance of Eclipso.
NEXT WEEK IN WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? The parade of Paul Dini Batman-Universe characters continues, as we examine the history of Harleen Quinzel, also known as the Madcap Merrymaker - Harlequin. Tune in next time… (say it with me):
Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
Posts: 21381 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
