I’ve enjoyed much of Paul Dini’s past work and knowing that he has a thing for the character Zatanna; I was really looking forward to this series. When a writer has an affection for a particular character that usually brings forth the type of quality effort from the writer that results in a top quality story. I can’t say that was the case this time around, now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this was a bad issue, far from it. This is a solid first issue; it just wasn’t as great as I expected it to be.
SPOILER WARNING The story is pretty straightforward, Zatanna is called in by the local police to help investigate a grizzly murder scene because the murders were obviously done by supernatural means. From the one survivor she quickly learns that this was a hit, carried out by Brother Night, against San Francisco’s underworld bosses. Brother Night’s reason for carrying out this hit, is simple, he wants to expand his own criminal empire. Zatanna then informs the local police that there is nothing they can do but she can and will deal with this matter. Zatanna seems to be laying it on extra heavy about there being nothing that ordinary humans can do against magic users when we have, in fact, seen ordinary humans deal with magic users on many occasions. I’m just going to chalk it up to her wanting to get the local police out of the way so she can deal with this. Zatanna then heads off to Brother Night’s stronghold where she lays down the law to him and his minions. Her willingness to walk into the lion’s den and the ease with which she deals with Brother Night’s henchmen shows a confidence and strength I’ve never seen in Zatanna before. After leaving, Brother Night wastes no time is seeking out an ally that can help him deal with Zatanna. END SPOILER WARNING
At this point, I should mention Stephane Roux and Karl Story’s fine art work; in some panels Zatanna looks awesome. Their work does an excellent job of conveying that confidence and strength that I mentioned earlier. I should also tell you that Paul Dini dives right into the story and other then a few subtle mentions doesn’t tell you anything about Zatanna’s past. So, if you feel you need a full history of the character in order to read this issue then you are out of luck. I don’t think you need any kind of lengthy back-story to understand and enjoy this issue but some people may feel they do. If it seems like this issue did not thrill me, you must understand, my expectations where so high going in that nothing less then an instant classic was going to satisfy me. The truth is this was a solid start to this series.
Keith Forney