Zatanna #5

                I haven’t reviewed this comic yet.  I have been enjoying reading about Zatanna so far.  It is not a book that blows you away, yet it has a certain charm that makes it appealing.  The genre is vastly different from the other female DCU books.  The magical element gives us a heroine that is in the spandex world, but really operates on a different level.  She is just a gal with this rich heritage that has placed her in the role of mystical protector.  The supporting cast is being developed slowly and methodically which is a nice change of pace.  It is one problem I have with Power Girl.  They threw all these characters in the mix and now with a new team the people are erased.  Here it is a more natural progression of meeting the supporting cast.

                When last the book appeared we had Zatanna facing three fire demons.  She had been force fed some flames and all seemed lost.  Ah, but our heroine is not so easily undone.  She gets her voice free and in a cool way takes care of business.  Then the way is paved for her cousin Zach to whine a bit about his big cousin not attending his shows.  What I find cool about this is I have a cousin who is a year older than me and we had a similar almost sibling connection.  On an emotional level I get where the two are in this relationship.  As you get older things change.  Zach is a brat, but a sympathetic brat.  He is a bit charming and a bit of a rogue.  He will become a great supporting character for this comic.  I can see him playing a big role as the current story progresses.

                The story is the thing of Internet fan fiction.  Zatanna is mind controlled into falling in love.  Her inner dialogue as she calls the villain shmoopie is hilarious.  She is really a fun character to read and I figure Paul Dini has a blast writing these stories.  What is nice is that they do show the dialogue boxes and they show how to properly use them.  Without the boxes Zatanna would look like an airheaded bimbo.  Instead we see a strong woman fighting the control being exerted over her.  The end is a great cliffhanger.  This is an enjoyable book that fans of magic should really take notice of and give a try.

BDS