According to The Source blog, the DCU's sorceress supreme Zatanna will appear in her own ongoing series starting in May. The team behind the curtain? Paul Dini and Stephane Roux. Dini of course comes to the project with a number of tricks up his sleeves. He has an extensive history writing the character, and even employed her as a romantic foil for Batman in his recent Detective Comics run. Given that he's also married to a practicing magician, the gig is practically slice of life. But even with a deck full of trump cards, Dini still notes that there's a unique challenge in writing a series about a character whose long history reads like a stack of Mad Libs.
With this new ongoing, Dini hopes to fill in some of the blanks, providing his fearless prestidigitator with her own rogues gallery and making sense of her existing family foundation. Here's what Dini had to say about the task at hand:
"Outside of her star turn in 7 SOLDIERS OF VICTORY, her ongoing supporting role in JLA and guest appearances elsewhere, Zatanna doesn’t come with a lot of backstory. That’s both a blessing and a challenge for me as a writer. I don’t have to adhere to 70 years of continuity, but that doesn’t give me a lot of history to draw from, either. That said, I’ve been having a lot of fun populating her world with new characters, friends and allies as well as an entirely new mystical rogues gallery. I’m out to create some really unique and creepy villains, ones that aggressively prey on humankind the way gangsters in a crime book would victimize innocent people. As Zatanna herself says in the first issue, there’s little in the way of human punishment that can be enforced on evil mystics. There are few laws they are compelled to obey, no jails to hold them, and no way ordinary people can defend themselves from their attacks. Zatanna has taken it upon herself to operate as both peacekeeper and avenger between those two worlds.
"Though a lot about Zatanna’s world is new, it is still firmly rooted in the DC Universe. She’s still a JLA member, and that will play into her stories now and then. Also, I plan to explore her somewhat dicey relationship with her younger cousin, Zachary Zatara. I saw a good chance to inject some family discord there, so when I was developing the book, I ran some ideas by Geoff Johns. He created Zach, so I wanted to get his okay before I shook things up. Luckily Geoff was cool with what I wanted to do, so readers can expect to see Zach becoming a permanent part of Zee’s world."
French artist Stephane Roux is probably best known as a cover artist, contributing to series like Countdown and Birds of Prey. I also have a pretty snazzy Spider-Man print he was selling at New York Comic Con last year. He seems to specialize in drawing female heroes, and the preview pages made available by DC showcase what looks to be a fun and lighthearted tone for the series. Rife with monsters and magic, of course.
I'm a huge Zatanna fan, so I'm particularly excited about this announcement. I hope that Zatanna joins the growing pool of sensational books at DC centered around their female heroes including Supergirl and Power Girl, as well as forthcoming projects for Bat Woman, Wonder Woman, and Birds of Prey.
It's only appropriate to offer a few of my own magic words: please and thank you.
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Oh, this sounds interesting! I’ll be on the look out for this when it drops.
I’m in for Dini. Zatanna seems like an interesting character, and I’d like to know more about her.
Love Zantanna. Might be in my top ten favorite characters of the DC universe.
Really don’t care for the creator or Zatanna, but knowing me I’ll at least try the first issue.
This year’s Power Girl? (Not that that is a bad thing – not at all).
The one-shot Dini did years ago is one of my favorite stand-alone books of the last decade. Really looking forward to this.
Never really liked her until I read the stuff Dini did with her in Detective a few years back. I love that he put her back in the top hat versus the "Identity Crisis" sorceress get-up. It has the potential to be a great series.
I guess that whats been keeping Dini busy.
I’ll be buying this
I will definitely check this out. I was a big fan of Dini’s Detective run.
!tnellecxE
I didn’t really enjoy her role in Seven Soldiers, but I feel her character has a lot of potential. I’m excited.
That man loves his Zatanna
My new most anticipated book!
Zatanna is great and so is Dini´s writing, so i am going to pick it up.
The art looks very Kevin Maguire-ish… I love it! I’m buying.
Definitely going to pick this up. I like the magic side of the DCU and would love to see Shadowpact return (I know, random).
I might try the first issue just in case it turns out to be like Power Girl or Batgirl. If that’s the case, there’s no reason anyone shouldn’t buy it.
Seriously, read Batgirl.
Hopefully he sticks with this and avoids fill-in writers for a minute.
I’m definitely buying this.
As a diehard Dini fan, I am in. Though I am tempering this optimism, mostly because Batman Streets of Gotham was mediocre at best.
what is his deal w/ his Batman family books has he as gone MIA on them & none returning. Even DC website says he is the writer when he isnt.
Matthew
@mguy77
Has he been disappearing on Sirens too? I only read Streets.
Damn, really nice artwork there. Definitely looking forward to this.
Long overdue! Looking forward to this! Dini should have been writing a Zatanna ongoing years ago!
Inid sah emos driew histef rof elamef snaicigam.
WTB, eht koob skool emal
I’ll pass, I find reading backwards too taxing, I can barely stand Zatanna when she shows up in JLA.
Im there !!!!
I’m looking forward to it but it’s hard being a Dini fan… 4 issues on, 2 issue off, 3 issues on, 2 issues off, etc…
Does this mean well see a reprint of his old one-shot? Cuz that thing is a bitch to hunt down
What’s funny about magical characters is that there aren’t any parameters for what magic folk and can’t do. Zatanna is the only magic character I can think of WITH any parameters. She’s gotta speak to cast spells.
Either way, Mr. Dini is a great writer and I’ll check it out for sure.
dini is gonna make this awesome
It’s such fantastic news to finally get a date for this, it seems to have been announced years ago. Can’t wait, and it looks like they’ve found a nice match for artist to subject too. (Still, Roux may have a way to go to beat Ryan Sook from the 7 Soldiers series).
Sign me up! I know he’s been wanting to do this for some time, so I’m thinking this will rock. Kudos to DC for strong female lead books. Can’t wait for this.
I’m ready to buy this book right now.
I’m in. Just on Dini’s name alone I have to check this out.
I’m no artologist, but when I saw Roux’s sample pages above, I initially thought, "Is that Cho or Dodson?" From me, this is high praise.
That having been said– and I am going to do my best not to be a buzzkill here– is Paul Dini actually going to write this book? I was really enjoying his run on Detective many moons ago, until that way-too-soon virtually unannounced fill-in issue that was maybe literally the worst comic I ever accidentally paid money for. I never went back. Then he was writing Gotham City Sirens, only to be abruptly filled in for by Scott Lobdell as of issue #3. That’s two issues in, folks. So, when I hear this great news, I want to say, "Yay!" but instead I am forced to say, "Hmmmm." Will he actually complete a single arc? Who will suddenly replace him without warning? Fabian Nicieza? Bob Layton?
"As a diehard Dini fan, I am in. Though I am tempering this optimism, mostly because Batman Streets of Gotham was mediocre at best." — ato220
@ato220: I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
@Jimski, I’m with you…how many Dini issues will we actually get before we get "Lobdell-ed"?
In fact the most recent issue of Sirens wasn’t by Dini either…without him it feels pretty, well, dull.
LOVED Z in Seven Soldiers! LOVED Z in her supporting role w/ Bats in Detective. Other than his lame Sirens, Dini has written great stuff….I am totally psyched for this book. Bring it on. !seénisseD sednaB srueL te siaçnarF setsitrA seL eviV tE
For those who wonder why Dini has a thing for Zantanna, you need to see his wife. http://www.mistylee.com/ Yes she’s a spitting image and does magic.
That art looks great. Dini is hit and miss with me, bu those pages of Zatanna look greatQ