Zatanna #10 – Review

By: Paul Dini (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), John Kausz (colorist)

The Story: This sadistic, knife-wielding marionette ain’t your mama’s puppet.

The Review: People have a tough time defining Zatanna’s position of power in the DCU.  Her magical abilities have had a lot of pretty wide swings: one moment capable of spectacular feats, like merging Aquaman’s spirit with the entire ocean, another limited to neat tricks, like turning fans to flamingoes.  Clearly, there’s heavy work to be done in cleaning up these inconsistencies.

This issue features some small steps in that direction.  You get a revisit to Zatanna’s family estate, Shadowcrest, a place Dini established with some flair back in Countdown but has rarely been seen since.  It’s still apparently packed to the gills with all kinds of imaginative stuff, including a wry stuffed dodo and gargoyle named, respectively, Abelard and Chauncy.

But this is all just scratching the surface of the imaginative things that can be done with the character.  Dini includes a lot of grandiose descriptions about magical rules and the mystic order, but you only see a couple pieces of evidence, which in this issue is pretty much a glowing crystal that compels the truth from people.  You just expect more creativity from DC’s one title dedicated to magic, featuring its premier magician.

It really calls attention to the fact that Dini is more of a mystery writer than a fantasy one.  He just can’t seem to write magic in a very compelling way.  A lot of the concepts he comes up with feels more nifty than inspired and a little too straightforward: say the words, get the job done; this object does that particular task; use these strategies to defeat those creatures.  There’s little complexity, so much of what Zatanna does feels disappointingly unchallenging for her.

Dini does his best work setting up an intriguing premise with chilling drama, then laying out the groundwork of clues.  Maybe this is why the sequence with Colton, which is more standard detective fare, feels that much more intense and gripping.  Since Colton’s mortal, his brush with the paranormal has an instantly more credible sense of danger; you’re more invested in how he’ll escape Brother Night’s clutches than all of Zatanna’s chatter with her puppet pal.

And speaking of chatter, Dini relies on way too much talk to advance his story.  Good example: you never actually get to see the breadth of Oscar Hampel’s crimes.  He just tells them to you, so carelessly you don’t even feel disgust at him.  It’s been a big weakness of this series as a whole.  Still, the twist at the end of the issue is pretty good; it actually feels sick and eerie and places Zatanna in a really hopeless situation.  We’ll see how Dini moves from there.

Chiang’s stylized sketchiness has been a godsend for this title, from small details, like the props he peppers around Shadowcrest; to tension-building paneling, like Colton’s walk through the prison, encountering grisly deaths as he goes; to splashy scenes, like Brother Night hovering comatose in midair, medical instruments floating around him.  Kudos also to Kausz’s moody lighting and colors, which lends the whole issue a supernatural flavor.

Conclusion: Once again, beautiful art becomes the saving grace of this issue, though it still doesn’t forgive an underwhelming script that offers little in the way of the truly fantastic.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I just don’t get why she has to use the soul crystal to force him to tell the truth when clearly, she has the power to compel the truth out of people.

– There’s a dragon’s head hanging as a hunting trophy in Shadowcrest.  Someone please tell the story of Zatanna’s dragon hunt, and I will consider this title worth it forever.