Zatanna Zatara (), known mononymously as Zatanna, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in Hawkman #4 (November 1964). Throughout the character's history, Zatanna is depicted as one of DC Comics' most well-regarded supernatural superheroes.
The character is depicted as a renowned sorceress belonging to the fictional Homo magi race, a subset of humans endowed with innate potential to manipulate magic. She is also the daughter of Giovanni Zatara and Sindella, the former a renowned stage magician and sorcerer after whom she models herself, and the latter whose lineage connects her to the royal line of Atlantis. In the future, Zatanna has a son in another universe named Jacob Zatara. Zatanna balances her life as an international celebrity stage magician and superhero who often fights against the forces of evil and serves as both a mystic consultant and a notable member of several teams such as the Justice League, Justice League Dark, and the Sentinels of Magic. Within the DC Universe, she is often regarded as one of the most powerful magic users.
Zatanna has appeared in several different media adaptations, including appearing in several television series in the DC Animated Universe, notably voiced by Julie Brown and Jennifer Hale. She has also appeared as a recurring character in the final three seasons of Smallville, portrayed by Serinda Swan. Younger versions of the character appears in Young Justice and Justice League Action, voiced by Lacey Chabert, and DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
Publication history
Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman #4 (November 1964). When she is introduced, she is on a quest to find her father Zatara who made his first appearance in Action Comics #1 but had not been published regularly for several years. The storyline crossed multiple comics published by DC at the time, culminating in issues of Justice League of America, also written by Fox.
In 2026, a new Zatanna ongoing series was announced written and drawn by Jamal Campbell. The series explores her role as "Prime Magus", a role that makes her an overseer and guide in the supernatural world.
Fictional character biography
Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earth
Original origin In her original origin, Zatanna was born to human Giovanni Zatara and Homo magi Sindella, inheriting her mother's natural affinity for magical powers. Six months after her birth, her mother disappeared and was presumably dead, leading her to be raised by her father. Growing up to be a stage magician with genuine magical powers and modelling herself similarly to her father, Zatara later mysteriously disappears, leading her to travel abroad to perfect her magical craft while searching for her father. Unknown to her, the details of her parents' disappearance were revealed over time; her mother would later return to her people, a clan of Homo magi known as the "Hidden Ones" and her father was cursed by evil sorceress Allura that would kill both himself and his daughter should he see her again, leading him to reluctantly distance himself from her.
Zatara Quest and the JLA In her debut, she is introduced during her quest to find her father, first encountering Hawkman and Hawkgirl. During her quest, she encounters various other superheroes such as Batman and Robin (wherein she was disguised as a witch under the control of villain the Outsider) and teams up with others including the Atom, Green Lantern, and the Elongated Man. Eventually, she learns her father's fate and finds him in the mystic dimension of Kharma and encounters the evil Allura, where her good counterpart forces her to lift the curse, reuniting father and daughter after two decades.
Not long after, she is elected to become a valued member of the Justice League of America, although in her tenure her powers were originally diminished, allowing her only to control natural forces. Both her mother and her true background is later revealed to her, when Zatanna learns the cause of her mother's disappearance and reason for faking her death: possessing a "medula jewel" within her brain, it acted as a source of power for her clan of the Hidden Ones. Fearing her clan would hunt down her daughter, who also inherited a medulla jewel, she telepathically warns her, with Sindella's magic having the odd side-effect of transforming her costume to one resembling her own. With her father and JLA, they meet Sindella, where she explains her disappearances and sacrifices herself to save Zatanna and Zatara from captivity.
Post Crisis on Infinite Earths
Revised background After the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, much of Zatanna's history remained the same although several changes came about to her background; her new history reinforced her father's disappearance to have taken place when she was eighteen years old. At some point prior to her father's death, a young Zatanna also met John Constantine, with whom she once engaged in tantric sex. Her father later became aware of their relationship, disapproving of Constantine.
The 1998 DCU Heroes Secret Files reveals her birth to be thirty years ago, placing her birth year at around 1968. Other key events for the character is referenced to having taken place, including her becoming a superhero and stage magician nine years prior (1989) and her attempt to rescue her mother alongside her father and the JLA five years prior. It is also eventually revealed she is childhood friends with Bruce Wayne (the future Batman), who came to be trained in escape artistry under her father in his training.
Death of Zatara and Timothy Hunter In the "Murder of Crows" storyline, John Constantine, Zatara, Mento, Sargon the Sorcerer, and Zatanna hold a seance to combat the entity known as the Great Evil Beast alongside demonic and divine forces at Wintersgate Manor, the home of Baron Winters in Georgetown, Washington D.C., which is a temporal threshold to other planes of reality. Due to her past history with Constantine, Giovanni is unusually more protective against Constantine. During the seance, the Beast becomes aware of the seance and after Sargon's death, targets Zatanna by attempting to burn her to death. Giovanni sacrifices himself by taking the effects instead, killing him but sparing his daughter's life. In Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic limited series, for a time, Zatanna looks after Timothy Hunter, a young boy who is destined to become the most powerful wizard in the world, and his girlfriend Molly, who was cursed by the Queen of Fairies to be unable to touch anything in the human world.
Come Together, JLA, and the Sentinels of Magic In her 1993 limited series titled Zatanna: Come Together, she battles the dark sorcerer Tannarak while her mother's spirit, Sindella, encourages her to battle the demon Xaos. Within the series, her lineage is revealed to be connected to the royalty of Atlantis (particularly the Lord of Order, Arion) and the Xaos demon was responsible for its sinking. She also undergoes a change in costume and opt out of using logomancy in favor of amplifying her magical powers with her mother's artifacts and traditional spell-casting.
In the 1999 "Days of Judgement" storyline and mini-series, Zatanna is among numerous mystic superheroes who gathered to battle the demon Asmodel, who plotted to usurp the powers of the Spectre. With Earth's superheroes unable to properly contend with a significant mystical threat, the Sentinels of Magic is formed with Zatanna as a founding member. The team eventually prevails and is trusted with the Spear of Destiny as a contingency against Hal Jordan's Spectre should he ever lose control of himself. The next challenge to the Sentinels appears in the 2001 "Black Baptism" storyline, where mobster demons, the Diablos, targets the Sentinels to drain them of their souls and power. Zatanna is one of the first members to be felled to "Anita Soulfeeda", a "succubus" seeking to ascend their ranks. Due to efforts from Sebastian Faust and the Justice League, despite the former's negative reputation, Anita is revealed to be a disguised, vengeful Enchantress and is put under the control of Felix Faust, who himself also been possessed by the spirit of Hermes Trismegistus. In the "Obsidian Age", Zatanna and the Sentinels appears when the Justice League vanishes in the past searching for Aquaman. An emergency protocol created by Batman assembles a contingency League, with Jason Blood acting as the team's magical expert. When Gamemnae, ancient Atlantean sorceress and would-be conqueror, is identified, she uses a quagmire spell to absorb Zatanna and Tempest into herself. When Nightwing, the leader in the new league, asks for Blood to use Etrigan against Gamemnae, Blood instead insists Zatanna is the one needed and sacrifices himself in her quagmire spell to free Zatanna. She joins the others in travelling back to ancient Atlantis, where Aquaman has been trapped in a pool of water as a water wraith, Firestorm creating a channel between the pool and the sea before Zatanna casts a spell that allows the water-based Aquaman to control the entire ocean as his body, allowing him to sink Atlantis in the past and present and disrupt Gamemnae's power.
In her 2003 solo one-shot Zatanna: Everyday Magic, she battles Nimue Ravensong, a magic-user jealous of Zatanna's ability to use magic naturally and without committing sacrifices. Nimue seduced and cursed John Constantine, leading Zatanna into conflict with the sorceress.
Identity Crisis and the aftermath During the 2004 Identity Crisis storyline, it was revealed that Doctor Light had years earlier raped the now-murdered Sue Dibny, the wife of hero Elongated Man. Opting for a magical lobotomization of Light due to threatening other JLA members' family. When Batman appears in the middle of the process and tries to stop it, Zatanna also erases his memories. In the present time, Light becomes a suspect as his memories return, prompting the League towards a manhunt but Zatanna's role in mind-wiping others is revealed. While Jean Loring's role in Sue's murder alongside implicating other villains is revealed, Zatanna's role in erasing various villain's memories throughout the years causes a moral rift within the League as her reputation deteriorates and her trustworthiness is called into questioned, especially by longtime friends such as Batman. In storylines exploring the aftermath such as "Crisis of Conscience", Catwoman and the Secret Society of Super Villains are among those mind-wiped in earlier years, the former done to force her towards a more righteous path.