Zatanna Zatara: Appreciation 2020

[Flash Gordon]

I think Dini's book falls apart because of how over sexualized Zee is. The male gaze is exhausting.

I think a nice shift to something like the satellite era mixed with that Ivan Reis design would work wonderfully and reach a wider audience. Great character, totally fun and appealing- just gotta pry her away from the pin up crowd.

[Frontier]

I don't recall the Dini run oversexualizing her that much. From what I recall the art was pretty tasteful but still depicted Zatanna as this glamorous and sexy female magician, which she is.

[Dylan Davison]

I think Dini's book falls apart because of how over sexualized Zee is. The male gaze is exhausting.

I think a nice shift to something like the satellite era mixed with that Ivan Reis design would work wonderfully and reach a wider audience. Great character, totally fun and appealing- just gotta pry her away from the pin up crowd.

I don't recall his run being over sexualizing, I think his run suffers because it didn't have an ending haha. I still want to know what happened with that detective....oh well.

And yeah, her fishnets do add a pin up kinda style for her, but it also makes her come off as a show off stage magician. I mean, I don't miss the fishnets at all, but if they come back I don't mind (I do love the fishnet gloves a ton). I never really paid much attention to the fishnets.

But like I said, I really liked the Reis costume. It was a nice mix of new and old. I would love to see an updated version of it.

[Robanker]

I don't recall his run being over sexualizing, I think his run suffers because it didn't have an ending haha. I still want to know what happened with that detective....oh well.

And yeah, her fishnets do add a pin up kinda style for her, but it also makes her come off as a show off stage magician. I mean, I don't miss the fishnets at all, but if they come back I don't mind (I do love the fishnet gloves a ton). I never really paid much attention to the fishnets.

But like I said, I really liked the Reis costume. It was a nice mix of new and old. I would love to see an updated version of it.

It didn't have an ending and Dini couldn't keep up so there was a second writer, Adam Beechen, filling in for some issues.

There's no way around it, her classic costume is sexualized, but it fits "Vegas magician" to a T. None of he other costumes have worked as well for me, and while I hate the braid, the art in your avatar is the one time I actually quite like that design! What's the source, if you don't mind me asking?

[Flash Gordon]

There's plenty of ways around the over sexualized costume. The Ivan Reis redesign was great, so was the classic purple suit.

Zee is a great character on her own, without the male gaze component- which is exhausting.

[Frontier]

There's plenty of ways around the over sexualized costume. The Ivan Reis redesign was great, so was the classic purple suit.

Zee is a great character on her own, without the male gaze component- which is exhausting.

I think the Reis suit was still fairly sexualized.

I think Zatanna is an inherently flashy and showy character, and her presentation of her sexuality in terms of her outfits is part of that, so that's where I'm coming from. I'm not in-support of the male gaze but I don't think that needs to be used as a knock against Zee's classic look anymore than it can be for most iconic female Superhero costumes.

[Gaius]

Sesame Street: 1, Zatanna: 0

[Flash Gordon]

I think the Reis suit was still fairly sexualized.

I think Zatanna is an inherently flashy and showy character, and her presentation of her sexuality in terms of her outfits is part of that, so that's where I'm coming from. I'm not in-support of the male gaze but I don't think that needs to be used as a knock against Zee's classic look anymore than it can be for most iconic female Superhero costumes.

Maybe a bit, but Reis tends to not lean that way.

I'm not sure it's intrinsic to the character in any way, outside of just being something men like. There's also been a pretty large move away from that boys club way of portraying superheroines. I think the character would have much broader appeal, especially mixing magic with superheroics (a marriage of Harry Potter and Avengers is a cash tree)- if she was allowed to abandon that. The stage magician thing is only a part of her life, and shouldn't be the only thing that she gets to wear.

Most of the time I've felt it contradicts how her character actually is portrayed.

[Frontier]

Maybe a bit, but Reis tends to not lean that way.

I'm not sure it's intrinsic to the character in any way, outside of just being something men like. I think the character would have much broader appeal, especially mixing magic with superheroics (a marriage of Harry Potter and Avengers is a cash tree)- if she was allowed to abandon that.

Most of the time I've felt it contradicts how her character actually is portrayed.

Reis doesn't necessarily lean towards the male gaze but he does draw very beautiful, sexy, and strong women. Just look at his Mera.

I think it informs a lot of Zee's character, personally. She has this kind of flamboyant, showy, and natural kind of femininity that lends towards her costumes, at least when she's not with the JLD. The stage magician aspect is a huge part of her aesthetic.

I think the character already has a pretty broad appeal when you see how popular she is, and she usually makes appearances in her classic costume.

[Flash Gordon]

Sesame Street: 1, Zatanna: 0

I love that, ha ha.

[Flash Gordon]

Reis doesn't necessarily lean towards the male gaze but he does draw very beautiful, sexy, and strong women. Just look at his Mera.

I think it informs a lot of Zee's character, personally. She has this kind of flamboyant, showy, and natural kind of femininity that lends towards her costumes, at least when she's not with the JLD. The stage magician aspect is a huge part of her aesthetic.

I think the character already has a pretty broad appeal when you see how popular she is, and she usually makes appearances in her classic costume.

Reis' Mera doesn't come off as sexualized to me. His Arthur and Mera both seem to be in peak shape, but not really showy. They look more mythological by way of pop art.

I agree that Zee has a natural femininity and flamboyance to her, but that doesn't mean she would present herself the way she's depicted. Most of her depictions skirt the line of objectification. She has a ton of other characteristics too, she's whimsical, deadpan, has a bit of a melancholy.

I don't see her having nearly the audience she could have. People tend to like her, I really like her. I'm talking about big appeal, though. I do think the usual outfit she wears is popular for questionable reasons.

[Vordan]

I dunno, I’ve never heard any complaints from women about the fishnets. I mean you could easily just swipe the fishnets out for pants though, I’d be fine with that:

Really want to see Gail Simone write a Zatanna mini or ongoing, I think she’d be perfect. She can do whimsical and light or serious and dark, both are storytelling areas Zatanna has operated in.

[Frontier]

Reis' Mera doesn't come off as sexualized to me. His Arthur and Mera both seem to be in peak shape, but not really showy. They look more mythological by way of pop art.

I agree that Zee has a natural femininity and flamboyance to her, but that doesn't mean she would present herself the way she's depicted. Most of her depictions skirt the line of objectification. She has a ton of other characteristics too, she's whimsical, deadpan, has a bit of a melancholy.

I don't see her having nearly the audience she could have. People tend to like her, I really like her. I'm talking about big appeal, though. I do think the usual outfit she wears is popular for questionable reasons.

I'd say Reis' Mera was as sexualized as Zee was in her solo book.

I think it makes total sense that she'd wear a flashy and more feminine take on a normal magicians outfit. She's styling herself off after her father after all while still projecting herself as a fancy female magician. She's not dressing to be objectified but to come off as flashy and sexy. I think there's plenty of whimsy in her costume.

I think she would have a bigger audience if DC promoted her more, but I don't see a wholeslae rejection of her traditional look.

I dunno, I’ve never heard any complaints from women about the fishnets. I mean you could easily just swipe the fishnets out for pants though, I’d be fine with that:

Really want to see Gail Simone write a Zatanna mini or ongoing, I think she’d be perfect. She can do whimsical and light or serious and dark, both are storytelling areas Zatanna has operated in.

Pants just seem kind of dull and boring to me, especially with this redesign. It looks too much like normal clothes.

[Gaius]

Like I said earlier, Zatanna strikes me as the character who could regularly change her appearance and it'd fit in with her Vegas Magician "flashy" persona and she can do it with a snap of her finger.

Really want to see Gail Simone write a Zatanna mini or ongoing, I think she’d be perfect. She can do whimsical and light or serious and dark, both are storytelling areas Zatanna has operated in.

Yeah, didn't think of her as a possibility before but she'd be a good pick for a Zatanna solo or maybe taking over JLD since she's good a team books.

[Samm]

Her current look is not bad. I just wish she didn't have the braid and bangs hairstyle. Also the big blue coat just covers her up a lot.

Attachment 95142

Attachment 95143

She probably has the braids/bangs look because without them she looks exactly like Wonder Woman