Zatanna Zatara: Mistress of Magic Appreciation 2021

[John Venus]

Zatanna, Artemis, Dick and Wally by ghostpainters (https://ghostpainters.tumblr.com/):

[TheCasualReader]

"Nomed Esir!"

Though I liked it, this episode felt like a stepdown from the previous one.

Jason Blood is a magical character that I like and I thought he was so well-done here, including his manner of speaking which felt very befitting someone with his backstory. I absolutely loved his scene and it’s honestly the best animated Jason Blood I’ve seen.

However, I could have done without his inclusion because I preferred the tight storytelling from the first episode (of the arc)

In Odnu, everyone was there because they were relevant to the plot and the cast didn’t need to expand further: it was just fine with everyone introduced in that episode.

You have Zatanna as a mentor and with someone who has faced Klarion as an enemy and someone who has relied on Doctor Fate despite the the grief he’s caused her. Zatanna being forced to work with both is a really good premise for a story with a lot of opportunity for interactions between the three (and her apprentices) Meanwhile, the Child is a good threat to warrant an alliance between Zatanna, Klarion and Nabu.

Then you have her three apprentices as the future Sentinels of Magic who are still learning and now have to rise to face a challenge that they would be woefully unprepared for even if they were fully trained socerers – a classic premise, too.

I feel like introducing a bunch of other magical characters dilutes the story rather than enhances it. For example, you are going to have a bunch of, honestly, superfluous characters who are either going to stand around and be little more than cameos with some lines or are going to lead to time being stretched thin between everyone.

Compare Jason Blood and Etrigan's appearance in this episode to Madame Xanadu's appearance in the previous episode.

Madame Xanadu is briefly introduced, has her deal explained and she serves to lead the group to the last known location of the chaotic energy they felt as well as foreshadow Khalid's connection to Kent Nelson. She fulfills her role in the story and then exits the story.

Etrigan (and Jason Blood) are introduced as an ally to help fight the Child, but Etrigan's showing in the battle between the Child and Klarion does the opposite to demonstrate that his assistance would make a difference. Ultimately, his role in the fight amounts to redundancy; Klarion kills the Child and she simply regenerates. Etrigan kills the Child and she simply regenerates.

We learn the exact same thing twice except we have no reason to think that Etrigan would fare any better than Klarion since Klarion is established as being so powerful that only Doctor Fate can really contend with him in terms of power.

Speaking of Doctor Fate, why do we need to introduce an ensemble of magical heroes when Doctor Fate is the character who combats Lords of Chaos - it's literally his shtick.

The story doesn't benefit from adding Jason Blood, or any other magical hero for that matter, to this arc's cast. Maybe that'll change but this episode did not sell me on this direction.

There was still plenty I liked in the episode. For example, I liked that we finally saw Vandal Savage and Nabu interact. You can tell that Vandal Savage basically still sees himself as having some authority over Nabu as his father based on the way he talks to him: at times it comes close to having the tone of someone talking down to their child. There’s also the dismissive way he addresses Nabu’s conflict with himself and Klarion: “I know you don’t like Klarion. Or me.” His choice of phrasing makes it seem like something mundane rather than the actual reality.

Also, there's something unintended hilarity in the reveal that the flashbacks were Vandal Savage narrating an entire excerpt of his own biography to Nabu.

So yeah, still onboard but didn't enjoy this as much as the first episode and am a bit worried about the rest of the arc. I understand, though, that using loads of characters is a staple of the show, so really, this is just me being reminded of why I didn’t gel with Young Justice’s storytelling.

[Frontier]

Zatanna, Artemis, Dick and Wally by ghostpainters (https://ghostpainters.tumblr.com/):

Interesting casual wear for Zee.

[seismic-2]

So, it was Zatanna who created the Archieverse?

[John Venus]

So, it was Zatanna who created the Archieverse?

Not sure what you mean. The art style is close to the Archie verse but I don't think that means she created it. She was a guest star in that Veronica/Betty/Sabrina/Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn cross over.

[Gaius]

Zee in a leather jacket isn't a bad look.

[TheCasualReader]

Zee in a leather jacket isn't a bad look.

I think it could work well as part of a teenage not-quite-superhero-yet look.

Like in a series where she's learning magic from her dad and don't have a proper costume because she hasn't officially taken up the cape game yet.

[Rac7d*]

I think it could work well as part of a teenage not-quite-superhero-yet look.

Like in a series where she's learning magic from her dad and don't have a proper costume because she hasn't officially taken up the cape game yet.

So a YA series

[TheCasualReader]

So a YA series

Yeah, I could see graphic novel where a pre-superhero Zatanna is apprentice to her father who is either an active superhero or a magical samaritan that steps in whenever there's trouble around, and she's learning both magic and stage magic from him. Parent-child duo, slice-of-life, magical shenanigans - I'm always a sucker for stories like that.

[Gaius]

Chad Hardin

[Frontier]

Chad Hardin

Reminds me of this:

[John Venus]

That's Sasha, her pet tiger.

[starduck]

Will YJ introduce Zatanna's mom. I always thought she was really underused and had the potential to expand Zee's lore/history by a lot

[John Venus]

I hope so. It would be a waste not to introduce her in this arc. In the comics the term Homo Magi was coined in the story arc that introduced her.

[Mojo]

Another episode in her arc that's really good and expands on the magic side of the DCU... but still feels like it's sidelining Zatanna herself, though her conversations with Fate were interesting and Zatara got a great moment.

Also that was a great Mary Marvel design and I hope it's not the only time we see it.