Zatanna #2 – Review

by Paul Dini (writer), Stephane Roux (pencils & inks), Karl Story (inks), John Kalisz (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Zatanna battles Fuseli in the realms of nightmare and Brother Night makes Detective Colton an offer he can’t refuse.

What’s Good: Stephane Roux’s artwork in this issue is awesome.  He takes his game up to totally new levels for this issue.  A good part of it is due to much of the issue taking place in Zatanna’s dreams, which allows Roux to really cut loose with his lay-outs, allowing him to go wild with a couple of awesome splash pages or create pages that feel like organic collages while John Kalisz goes wild with the psychedelic colors.   Zatanna’s facial expressions are also really well done, instantly making her very likable.  Villains Brother Night and Fuseli look great as well; Brother Night’s barely changing sinister grin is creepy as hell and Fuseli reminded me of Gollum of LOTR fame.

Dini’s Zatanna continues to grow on me.  Her trademark sassiness is ever present and it was nice surprise to see her be completely unfazed Fuseli’s nightmares.  Instead going through the typical traumatic struggle with her past, Zatanna quickly interrupts Fuseli and starts kicking ass in the nightmare realm.  It was a total about-face from what I was expecting.  Dini also adds plenty of human touches to the character.  In constantly wanting a good night’s rest, Zatanna is instantly more sympathetic and vulnerable, which is in complete juxtaposition to her composure when battling Fuseli’s conjurations.  It’s really rather neat as Zatanna shows no vulnerability under stress, when we’d expect her to, but instantly becomes human outside of that stress.  If that’s not the mark of a superhero, I’m not sure what is.

Dini is also very effectively building up Brother Night.  Everything he does is subtle and minimal, just enough to hint at his power without ever pulling back the curtain.  There’s a demonstration of his power this issue that is really awesome in this respect; it suggests the sheer depth of his power without breaking out any pyrotechnics.

I also liked Dini’s depiction of Fuseli’s dream manipulation.  Instead of going with standard nightmares for his victims of falling or monsters or what have you, Fuseli’s constructions are realistic and close to life.  It’s far more effective and it makes a lot more sense.

Zatanna #1 – Review

by Paul Dini (writer), Stephane Roux (pencils), Karl Story (inks), John Kalisz (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Brother Night, crime boss of the mystic realm, looks to expand his empire into the human world, forcing Zatanna to lay down the gauntlet.

What’s Good: It’s clear relatively early on that this book feels a hole in DC’s line-up.  The very fact that this is a mystic title makes it feel different and greatly missed.  This is only heightened whenever the action leaves the human realm; when Zatanna confronts Brother Night in his lair or when Night tries to gain an ally in Fuseli, a demon of nightmares, it’s hard not to have flashbacks to great books like Sandman or Swamp Thing.

Given Dini’s much documented love for the character, there’s no surprise that Zatanna is expertly shown as a strong protagonist.  She’s a badass, pure and simple.  An enterprising, confident, and sassy female lead is always an easy sell, and that’s no different here.  Dini also begins an effort to mark Zatanna with an adversity to the idea of destiny as a defining feature.   I hope he sticks with this, as it could lead to intriguing stories in the future.  I actually feel that Zatanna’s openness and bluntness about this aspect of her beliefs serves better than subtlety; surprisingly, it makes the “I forge my own path” schtick feel less clichéd.

What I appreciate most about Dini’s work here, however, is how quickly he leaps into the action.  There’s only a bare minimum of set-up and next to no exposition.  We’re plunged headfirst into the first story-arc and conflict more or less immediately.  This leads to a quick, energetic read that almost fools you into believing that Zatanna has a large and well established back-story, or that Brother Night and his rogue’s gallery have been around forever when, of course, this is their debut.  It makes the book an engaging read and, more importantly, gives it a sort of confidence.

Madame Xanadu #17 – Review

by Matt Wagner (writer), Amy Reeder Hadley (pencils), Richard Friend (inks), Guy Major (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

This is probably the best issue of Madame Xanadu in months.  Of course, this is thanks in no small part to the jaw-dropper ending.  I was absolutely stunned, as it was played and set up perfectly by Wagner.  It’s the return of an element we haven’t see in a very, very long time in the series and as such, it comes out of left field.  Even better is the fact that Wager is a master when it comes to his use of red herrings.  He’s so good at it that this month’s ending simply comes out of nowhere; it’s one of those rare cases where it’s jarring in a good way.  I absolutely cannot wait for next month’s issue.

Beyond that, this month essentially does everything that Madame Xanadu does well.  It’s full of that sense of dark whimsy that has made the series such a success.  As was the case last month, while Betty’s torments are clearly horrifying and while she certainly is a sympathetic figure, it’s all rendered with a kind of black humor.  That said, this month, when her curse reaches its apex, Wagner does a great job at portraying her desperation and emotion.  While the humor is still there, this month is heavier on the horror, as Betty begins to lose not just her appearance, but her personality.  Last month, we saw her physically becoming someone else and this month, we see the mental transition, which is unsettling.  That said, Wagner still manages this with a comic touch.

And that’s it really.  Wagner is able to portray what would be some gritty, dark stuff in an accessibly light-hearted fashion.  This month’s introduction of a mysterious satanic cult, for example, is hard not to read without a smile on your face, despite none of them actually cracking jokes or making pratfalls.  It’s purely a matter of tone and atmosphere, and a mark of Wagner’s ability.

Of course, this atmosphere is also thanks in no small part to Hadley.  The satanic cult is funny because Hadley makes them funny.  There’s also a very humorous scene involving Betty’s husband and his lecherous “Tuesday night” efforts that really is quite a laugh, largely thanks to Hadley’s excellent illustrations of Betty and her husband’s respective facial expressions.  All told, it’s just a beautiful book and I’m also happy to report that colorist Guy Major is back to his usual quality fare, as opposed to the insanely bright work we got last month.

This comic really was a pitch-perfect and an enjoyable experience throughout. It has everything that got Xanadu to the Eisners. Wagner scores high with what is by far the most enjoyable issue of Madame Xanadu in a very long time. The ending will have those who’ve been on-board from the start gasping.

Grade: A-

-Alex Evans