Zatanna #12 – Review

By: Matthew Sturges (writer), Stephane Roux (artist), John Kalisz (colorist)

The Story: We all know Zatanna’s a wordplay geek, but this takes it to a whole new level.

The Review: Zatanna’s backwards talk is an essential part of her character, and one of the most appealing, and yet it’s also probably the least understood.  Grant Morrison once had her describe her own magic as “one of the most complicated” of the mystic arts, but most writers use it as a gimmick: if it can be said backwards, it can be done.

Sturges makes an effort to touch the question in a rather unexpected way, though in hindsight, it makes some sense: vocabulary flash cards.  In a way, this dumbs down her magic to the confines of the English language (I, for one, would like to see her use backwards Spanish talk), but as you’ll see later in the issue, having the words themselves determine the results of the spell can produce some hilarious effects.

Since she faces a time-reversing thug, Zatanna has to revise her backwards talk on the fly to be effective.  With her choice of words limited to those that can work no matter which direction time is flowing, her spells actually become more spectacular (“Ogre flog a golfer, go!” is particularly winning).  It’s a clever idea, and Sturges executes it well, but it’s an idea that won’t be used again, most likely; it’s the kind of thing best suited for one story, and this is it.

Besides Zee’s new set of spells, Sturges offers more imaginative ideas in the magical department: fairies, ghosts, and mermaids skinny-dipping in San Francisco’s Sutro baths.  Choosing San Fran as Zee’s base of operations hasn’t really paid off until now, as Sturges inserts magical secrets in all the city’s real-life nooks and crannies (a dragon chained beneath the Transamerica pyramid—we need to see this).  Her flight over the metropolis also reminds you just how expansive her powers can be, something we need to see much more often in this title.

The Evil Dead #1 – Review

By: Mark Verheiden (Writer), John Bolton (Artist)

I don’t know why they keep making books or comic adaptations based on movies or TV shows. There is little to nothing added to the original material that can make it better. And in this case, since the original author (Sam Raimi) didn’t contribute anything, I don’t really care what they have to offer.

The story is the same (OMG! I can’t believe it!) as the movie. Mark Verheiden added a couple of new scenes, like some back story for the characters before they get on the road to the cabin. Wow.

This first issue gets roughly to almost the middle part of the movie, where Cheryl was floating in midair, possessed. I guess Verheiden wrote more scenes for the rest of the 3 issues. I can only see this adaptation done on three at the most, but not four! This is just milking it.

The art is beautifuly painted by John Bolton (he did the Army of Darkness adaptation as well). For some of the panels it seems like he painted over the film, which are very well done, I might add. One thing to notice is that only Bruce Campbell’s likeness was used. The rest of the cast doesn’t look the same as they did in the movie. I’m also nitpicking here, but the wardrobe wore by the rest of the characters is different. (Grade: C)

-Daniel Yanez