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Book Home  Books Information Zatara
Zatara
Giovanni "John" Zatara, aka simply Zatara,
was a fictional magician appearing in various publications of DC Comics,
beginning with 1938's Action Comics #1, which was also the first appearance
of Superman.
As well as being an illusionist, Zatara also had genuine
magical powers, which he focused through speaking backwards: he could
do anything so long as he could describe it in sdrawkcab hceeps ("speech
backwards", spelled backwards). This helped distinguish Zatara
from the numerous Mandrake the Magician knockoffs that cluttered the
comics and pulp magazines of the day.
His love of magic began early when he was given a magic
kit by his uncle, himself a professional illusionist. Although he
began learning the craft in childhood, his early attempts at performing
professionally were unsuccessful until he realized that he needed
to work on his showmanship.
To that end, he dug up old diaries of Leonardo Da Vinci,
who was a direct ancestor. While reading the diaries, which Da Vinci
wrote in backwards spelling as a security precaution, Zatara learned
that his family had the command of magic. He discovered this inadvertently
when he accidentally gave a command to a mannequin to begin waving
an arm wildly. Zatara realized that he could command it to stop by
giving the order in backwards spelling.
With this new knowledge, Zatara developed a successful
show. During the premiere performance a fire broke out on stage, forcing
Zatara to use his command of real magic to put it out. While the audience
mistook the incident as part of the act, Zatara realized that this
power could be invaluable in helping people and he resolved to use
it as such between shows.
Now better known as the father of his more famous daughter
Zatanna, John Zatara sacrificed himself to save the universe during
the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since then he has made sporadic appearances
in the afterlife.
Other Media
The one broadcast depiction of the character was in Batman: The Animated
Series in the episode "Zatanna", where the character trained
Bruce Wayne in escapology.
In addition, in the Cartoon Monsoon contest, Zatara
appeared in the Zatanna entry as a frustrated father.
Zatara II
Another Zatara was featured in a supporting role in the miniseries
Kingdom Come and its follow-up, The Kingdom. This Zatara is the son
of Zatanna and magician John Constantine, which makes him the grandson
of the original. He is described as "a youthful Harry Houdini-like
successor to the magician super-hero lineage." These stories
are Elseworlds; they do not constitute a part of DC Comics canon.
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