Hello, fans of the Mistress of Magic! Zatanna is lucky enough to get another miniseries where she faces a challenge unlike any before. Zatanna was stabbed, and although the sword is physically removed, it’s still there. Not only that, but it’s impacting her ability to use magic. Could our favorite magician be… cursed?! Writer and Artist Jamal Campbell, a longtime favorite artist of mine, is here to reacquaint fans with Zatanna’s supporting cast and her own world of adventures apart from the greater DCU. Instead, longtime fans should be happy to see classic characters such as Blue Devil, Detective Chimp, and that oddly familiar billionaire in the series. Yes, that’s right, the constantly overlooked and longtime shelved character BRUCE WAYNE is here!
DC
Much like every issue in this series, we begin with a fairy tale of sorts. Through these brief moments, we are able to learn a little more about Lady White while getting closer to understanding how and why her path intersects with Z’s. From there, we are able to learn more about why the billionaire bat-guano himself is in a Zatanna book. While readers may be familiar with their history together, I recommend taking what you know with a grain of salt.
Much like many stories from the DC All In era, Campbell is taking the familiar and creating something new from it that tugs at the strings of previous stories to slightly mislead readers into a false sense of understanding of the direction the story is heading. This does wonders to offset the pacing in the story. While I am thoroughly enjoying the book, I have noticed that the book does feel a bit accelerated at times. This is also combined with the two stories being told within the greater book. While sometimes it is nice to see a switch in point of view in books, this one does come off a bit jarring.
DC
That said, the story itself is beautifully drawn. Campbell is a master artist who has grown into his own throughout the last few years. Something that is excellently portrayed in this issue is how versatile his line work is when he gets creative with paneling. While there are a few pages that appear in the general standard comics use of having panels that go down the page, more often than not they wind up depicted on an angle or work as a staircase to deliver a more intricate page with subtle focus on little things at the same time. A perfect example of this is the final page in the issue, which is already eerie to begin with, but the paneling is what seals the deal for the intensity intended to be depicted by the story.
However, this wouldn’t be a Zatanna book without some magic. And while Z is struggling to make her magic work, the attempts to do so are completely explosive and all but shatter the page in brightness thanks to Campbell’s coloring. A great moment that depicts this is when Zatanna faces off with the mysterious villain at the party she is attending. Altogether, the story itself is masterfully drawn and colored, and because Campbell is both writer and artist here, everything feels like it’s delivered exactly as it was intended to be.
Zatanna #3 is a good issue that follows up directly on the last issue while adding layers to the mystery behind Zatanna’s curse. And while the issue does a great job following up on the prior events, it’s still a bit confusing what exactly is happening in the story and why. That said, the issue is still a fun read, thanks to Jamal Campbell’s incredible artwork. Altogether, this is another good entry in the series as it reaches its halfway point, but hopefully things become clearer soon.
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