Zatanna is finding her footing as the new Prime Magus, and between entering different realms and helping them sustain their magic and helping the plague spirit from last issue, she’s as busy as ever.
Jamal Campbell treats the reader as more of a live audience than an individual reader which plays into Zatanna’s showmanship. This issue feels as though you are sitting in the front row of one of Zatanna’s magic shows but more immersive.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Zatanna #2!
After she helps sustain the magic in another realm as Prime Magus, we see her talking to us explaining how she was taught spellcraft in a show-like sequence. The border of the page seems to signify whenever Zatanna is on stage performing as it’s similar to the border on the first page of issue #1.
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We get a couple of new characters in this issue, starting with Director Bones, who is, well literally bones, and is who Agent Di Manes reports to. The other two new characters we’re introduced to are Papa Midnite, or Linton, and Elodie Arnette. Elodie appears to be a jazz singer from the 1920s who performed in a speakeasy and is still performing in the afterlife. Linton is with Elodie and is very knowledgeable about Voodoo. The character designs for Director Bones and Elodie are brilliant and really add to the world building. Elodie is drawn in a stunning blue shade and has a water motif when she’s telling Zatanna and Linton about the plague spirit.
We see Zatanna in a stylish civilian outfit when she leaves for Tennessee, which is a nice change of pace from her regular show outfit and her Prime Magus outfit. Campbell also shows us a sassier side of Zatanna when she first meets with Linton in Memphis.
Elodie tells Zatanna and Linton about the plague spirit, which is the spirit of an opera house where Clara Dubois performed for centuries. After Clara died, the spirit, Aède, became a plague spirit targeting musicians. Campbell’s artwork during this water-like sequence is enchanting. We see Zatanna and Linton being plunged into the water while Elodie is gracefully swimming through the sequence.
Zatanna, Linton and Elodie travel to France to remind the spirit that it’s a muse. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned as Agent Di Manes and Agent Rhodes have plans of their own. I really like how Agent Di Manes and the Department of Occult Affairs are being set up to be Zatanna’s villains, since she’ll have to fight against them and whatever magic is against her.
Agent Di Manes interference with Zatanna’s plans us a beautiful yet interesting double page spread. The panels are separated by measures of music which is genius, given what Zatanna and Elodie are attempting to do. There’s a lot of dialogue on the page, but almost all of it is redacted by Agent Di Manes, including Zatanna’s spells. Her spells being redacted are very interesting as she is the Prime Magus, which makes me wonder where Agent Di Manes powers are from. This is also another instance of Campbell treating the readers as an audience since there are still spells being cast and words being spoken in the story, we just don’t know what was said. I hope we get to see this scene later on from a different perspective, when the majority of the dialogue isn’t being redacted. We also get to see another bullet catch as Agent Rhodes tries to shoot Zatanna, again.
We see how the plague spirit tears apart the musicians it possesses, which we see the start of happening to Elodie in the end. Despite Elodie being the one injured, Zatanna is the one who is in need of aid as she’s enchanted by the bullet.
Zatanna #2 continues to build up the suspense of seeing the Prime Magus in action. Jamal Campbell treats the reader as a member of an audience to Zatanna’s show. Campbell introduces new and interesting characters as well as enchanting artwork to match.
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