I like thinking on inter-villain relationships in Zatanna's rogues gallery. Allura and Tannarak are gossip buddies. Tannarak reins in Ravensong. Allura and Lady White are friends (up until the inevitable backstab). Caligro is really starry-eyed over Allura (possibly even after the inevitable backstab).
Merba gets ignored because he's too small-time. Ravensong threw Hampel out a window because he bragged about being the best villain (he trapped Zatanna for months). Brother Night is tolerated for his power, but the gang still has to keep Lady White from breaking a chair over his head.
There's a lot of potential considering two of the group are nightclub owners, and everyone else seems liable to turn people to frogs/curse out Zatanna/sob about their failing career when drunk.
Do you have a favorite Zatanna villain? My personal favorite's Fuseli, but I've struggled to connect with most of the other Dini-created villains because it's a 3/3 on 'magic serial killer that killed X amount of people and are going to kill even more.'
I just feel like Zatanna deserves some lower-stakes/hammy villains for the sake of variety.
my top 3 favorite Zatanna villains are Allura, Brother Night and Tannarak. I think in a lot of ways they are just really good foils for her. Allura being a sorta vengeful evil sorcereress with a permanent grudge against the whole family, Tannarak and Night being these like slimey nightclub owners so they’re kinda in showbiz but moreseo it’s darker underbelly. I just have a soft spot for them. And I love Fuselli too btw.
I agree Zee should have way more fun and hammy villains. There was one guy who was a descendant of Merlin named Merba The Sorcerer. And I love the idea of him coming back because he’s a kinda failed Zatanna? He has this ancient magical bloodline like her but he isn’t very powerful, he was also a performing magician but he just isn’t successful. Like Zatanna is everything he’s failed at and that could be such a fun dynamic.
A group of fellow Zatanna friends and I talked about a villain based off of Todd Mcfarlane, who’s kinda a mix between toy man and the creepy puppet from that one teen titans episode. We’d call him the “figure maker” and he makes toys out of DC heroes but only the men, and through nefarious powers is either able to make them into copies of the heroes or control the heroes with these toys. And naturally he only chose the men because he’s a misogynist who doesn’t believe the female heroes would be strong enough to stop him. And Zee probes him so terribly wrong.
and Lastly that’s why I love Jamal’s series so much, giving her this new showbiz connected villain by way of Lady White. And having Brother Night return. It is very refreshing and exciting, and I can’t wait to see what he does with them.
Here’s to hoping we get more fun villains both old and new. And thanks for asking!
I can't believe The Phantom Stranger hasn't had a good ongoing series since the 70s. How!? The man had such a good supporting cast! Doctor Thirteen and his wife Marie, Cassandra Craft, Deadman, there were a group of teenagers he knew in the early issues, etc. And even his villians aren't talked about enough. Tala and Tannarak are some pretty cool villians. This evil british/egyptian sorcerer and a demoness from hell. Those are some interesting villians. There was many directions you could have taken the stranger, i feel. But he's just a supporting character at best nowadays, which is a shame.
14 Zatanna Villains We Would Like To See Come Back And Why
One of the things people often ask about Zatanna is ‘how do you challenge someone who can make almost anything happen by just speaking backwards?’.
It’s a question that many different writers have tried to answer over the years, even long before Paul Dini’s 2010 ongoing and JLD and here are all of them in one place.
Zatanna’s solo outings tend to be sporadic but she does have a nascent rogue gallery that with just a few tweaks could be just as good as the Flash Rogues. Since some of these villains are from mid-late 20th centuries, I will talk about what works, what doesn’t work and suggestions on how they could be made better.
I am also skipping cosmic entities like Xaos, Pralaya and Upside Down Man. I’m focusing on villains who are human or humanoid looking villains with their own goals, conflicts and powers.
Lets dig in:
1. The Druid
The Druid is the first enemy that we ever see Zatanna square off against with the help of the Atom in Atom #19 as part of ‘Zatanna’s Search’. He is an inhabitant of the sub atomic world of Catamoore located inside the Book of Magic, whose people he has enslaved. His power is to absorb magical powers from his enemies and make them his own. Given how often writers talk about the challenges of coming up with believable threats for Zatanna, an enemy who can absorb her magical power and force her to work with her non magical skill set sounds perfect.
The Druid’s role in Atom #19 was largely functionary but if he is ever brought back I would love to see writers try and flesh out his motivation and to show why he came to rule Catamoore and why he is the only inhabitant with that ability.
2. The Warlock of Ys
The Warlock first appeared in Green Lantern #42 which was also part 3 of Zatanna’s Search following up form her appearance in the Atom.
The Warlock is the ruler of the Land of Ys, a land accessible only by a blue flame gateway. Over the eons, many have accidentally fallen into the gateway and into the Land of Ys ‘the other side of the world’. This dimension was said to have been created after the Big Bang and while the real world often changed and fluctuated, the Land of Ys was an eternal now with none of it’s inhabitants dying or aging. The ruler of this inhabitant was the Warlock who wanted to use GL’s ring to access the real world where his powers would be unstoppable. GL and Zatanna manage to stop him by casting a spell that caused him to remain motionless. He returned in JLA #166 when Zatanna joined the League as well as a one shot appearance in Justice League Adventures Vol 1 #41, the official tie in comic to JLU and in Brave & The Bold Vol 1 #9 and #10.
The interesting thing about the Warlock is that he comes from a dimension that is completely stagnant and he is driven by a desire to escape from the monotony of his world but appearing in the real world risks the chance of him growing powerful enough to be unstoppable. Thus Zatanna must fight him on his turf but the catch is that her own powers work differently in the Warlock’s dimension.
Exploring why the Warlock is the only magic guy in his own dimension and why he is meant to grow so powerful in the real world could lead to some great stories with the character.
Also the man needs a re design. Crimson red skin, weird hats and leotards just don’t cut it, man. It’s the New Twenties now.
3. Allura
Allura is the closest Zatanna has to an arch enemy. One thing that puts her above every other villain on this list is that she is the one responsible for kicking off Zatanna’s heroic journey by cursing her father and causing him to disappear from her life. Then later, she appeared to Zatanna pretending to be an ally to lead her to her father knowing that the curse would result in both of them dying if they ever saw each other face to face.
Allura returned again in DC Super Stars of Magic where she possessed John Zatara and again in the 1987 Zatanna Special.
The problem with Allura is the fact that we don’t know why she hates the Zataras, why is she a spirit that needs to inhabit a body to live on earth and what exactly makes her a ‘Dark Elemental’? Does it have anything to do with characters being Plant and Fire elemental in the DCU?
Thus for Allura to truly soar as a villain, writers need to figure out her backstory motivation. Does she have a good reason for hating Giovanni that has extended to his daughter as well?
As a villain she represents a dark counterpart for the Zataras. Somebody who would use their powers in ways the Zataras would never do and use them for their own gain.
Her primary abilities are are curses, illusions and possession.
4. Merba
Merba was a one shot character that appeared in Zatanna’s back up stories in the short lived 1972 Supergirl stories.
He is a descendant of Merlin who has magical powers of his own and according to Zatanna was banned from stage performing for endangering the audience. Merba’s main claim to fame is trapping Zatanna in a the enchanted rock that once held Excalibur which forced Zatanna to magically seek out King Arthur’s direct descendant to pull her out of it.
Merba serves as a good foil for Zatanna in that they are both descendants of great magicians but while Zatanna uses her powers to entertain and help people, Merba uses his abilities to terrorize others and serve his ego. The fact that he is a descendant of Merlin (who is currently a villains in JLD) but not even close to being as powerful as he is could serve as a source of pathos. Even in his appearance he is not a mustache twirling villain but more of a juvenile delinquent with magical powers. He could be the Loki of her rogues gallery.
5. Gorgonus
Gorgonus appeared briefly in Zatanna’s back up feature Adventure Comics which was later reprinted as ‘DC Super Stars of Magic’ and he returned one of more time in Adventure Comics. Gorgonus is a combination of a cyclops and Medusa, a hulking brute who can also turn you into stone just by looking at you.
Not every villain has to be a personal nemesis, some villains can just be physical threats In this case we have a character whom Zee has to fight without looking at him and usually while also protecting someone else from his gaze. There is also the fact that in his second appearance he simply wanted to go home, so stopping him shouldn’t be just as simple as imprisoning him. Given the kind of situation he survived in his first appearance, he could be a recurring physical threat that never really goes away. Exploring how he came to be that way and if there are other mash ups of Greek monsters and whether he has connections to the actual Medusa could be another way to expand on his character.
6. The High Lord
The High Lord from the Hidden City is responsible for kidnapping Sindella, imprisoning her and using her as a battery to power the Hidden City. He returned again in Zatanna Special in which Zee had to rescue the inhabitants of the city who were wasting away from a magical illness but this time he acted more like an ally.
The High Lord is not exactly a villain. After all, his actions, while cruel and unjust are for the sake of protecting the city of Homo Magi and to preserve the Homo Magi race who are few in number. If he were to be brought back then the best way to utilize him would be to lean into the moral ambiguity of the character and maybe even have him redeem himself.
7. Caligro
Caligro is a one shot villain that appeared in DC Comics Presents in which Superman and Zatanna teamed in a ‘Multiverse of Madness’.
He is a stage magician who resents the Zataras because they use real magic and his act went bust because nobody wants to see a fake magician when everyone knows real magic exists.
The plot of the story involves one of Zatanna’s spells going awry and opening a rift that grants everyone on earth, including Caligro, magical powers at the expense of hers. Superman now has Zatanna’s power and she had to guide Superman into repairing the rift while being hindered by Caligro who took advantage of his newfound powers to attack the Zataras.
At the end of the story, the two heroes successfully repair the rift and restore everything to normal which left poor Caligro back at square one.
It’s sad that he disappeared into limbo because his entire conflict is a great piece of world building, like of course there would stage magicians put out of business because everyone in the DCU is well aware that magic exists and some of them would resent the Zatara’s for having actual magical powers.
8. Hellrazer/The Cult of Fiatlux
I know I said, no cosmic entity but this guys is a little different; Hellrazer is a demon ‘that not even hell could contain’ so he had to be locked up elsewhere. While there he plotted to invade earth by setting up the Cult of Fiatlux with leaders scattered around the world like an illumanti organization, they gathered wealth, resources and monitored advancements in science and also magic in order to find a way to release the demon into our world.
The ‘demon whom even hell can’t contain’ is a great hook for a villain, especially in a time when hell is often over used as a concept for story telling. Plus he has an awesomely creepy design. In the story, he possessed Zatanna to try and make his way back to earth and also resents her for the fact that she banished him back into his dimension.
9. Adam
Adam is a creepy but charismatic cult leader who kidnapped Zatanna and attempted to replicate the power of the Homo Magi in himself. He bound Zatanna and kept her drugged in his place for weeks and hindered all her attempts to escape while he injected himself with a virus containing the Homo Magi gene.
Finally, she managed to summon Martian Manhunter and Cynthia Reynolds (who was teleported along with her friend) but when they find Adam, they realize he bit off on more he could chew. According to Zatanna, Adam unlocked a power that most mystics spent a life time working towards. He achieved contact with something known as the ‘Godhead’ and he’s become simultaneously aware of all of creation giving him painful existential crisis 24/7 while the Godhead slowly consumes his mind.
This lead to the high point of the arc, wherein Zatanna had to travel inside Adam’s mind to separate him from the Godhead while Martian Manhunter acts as her tether to the earthly plane and has to contain Adam’s mind while the latter’s freak outs caused reality itself to warp around the room.
Luke McDonnell gave us a lot of trippy visuals of Zatanna’s perilous journey through Adam’s mind while also showing us how reality warps around the room Martian Manhunter and co are in.
Also consider the internal conflict of Zatanna now having to go through a tough ordeal to save the person who kidnapped her and the unpredictable consequences if she doesn’t.
Unfortunately, despite the great build up, the reason why the story arc isn’t fondly remembered is because of the ending. After reaching the core of Adam’s mind (guided by her father’s spirit), Zatanna realizes that she has to surrender to the Godhead. She returns back to the mortal world where Adam is briefly unconscious but when he awakes, he is changed, so is Zatanna. Then after espousing something about existentialism they both disappear together in a flash of light.
Suffice to say, the ending was underwhelming. The majority of the story arc was written by Gerry Conway but the last two issues of the story were written by JM DeMattis. Writing Zatanna out of the title was part of the larger story arc of that iteration of the JL falling apart but I wish DeMattis (who is an otherwise solid writer) came up with a better solution than having Zatanna run off with her own kidnapper, even if their minds were changed by a mutual spiritual experience..
The story line was quickly retconned and swept under the rug in the pages of the Spectre Vol 2 #7 and 8 in which Adam dies in the first panel, the Godhead is all revealed to be an illusion created by Wotan (a Dr Fate villain) and after a bizarre body horror story, Zatanna is returned to her usual self.
Still, I can’t help but think how cool it would be to see the journey into Adam’s mind and reality warping around the room in animation or in live action (think something like Legion). Obviously any adaptation would have to come up with a better ending than what we got in the comics.
Like Caligro, Adam makes sense as a villain in a world of aliens and magic. .Of course there is a creepy cult guy who wants that power for himself and suckered in a whole bunch of people to follow his command.
10. Brother Night
Brother Night was created by Paul Dini for the 2010 Zatanna series. His absence since the series end earned him a spot here.
He is a seedy magical gangster who killed children to attain his power and is now attempting to expand his empire into the human world.
Whilst I have a lot of appreciation for Dini’s Zatanna, unfortunately, his handling of magic and world building elements can feel a little shallow.
Brother Night seems to be a combination Freddy Kreuger, Joker with a few elements from the Exorcist thrown in. He is also the only Zatanna villain to be animated seeing as he showed up for a short in the JL Action (which also featured Harley Quinn, gee I wonder who could have wrote it?).
The most intriguing element to me is the fact that he is a magic gangster who trades human souls. Law enforcement has trouble dealing with regular gangsters, what do you do when a gangster armed with magic and not afraid to use it in all sorts of horrifying ways shows up? If Brother Night returns I would like to see the gangster element being played up more than the serial killer aspect.
11. Fuseli
Fuseli is a nightmare demon who was hired by Brother Night to break Zatanna through her dreams. She manages to beat him and trap him in her top hat and later on, she uses him to uncover hidden secrets from her mind.
Not every villain has to be a world ending threat or an overly violent threat. You need variety in a rogue gallery and I think Fuseli really works as a comedic villain and as someone who can be an ally or an enemy depending on the circumstances.
12. Oscar Hampel
Back during Zatanna’s guest appearances in ‘Tec it was hinted that she had a fear of puppets.This was likely Dini’s way of explaining why she got wacked in the head while trying to talk down the Peyton Reilly version of Ventriloquist and Scarface.
Later in Zatanna’s own series it was established that she had pupophobia and even threw up in Oscar The Grouche’s trash can while guesting on Sesame Street.
Naturally, it didn’t take long for a puppet based villain to appear in the series.
Oscar Hampel was a juvenile delinquent who began working as a puppeteer. One night he was caught by his boss while trying to steal from his safe so Oscar killed him. The one who witnessed it was a young Zatanna and he attempted to kill her but John Zatara appeared,turned Oscar into a puppet and then erased the memory from Zatanna’s mind. This was the root of Zatanna’s fear of puppets.
As a living puppet, Oscar is not much of a threat to Zatanna. What really works about him is representing the past sins of John Zatara. Even if Oscar threatened his daughter, condemning him to a life time of living as a puppet drifting back and forth between conscious and unconscious is a horrific punishment.
A puppet can look incredibly creepy (like when he was stalking Zatanna while she was at an awards ceremony) but if he is to be brought back he needs a power up. Like being able to possess puppets like an extension of his body or being able to control people like puppets.
13. The Hypnotist
The Hypnotist first appeared ‘The Batman & Robin Adventures #12′ written Hilary Jay Bader (who also wrote several episodes of B:TAS, S:TAS and Batman Beyond) with art by Joe Staton.
This was the comic that confirmed that the Zatara’s can do real magic and not just stage magic. However in the comic they use made up gibberish to cast spells and not the classic backwards talk.
As you might have guessed the Hypnotist is a...well....hypnotist who can control people with just his words. Zatara doesn’t like him because he uses his powers for evil. Sure enough, he steals a magical amulet from Zatara which amplifies his powers allows him to leave both Zatanna and Bruce paralyzed.
Zatara teaches how to resist the Hypnotist’s mind control and Bruce manages to beat him the first time by tricking him into thinking the amulet doesn’t work. Zatara entrusts Bruce with the amulet which the Hypontist returns to steal years later. Then he kidnaps Zatanna and after a short clash between Batman and the Hypnotist, it’s Zatanna who beats him by making the amulet disappear.
He later re appeared in the probably-not-canon-anymore ‘Adventures of the DC Universe Annual #1′ in which he is beaten by Rose and Thorn who was helping Zatanna track down the amulet.
The Hypnotists powers works based on belief. If he believes in the power of amulet his powers become more potent.
Both the Zataras and the Hypnotist uses words as their weapon and an enemy who can also take you out with a single phrase is the ideal challenge for someone like Zatanna as well.
14. Tigress
Before Artemis Crock or Paula Crock there was character in the Golden Age named Tigress who often clashed with John Zatara. She was a thief and a grifter whose schemes that John Zatara often had to foil. So far the comics haven’t established any connection between the Tigress that John Zatara fought and the Crock versions of the characters. Zatanna’s friendship with Artemis Crock/Tigress on the YJ show was a clever nod to this obscure bit of comic book history. This version of Tigress also had a brief cameo in Scooby Doo Team Up wherein the gang teamed up with Zatanna to find John Zatara.
As a villain, I like the concept of Tigress as a normal human who can be a thorn in the side of a powerful magician like John Zatara. If she is brought back I would like to see her played as an Irene Adler type who can outsmart John Zatara and maybe now she wants to test his daughter. Also, if DC wants to incorporate the YJ version of Artemis into the main DCU in some shape or form then I think the most organic way to do it would be through this version of Tigress. Just reveal that the original Tigress was the sister of the Paula Crock version and that she had a daughter who learned her mothers trade but ended up befriending Zatanna rather than being enemies. Give her a different name like ‘Diana’ Crock to separate her from the comic book version of Artemis Crock who is a different character altogether from the YJ cartoon version.
Honorary Mentions:
These guys aren’t unique to Zatanna as a villain but they’ve interacted enough with her to deserve some acknowledgement.
(1/3) Klarion & Uriah
Klarion is normally a foe for Etrigan but thanks to the YJ show I think most people associate him with the Zataras and Dr Fate. In the show he is a Lord of Choas, a lot more villainous sinker of Atlantis and his clash with the Team over the helmet of Fate which lead to Zatara becoming Nabu’s host. In the comics he is not a Lord of Choas and mostly messes around for gun.
Zatanna doesn’t have history with Klarion but she did encounter another resident of Limbo Town; Urah. He first debuted in Robin Vol 1 #158 by Adam Beechen wherein he tried to a create a judgement beast out of the Draaga (the animal familiars of Limbo Town including Teekle) but was stopped by Robin and Klarion. He reappeared in Zatanna #16 also written by Beechen in which he tried to steal the Book of Maps (a roadmap to all known dimensions) so he can take over Limbo Town leading to Zatanna chasing him through multiple dimensions before finally catching him.
Since Klarion is connected to Etrigan and is not really villainous, Uriah could serve as a more villainous antagonist for Zatanna. It also allows her to explore more magical realms like Limbo Town.
(2/3) Tannarak
Tannarak is a Phantom Stranger villain but he has clashed with Zatanna notably in Books of Magic and Come Together and later appeared in Everyday Magic. Though he is an immortal sorcerer and Lord of Chaos in the PS books, his clashes with Zatanna paint him as an opportunistic asshole.
(3/3) The Key
Back in JLA #191 (1980), there was a story arc in which the Key used Amazo’s ability to absorb the League’s life span energy in order to cure himself from his dwarfian state (I should note that the Key was not born a dwarf but an accident while fighting the League left him with a normal sized head and a dwarf body that’s also a degenerative). This lead to a fight between Amazo and the JLA (now with only half their powers) with the League not realizing that defeating Amazo would result in Key’s death. The one who picks up on this is Zatanna who gives the key a portion of her life span energy which cures him of his life threatening dwarfian condition and left him feeling indebted to her.
A Whos Who entry would later on confirm that Zatanna giving the Key part of her magical energy is what caused her power loss at the time.
This plotline was never followed up on and a heavily revamped version of the Key would appear in JLA #6 (1997). The only other time Zatanna was shown confronting the Key was in the AU ‘Black Canary/Zatanna: Bloodspell’ OGN by Paul Dini but really, it’s the kind of appearance that could have been fulfilled by any villain. Though I wonder if Dini was subtly referencing the JLA story by going with the Key.
It’s a shame that there was no follow up, I would have loved to see how this would have shaped the Key’s character going forward. Does he go back to being a villain or does he try to live a normal life? Does he try to use his powers for good? If he ends up working for a villainous organization again does he try to spare Zatanna? Did Zatanna place any safeguards in case the Key went rogue again? Would it be ethical to forfeit his life span energy if he went bad again? Would he help Zatanna if the latter was in life threatening trouble? Is Key the president of the Zatanna simp club? Gah, so many possibilities here.
(Also chalk this up as another reason why Identity Crisis made no sense because her first instinct here is to do something selfless to restore the Key’s condition not lobotomize him).
The reason why I made the Key and honorary member is because he’s not unique to Zatanna and is more of recurring foe for the JL long before Zatanna even debuted yet the two have a unique connection thanks to that JLA story.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Hopefully one day Zatanna gets an ongoing akin to James Robinsons Starman or John Ostrander’s Spectre or O’Neill’s Question run that explores her character and her world fully or at the very least are utilized in JLD. Like I said, there is a lot of untapped potential with these guys especially since a lot of them fall into the ‘every villain is the hero of their story’ trope.
