Zatara and Zatanna
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Zatara and Zatanna, father-and-daughter comic strip superheroes who appeared in a variety of DC Comics publications. Both characters were accomplished stage illusionists who also possessed formidable magical powers.
As created by writer and artist Fred Guardineer, Zatara was clearly inspired by Mandrake the Magician, the star of a long-running newspaper strip drawn by Lee Falk. Like Mandrake, Zatara was a stage magician who wore the traditional costume of top hat and tails. Zatara’s main distinguishing characteristic, however, was his trademark method of casting spells by pronouncing words backward. The character debuted in Action Comics no. 1 (June 1938), an issue that is better known as the first appearance of Superman. Zatara was featured on a few Action Comics covers before Superman was clearly established as the book’s star, and Zatara continued to appear regularly in both Action Comics and World’s Finest through the 1940s.
Writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson introduced Zatara’s daughter, Zatanna, in Hawkman no. 4 (November 1964) with the premise that Zatara had mysteriously disappeared and that Zatanna had embarked on a quest to find him. Like her father, Zatanna was a stage magician who had real magic powers, which she too utilized by speaking words backward. She wore a variation on her father’s costume of top hat and tails, substituting fishnet stockings for trousers. Zatanna’s continuing quest led her to make guest appearances in Detective Comics before she finally found her father in Justice League of America no. 51 (February 1967).
After making various guest appearances with the Justice League, Zatanna finally joined the team in 1978. Zatanna wore costumes that more closely fit the superhero mold before resuming her iconic top hat and tails. Zatara sacrificed his life to save Zatanna in Swamp Thing no. 50 (July 1986), although his ghost made subsequent appearances. In the 21st century Zatanna played a major role in DC’s Identity Crisis (2004–05) crossover event series as well as Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory (2005–06). Zatanna’s cousin, Zachary Zatara, also possesses magic powers and works as a stage magician as the new Zatara. He debuted in Teen Titans volume 3 no. 34 (May 2006) and was briefly a member of that team. In September 2011 Zatanna became a member of the title team of the new series Justice League Dark.