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Zatanna Reading Order, the magician of the DC Universe

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There are a lot of characters in the DC Universe (in the Marvel one too) and it’s not always easy to track them down when they are not the star of their own ongoing series. Characters like Zatanna Zatara appeared in a lot of stories over the years, but rarely as the star of the show.

Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna made her first appearance in Hawkman #4 (published in November 1964). She is known to be a stage illusionist as well as an actual magician, like her father Giovanni Zatara.

Zatanna is controlling her powers by speaking the words of her incantations spelled backward. She is known for her involvement with the Justice League (Dark), John Constantine, and the rest of the magic side of the DC Universe.

Zatanna Comics Reading Order

All of Zatanna’s appearances are not listed here. She only had one ongoing solo series and, for some time, she mostly made cameos and guest appearances in backup stories. I’ll try to list what’s big enough to be noticed (and what has been collected). If something noticeable is missing, please leave a comment.

Zatanna during The Siver Age/Pre-Crisis Era

  • JLA: Zatanna’s Search
    Collects The Atom #19, Hawkman #4, Green Lantern #42, Detective Comics #335 And 355, and Justice League Of America #51. Also, a 10-page Zatanna origin by Gerry Conway and Romeo Tanghal. This is the Silver Age saga that introduced Zatanna.

Zatanna joined the Justice League of America in issue JLA#161 and stayed on the team until #209. Everything is not collected yet, but you can find some in those reprints:

Zatanna during the Modern Age Era (Post-Crisis)

After the massive event Crisis on Infinite Earths (reading order here), the DC Universe was rebooted.

  • Justice League: The Detroit Era Omnibus
    Collects Justice League Of America #233-261, Justice League Of America Annual #2-3, JLA Classified #22-25, JSA Classified #14-16, DC Retroactive: JLA-The 80’s #1, and Infinity Inc #19. Issues #244–245 and Annual #3 are part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.
  • Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 4
    Collects The Saga of The Swamp Thing #43-50. Zatanna appeared with her father in issues #49 and #50, at the end of the storyline. Something important happened to her here.
  • Zatanna Special
    A solo one-shot published in 1987 featured Zatanna exploring her mother Sindella’s background.
  • Zatanna: Come Together
    Not collected yet. Zatanna’s first solo limited series. Only 4 issues.
  • Zatanna: Everyday Magic
    A solo one-shot published in 2003 featuring John Constantine collected in Zatanna by Paul Dini.
  • Identity Crisis
    Collects Identity Crisis #1-7. A controversial crossover event in which Zatanna played a key part, one she regretted. Full reading order of the event here.
  • Seven Soldiers of Victory Book 1
    Collects Seven Soldiers Of Victory #0, The Guardian #1-4, Klarion #1-3, Zatanna #1-3, And The Shining Knight #1-4.
  • Batman: Death and the City
    Collects Detective Comics #827-834. Zatanna joined Batman for the “Trust” storyline in #833 &  #834.
  • Seven Soldiers of Victory Book 2
    Collects Mister Miracle #1-4, Bulleteer #1-4, Zatanna #4, Klarion #4, Frankenstein #1-4, and Seven Soldiers Of Victory #1.

  • Zatanna by Paul Dini
    Collects Zatanna #1-16 and Zatanna: Everyday Magic #1. Zatanna’s first ongoing solo series.

Zatanna joined again the Justice League Of America for a time.

Zatanna during The New 52 ora

During the New 52 era launched in 2011, Zatanna became a member of the Justice League Dark, playing a big role in the series that explores the magic side of the DC Universe with the help of Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Mindwarp, and John Constantine.

  • The Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell
    A one-shot team-up that centers around a 16-year-old Black Canary’s first meeting with Zatanna.
  • Mystik U
    A limited series following a college-aged alternate version of Zatanna who enrolls in Mystik University, a school for magic users.

Zatanna during the DC Rebirth Era

Rebirth is a new era set after Convergence (Reading Order) in which Zatanna joined again the Justice League Dark. But first, she was reintroduced in the DC Universe via Detective Comics:

The Justice League Dark didn’t come back at the beginning of the Rebirth era, but after the Dark Nights: Metal event (here is the full reading order) rebooted the Justice League stories.

Zatanna during the Infinite Frontier/Dawn of DC Era

During the Infinite Frontier era, after the Dark Nights: Death Metal event, Zatanna and the Justice League Dark made a comeback in the form of backup stories published in the main Justice League book.

Out-of-Continuity Zatanna Stories

DC Black Label

  • Zatanna: Bring Down The House

Zatanna’s Graphic Novels

Zatanna has joined DC Ink, the label dedicated to publishing original YA Graphic Novels featuring characters from the DC Universe.

Zatanna’s Webtoon Series

Digital series available on the Webtoon website, Zatanna & The Ripper meets the titular magician on her 21st birthday when she witnesses a fight between her father, Giovanni Zatara, and the sorceress Allura. To prevent Allura from getting to Zatanna, Giovanni sends her back to 1800s London, trapping her there until he brings her back to the present.

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