Book Review: Zatanna: Bring Down the House by M. Tamaki et al.

Zatanna: Bring Down the House written by Mariko Tamaki, art and covers by Javier Rodriguez

In this reimagined origin story of Zatanna, she is working in Vegas as a magician. Her show is bargain basement--free admission is included with a waterpark pass at a second-rate casino. Even so, one person keeps showing up in the audience. Her performance is also very basic--she does slight-of-hand tricks, no actual magic. Meeting the audience member, who is part of a secret cult of actual magicians, draws out some bad stuff and a demon attacks. In the chaos, Zatanna helps her stalker get rid of the demon (but the casino gets a lot of damage). She finds out about the cult and also a rival faction. They both want something from her. Zatanna grew up with a magician father, Zatara, who was a leader in the cult. Zatanna accidentally killed a bully by using magic, creating a lot of trouble for her and her dad. He tried to fix the situation but wound up dead. She doesn't use real magic because the incident seems to have drained her. The confrontation with the demon brings it back. Now she has to figure out what to do and which faction she should side with.

The story is interesting and provides both character development and history for an obscure member of the Justice League (which will come in later stories, maybe). She has a nice sense of humor and a lot of pathos from her life story. There's enough surprises to keep things interesting. Like many other magic-themed stories, the demons and alternate realities are very creatively depicted. This is published under the DC Black Label, letting it both sit apart from the larger continuity and have more adult content. Zatanna is surprisingly underdressed for many scenes in the story and has an on-going affair with John Constantine. So the book is really aimed at older teens.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 7 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 7 written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Chris Samnee, Jason Copland, and Javier Rodriguez

See the previous volume here.

Matt Murdock continues to deal with Foggy's cancer and his ex-girlfriend being Foggy's replacement. Daredevil faces some problems too. He's fighting the Sons of the Serpent, a white supremacist group that's creating anarchy in Manhattan with fake media messages. The media problem is caused by the Jester, a third-level villain whose been trouble for Spider-man and Daredevil in the past. Dealing with the Jester isn't nearly so difficult as another issue Daredevil uncovers. The Sons of the Serpents have some sort of occult connection involving an ancient spellbook called "The Darkhold." Dr. Strange sets Daredevil on the right path, leading to a rural town where he has to fight with (and eventually team up with) a group of classic horror characters--a Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, a mummy, and the daughter of the Devil. She's a bit mad about Daredevil being a poser for her dad. After he gets what he needs, he heads back to New York.

This story arc was the end of Waid's run on Daredevil. All the speechifying was over-the-top and led to some dramatically unbelievable moments, but Waid was able to keep his fun style going. The bit with the horror monsters was the best part though the connection to the bad guys was very slim. The art shifted in the last couple of issues, resulting in Dr. Strange looking like a different person! So that was a little distracting.

Slightly recommended--if you've made it to Volume 6, you might as well finish it off. You will be satisfied but not wowed.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 6 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 6 written by Mark Waid and art by Javier Rodriguez, Chris Samnee, and Matteo Scalera

Matt Murdock gets a new law partner to help with the caseload while Foggy Nelson is in the hospital with cancer. He also gets a new client, a childhood bully who gave Daredevil his name by teasing the young, sighted Matt for being bookish and non-confrontational. The bully has had a less than legal lifestyle but his latest arrest was a false arrest. Matt still has lots of negative feelings about the bully but decides to defend him anyway because a false arrest is an injustice, regardless of how crummy the person is. Turns out there's a lot more going on when they get to the courtroom and Daredevil has to fight his way out.

The book also has a minor adventure with the Silver Surfer and then a longer adventure with the Hulk. Matt Murdock is Bruce Banner's lawyer. And also his failsafe since Bruce made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.--they provide him with a high-tech lab, he provides them with Hulk muscle on missions. One mission takes out a shipment of high-tech weapons headed to a villain in New York City. One of the bad guys slips out, forcing Hulk and Daredevil to work together to hunt down the one missing gun. The story was so-so. 

Mildly recommended. The series has only one more volume, so I'll finish it off.