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Zatanna #1 spoiler-free short review by Robby O'Daniel

Reading ZATANNA brings its own unique challenge, which is fairly obvious. Reading backwards text is awful. It's awful to read backwards text when Zatanna shows up in a Justice League story, and it's, of course, amped up to 10 when reading a comic titled ZATANNA. It's the same reason why any comic about Bizarro has an added barrier to entry.

Besides that, ZATANNA's first issue is a perfectly fine restart of a beloved recent run by the same creator: writer/artist Jamal Campbell. It's similar to writer Greg Rucka being back on BATWOMAN again with DC Next Level. DC is playing the hits.

Admittedly I only read the first issue of the previous Jamal Campbell ZATANNA, but I wasn't as over the moon about it as most. And the same here: it's a perfectly fine start but really only sketches a single character, its star. Having the antagonist (or perhaps simply supporting cast? It's unclear) be a shadowy alphabet agency (in this case, the DEO, which has never seemed that riveting outside of the visual of Director Bones) isn't that awe-inspiring. Much of the issue is Zatanna excising a spirit from a random person we probably will never see again.

The fairytale narrative element also seems well-worn, and one has to wonder if Campbell is better suited as simply an artist. The art is his usual strong work, of course, but is it enough to merit the buy on its own? Your mileage may vary. How much did you like Francis Manapul's New 52 Flash run? That my answer the question.

Campbell sets up several plot threads in the final page. We will see if we get to all of them, but I don't believe I will hang around for it.