Zatanna: Bring Down The House #4 – Mariko Tamaki, Writer; Javier Rodriguez, Artist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s the penultimate issue of this fascinating Black Label magical thriller, and while Zatanna is still being pursued by vicious casters and mischievous rabbits, this issue pulls in tight on one of her most significant relationships – John Constantine, who does not have a playful supercat to contend with this issue. What he does have is a whole lot of baggage with Zatanna, dating back to their first meeting – when they were much younger, and he saw through her card tricks to the power she was hiding. But as is pretty common with Constantine, he had some secrets under the surface – and this one surprisingly doesn’t rip things apart when it’s revealed. Maybe this is a more understanding Zatanna, or maybe she’s just been through so much hell that she takes things in stride. But there’s a reveal about Zatara here that throws the entire concept of the series for a loop.
While that dark twist is hanging over the entire issue, there’s a surprisingly romantic edge to the whole thing, almost making this issue feel like a breather before the big finale. Zatanna and John are holed up in Paris, having the time of their life, but there’s a lot of unanswered questions hanging in the air. I’m wondering how Tamaki and Rodriguez will be able to sort everything out in only one more issue, but this issue leaves us in a fascinating place as Zatanna makes peace with one enemy to go after a far bigger one. Tamaki’s writing is great with small human touches, but it’s really Rodriguez’s art that continues to shine – creating a vivid and often surreal world filled with magic and horror. It’s given us a very different, more haunted Zatanna, as well as a more dangerous world of magic than we’re used to. This is going to read very well as a collected edition – which seems to be a trademark of Black Label.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
