Hero Profile: Zatanna

Magic and Sorcery have been part of comics for a very long time. The heaviest hitters for the two main companies beings Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel Earth, and Doctor Fate, the name given to whom so ever wears the Helmet of Fate a mystical object that holds a Lord of Order Magic within. And, while these two are the respective masters of the craft, there are a few others that dabble in Magic. Zatanna Zatara is one of those dabblers.

The white gloves are a nice touch.

Zatanna is the daughter of Giovanni Zatara, a famous stage magician and sorcerer, and Sindella, a member of genetically gifted humans known as the Hidden Tribe. Sindella was forced to abandon her husband and child, magic stuff, and Giovanni had to raise Zatanna alone. The father/daughter pair traveled the world for several years, drawing crowds with their act, while Giovanni battled evil magic on the down low. Things were good for a while, until Giovanni battled an evil elemental named Allura. Allura cursed Giovanni and his daughter, stating that if they ever saw each other again they’d be struck dead. Very specific and dickish curse. Giovanni reluctantly left his daughter and went into hiding.

A few years later, Zatanna started her own magic show in a costume modeled after her father’s act. She searched for her father, no one mentioned the whole curse thing to her I guess, and discovered his old journals. The journals explained her heritage and how members of her father’s side of the family utilized magic. Apparently all she needs to do is say words backwards, for example, if she wants to gag someone she says “gaG mih,” instead of “Gag him.” Simple stuff, really. She continued her stage career, augmenting her shows with real magic, and started dabbling in being a Superhero. She crossed paths with members of the JLA and was eventually able to lift the curse on herself and her father. Her mother returned a short time later. And a short time after that they both died tragically, in separate instances.

I'd comment on the costume, but
remember, she's originally a
performer. And magic lets you
break a few rules.

She joined the Justice League and became a long standing member. The most interesting storyline that arouse for her in a long time occurred with the villainous Doctor Light. The sick twisted SoB raped the wife of JL member Elongated Man. They apprehend Light and Zatara used her powers to erase Elongated Man’s identity and other League Secrets from his mind. It was then that the idea occurred to Zatara that she could potentially alter his and other villain’s personalities to keep them from repeate offending. The seven members present voted on the action, Zatanna, Hawkman and the Atom vote for her to do it, Black Canary, Greens Arrow and Lantern against. The Flash (Barry) breaks the tie for after a little deliberation. She begins the process, just before Batman arrives and tries to stop it. He’s disabled, Zatanna completes her work, and then wipes Batman’s mind of the incident. The results were not encouraging, Doctor Light’s IQ dropped substantially. Her mind wiping villains and Batman becomes something of a story arc for her, and she eventually swears off doing it again. Batman’s initially, and understandably, pissed when he found out what she’d done to him, but eventually gets over it. Zatanna eventually retires, for the most part. She still steps in to help when called.

Zatanna is a gifted sorcerous and natural showman… show-woman. Her skill and power in magic is due in no small part to being the child of two incredibly powerful magic-users. Originally only able to cast spells by speaking the phrases backwards, but after a bit of training with her mother she no longer needs to. She still does, though, old habits. Her powers are on par with Doctor Fate and Shazam. Her powers are largely tied to her mental state and confidence. Also, for a time her powers were completely tied to her voice, so all you needed to do to stop her was gag her. Not the best weakness, Zatanna, just saying. She’s also a skilled illusionist, having practiced long and hard before she’d discovered her powers. She’s so skilled in the Three-Card Shuffle, you known that card game with three face down cards and the trick is to find the “winning card,” that it requires a skilled professional gambler to follow the movement of her hands. Do not gamble with this woman.

Remember, master of sleight of hand and real magic.
Keep your distance.

Zatanna has appeared in a number of DC series, usually alongside Batman. Apparently they use to have a thing. Shocking right?

Zatanna appeared in a Batman: The Animated Series episode, titled “Zatanna.” She was portrayed as an illusionist with no apparent magic powers. She and Bruce knew each other while he was doing his whole journey and training around the world. In Batman’s present, she gets framed for several thefts, and teams ups with the caped crusader to clear her name. He reveals his identity to her part way through the episode.

She also appears in Justice League: Unlimited in the episode “This Little Piggy,” where she helps Batman restore Wonder Woman after her nemesis Circe turned her into a pig. At the end of the episode she and Circe get to hear Batman sing “Am I Blue” in an old timey jazz club.  Bats has a lovely singing voice. Just saying.

A teenage Zatanna appears alongside the Young Justice team on said show. She’s the first member to join the team after the core six. It takes a while for her to join, though, since her father Giovanni is very protective. Zatanna acts as a temp for most of her early appearences. She helped the Team recover Red Tornado in “Humanity”, a twister creating android that was their Guardian before his own kidnapping. She teams up with Artemis when she goes out to blow off so steam in the episode “Secrets.” They come across a psycho named Harm that had gotten his hands on the Sword of Beowulf. Yes, that Beowulf. They defeat Harm with the aid of his sister’s Ghost. Creepy, right? She officially joins the Team after “Misplaced” where The Light use a powerful magic circle to split the world into two separate universes, one for children and one for people 18+. Thanks to age changing Captain Marvel (Shazam), they launch a counter offensive. She dons the Helmet of Doctor Fate in a last ditch effort to reunite reality. Doctor Fate, having possessed Zatanna when she put on the Helmet, says he plans to keep her as his host so he can be a force for good once more. Giovanni begs to take her place, and is allowed to say goodbye before giving his body to the spirit. Her remaining story arc centers around coming to terms with the fact her father is functionally dead. Hits you right here. Pointing to my heart, this verbal only medium makes gestures hard. This universe has her have a flirtatious and later romantic relationship with Robin, as perhaps a nod to her romance with Batman in the comics.

She'll "teS miH nO eriF" if you cross her. Fair warning.

A live action version of Zatanna appeared in Smallville, portrayed by Serinda Swan. Her initial appearance is in season 8 entitled “Hex.” She causes a bunch of trouble trying to get her hands on her father’s spellbook in an attempt to resurrect him. Changing people’s looks, temporarily removing Clark’s powers, and the like. The spell, unfortunately, is more of a switch rather than a straight resurrection. Giovanni lives while Zatanna takes his place in the afterlife. Clark Kent and Oliver Queen convince her to stop at the last moment. She reappears in the next season, now searching for rogue magic items her father left behind. Chiefly, a cursed comic that turns the reader into the character. It goes to some dark places.

Zatanna is a very likeable character. She’s got the heroes legacy thing hanging over her head and is trying very, very hard to live up to the legacy her father left behind. Her magic abilities are interesting, I think that the speaking backwards thing is a nice change up from the usual faux Latin that most spell casters seem to use. The whole Magician being a real magic user thing has been done several times now, but she was one of the first and is still one of the best. She’s the Marvelous Magician, Zatanna. Next time: Black Canary. Bring earplugs.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatanna

 http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Zatanna_Zatara_%28Injustice:_The_Regime%29

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatanna#mediaviewer/File:Serinda_Swan_as_Zatanna_Zatara.jpg

 http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/File:Zatanna.jpg

Hero Profile: Big Barda

You can find heroes in the darkest of places and the most oppressive of environments. Even on a planet that is supposed to be a new version of Hell, apparently. Thankfully, Darkseid isn’t nearly as observant a taskmaster as Satan, Hades, or other overseers of the afterlife. Otherwise someone like Barda couldn’t have gotten her start.

Be prepared for a concussion.

Big Barda is one of the New Gods. Which is good. Such a heritage comes with a lot of power and an exceedingly long life. But of the two New God worlds, she was born on Apokolips. Which is bad. Very, very bad. She’s relatively young, having only been born about 250 years ago. Remember, Darkseid predates the human race. She is the daughter of Big Breeda, an Apokoliptian warrior of some renown. Despite this, she was taken away to be trained as a warrior by Granny Goodness, at her Home for Orphaned Youth. Yes, most of the Orphans there are not in fact Orphans, and yes Granny Goodness’s name is ironic. She’s a terrible human being…er New God. The motto of the Orphanage is “Die for Darkseid,” an ideal she tries to instill into her charges. Granny had big plans for Barda, grooming her to be the leader of Female Fury Battalion. Again, Furies by definition Female, so I don’t understand why you need to qualify them at all. Granny specializes in breaking down young Apokoliptian psyches, turning them into the ever loyal minions of Darkseid.

While in training, Barda met Scott Free. In case you missed my Darkseid’s Profile, Scott is the son of the Leader of the good New Gods, the Highfather. He and Darkseid exchanged sons as part of a peace agreement between their peoples. While Highfather took Darkseid’s son, Orion, in and raised him as his own, Scott was left to grow up under Granny’s tutelage. Barda sensed an innate goodness and peace in Scott Free, something she’d never known on Apokolips. It was a nice change. Do I even need to say she fell for the guy? No? Alright, moving on. While most of her friends were eventually broken by Granny and turned into Darkseid’s slaves, Barda kept fighting Granny’s control while still pretending to be as loyal as others.

Just a normal night out for the Frees.

Barda, possibly moved by Scott Free’s innate goodness or an innate spark of rebellion fostered by Apokoliptian oppressive regime, decided to work with rebel New God Himon. She and several Furies work with Himon for a while before they decide to go with one of their crazier plans, getting Scott Free off of Apokolips. While emotionally torn by Scott’s departure, she elected to stay on Apokolips for a few years to help continue to destabilize Darkseid’s regime. This was especially important since Scott’s departure from Apokolips effectively broke the peace treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips, allowing Darkseid to wage open war once more. Retrospectively speaking, getting Scott to leave probably wasn’t the best idea. Just saying.

Eventually, Barda fled Apokolips and was reunited with Scott Free, who had started a career as the escape artist Mister Miracle. They were married a few years later by the Highfather. Big Barda and Mister Miracle had an on again off again relationship with being superheroes. They tried to retire for a bit, though Barda kept up her own physical training by leading a defense-training program for women she called the New Furies. Big Barda joined the Justice League after “temping” with them a few times while guarding Scott. Barda, as kind of a nice twist on the usual superhero relationship paradigm, is fiercely protective of the physically weaker Scott. Any who attempt to harm him, which occasionally includes Scott himself with his death defying stunts, must face her incredible wrath. I do not envy him.

And I thought Hawkwoman's
headgear was intense.

Big Barda, as a New God, is blessed with a lot of power. She’s immensely strong and resistant to injury, on par with Superman and Wonder Woman. So yeah, avoid her fists if possible. She is virtually invulnerable, immune to most disease and even largely immune to aging. She’s been trained to use her immense strength most effectively. She’s been trained in most forms of Apokoliptan combat. She’s got enough strength and skill that she once fought Wonder Woman to a draw. Remember her, strong as Superman and as skilled a fighter as Batman? So yeah, effectively as powerful as the Big Three of the Justice League. Her preferred weapon is the Omega-Rod, a weapon that fired powerful blasts of energy strong enough to bring Superman to his knees. It can also let her teleport great distances, manipulate gravity, and she can hit people on the head with it. Sometimes simple is best. She can fly thanks to Apokolitian tech known as Aero-Discs. She’s got nearly indestructible armor that adds to her durability. And a Motherbox that lets her make wormholes to travel across the universe. She’s fully accessorized.

Big Barda has appeared in a number of DC series.

She appeared in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. Barda is attempting to live a simple life in an Earth suburb. Not an easy task for a New God. She is recruited by Bats, Sups, and… Wonds to get them onto Apokalpse to save Supergirl from Darkseid and Granny Goodness. She smacks around her former Furies while the others take on Darkseid and the brainwashed Supergirl. And, while Scott Free himself doesn’t appear, his costume is next to all of Barda’s tech in her secret room.

That's just a well designed costume.

Big Barda and husband Mister Miracle appear in a Justice League: Unlimited episode entitled “The Ties that Bind.” In it, the pair are forced to help their old slave driver Granny Goodness reclaim Kalibak, Darksied’s oldest son. The old bat kidnapped the Frees’ friend Oberon. Granny’s main rival on Apokolips, Virman Vundabar, copied Granny’s plan to try to brainwash Kalibak to be used as a puppet dictator who he controls behind the throne. With help from Wally West, (Flash 3) they liberate Kalibak. Expecting a doublecross, the swap Kalibak for Martian Manhunter, whom them uses his telepathy to locate Oberon. He’s liberated, and Kalibak is imprisoned on Earth, thus ensuring the civil war on Apokolips continues. Oh, and Barda gets to punch Granny in the face. Everybody wins!

Barda appears as part of a future Justice League in Batman Beyond. She’s less than thrilled at the young Batman joining the JLA. Unbeknownst to her, Terry McGinnis had been recruited by Superman to locate a traitor in the Leagues ranks. The traitor in fact turns out to be a brain controlled Superman. After saving them all from the alien mind controller known as Starro, he earns her respect. Again, Scott Free doesn’t appear in person, but Barda has a few pictures of her husband in her room.

I like Big Barda for a lot of the same reasons that I like Wonder Woman. She goes against the usual female superhero stereotypes. She’s a no nonsense brawler that wants to fight at the drop of a hat. Like I said before, in her relationship she’s the strong one and the overprotective one. In a few regards she’s a lady Superman. She’ll smack you around if you look at her funny. The burly, blunt, bruising Big Bertha. Next time, the mystical Zatanna Zatara. 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Barda

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/mister-miracle-barda-vs-gladiator-shapeshifter-683539/

 http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Barda_%28Superman/Batman%29

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/2014-popularity-tournament-1544848/?messageId=11699064&page=72

Hero Profile: Hawkwoman

Once again, I’m dealing with a character who’s background is substantially muddled and been rewritten several times. This seems to be DC’s biggest weakness, they remake and revamp their characters into oblivion. Marvel may have done it a few times too, but this is the third character in a row where I have difficulty figuring out what the “official” story is. Something’s up. The duo of Hawkman and Hawkgirl/woman have gone through several substantial changes over the years. I’ll be dealing primarily with the “Silver Age” (1956-70) version of the character. Why? You’ll see in a minute. Let’s get on with the show.

Don't mess with her if you value your
skull.

Shayera Hol is from the planet Thanagar. It’s the usual sort of advanced alien world, no crime or poverty, and most people are reasonably happy. That is until another alien race known as the Manhawks flew in and taught the lower echelons of Thanagar what crime was. 0% crime rate to, say 70% in a manner of weeks. Sucky. One of the leaders of Thanagar established a new police force (they hadn’t needed one in centuries) known as the Hawk-Police or Wingmen. They fly with the aid of special metal wings. The crime rate dropped again but was now a constant annoyance, much like on our world. Shayera was rather young during the first uprising, but joined the Wingmen a short time later. She was partnered with the Wingmen’s most decorated Officer, Katar Hol, on an assignment to capture a group known as the Rainbow Robbers. Worst. Gang name. EVER. What starts off as a hate/hate relationship follows movie logic and becomes a love/hate relationship after Shayera save’s Katar’s tail feathers. They were married weeks after capturing the Rainbow Robbers. Oh, my Lord that's a terrible name.

A decade later they were tasked with capturing a criminal named Byth Rok. Byth was a shapeshifting thief that fled to our little blue marble to escape prosecution. The Hols tracked Byth across the galaxy to Earth, specifically Midway City. There, the alien cops befriended Police Commissioner George Emmett, who helped them establish covert identities as Carter and Shiera Hall. Not sure if that’s 100% legal, but we’ll roll with it. They captured Byth and returned him home, but opted to stay on Earth to learn a bit more about human police procedures and all that. They donned their Wingmen wings and weapons to fight the bigger baddies on the side. The media dubbed their superhero identities as Hawkman and Hawkgirl, though Shayera changed it to Hawkwoman a few years later.

Intimidating headgear.

While on Earth Hawkman was admitted into the Justice League, as was Shayera a few years later. Her admission was the first after the League decided to lift their twelve-member limit, which allowed for a bigger organization and for more women to join up, the aforementioned limit being the main thing keeping it a boys club. Main reason why I wanted to mention her over other variations of the Hawk pair, she’s the one that help get closer to gender equality in the Justice League. You go, Shayera. Some years later Thanagar had reorganized itself into a military dictatorship and declared open war on the Galaxy. Having spent several decades on Earth at this point, the Hols sided with us against their homeworld. They sacrificed their spaceship to stop and invasion attempt and were thus branded Traitors to Thanagar. This was a pretty big shock for both of them, and was the event that immediately preceded Shayera’s codename change. They’ve remained on Earth since, becoming much beloved heroes.

More birdy, but still
intimidating

Hawkwoman and her husband’s powers are both derived from a substance known as Nth metal. It is a universally rare metal, but Thanagar has it in abundance. Nth metal allows it’s bearer to defy gravity, increases their physical strength, and helps enhance the body’s ability to regenerate. Both Hawks have belts made out of the material, which lets them hover, and metal wings that lets them control how they fly. She also has a heavy mace made of the stuff that lets her smash things. Fun times.

Hawkwoman hasn’t been used all that often. Not entirely sure why.

Shayera as Hawkgirl appeared in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited TV series’, interestingly without Hawkman. She is one of the founding members of the Justice League, having teamed up with Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), The Flash (Wally West), Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter to stop an alien invasion. As a means to differentiate Thanagarian’s from generic humans, this version of Hawkgirl has actual feathered wings. She’s on good terms with the League, and even has something of a romance going with GL John Stewart, right before her people invade Earth. It’s then revealed that Hawkgirl was an advanced scout sent to spy on Earth and its defenses. While she initially helped her people’s invasion, once she discovered their plans were to destroy earth to make an intergalactic superhighway, yes they probably stole this from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, so they could strike a mortal blow to their opposing alien empire, she switched teams. After all the hubbub, Shayera resigns her position, even though the other six members had voted to not kick her out. She’s absent for the start of Unlimited, staying with the reclusive Doctor Fate and his wife, but returns in “Wake the Dead,” when the zombie Soloman Grundy’s corpse was reanimated. This time as an actual, mindless zombie. She re-kills Grundy, which was hard for her since they’d been buddies, and rejoins the League. She and John have a bit of residual awkwardness, made nonetheless more awkward when on a time traveling mission John finds out they eventually have a son. Way to make things worse writers. In a later episode she meets an archeologist named Carter Hall. Hall, who is the Golden Age’s Hawkman, believes he and Shayera are the reincarnations of ancient Thanagarian’s that arrived on Earth and ruled ancient Egypt. She tells him that through some technological malfunctions he had the ships records imprinted on his brain, but the episode leaves on a somewhat ambiguous note. It's an interesting mix of two substantially different iterations of the characters.

Her new look after her hiatus.

Hawkwoman and her husband appear as background characters in Young Justice. She did two things. One, vocally agreeing with Wonder Woman that the League needs more women. No argument here. And two, in the season one finale she’s used by the Light to further their evil plans. Not going to go into too much spoiler detail, but as a nod to the original Justice League shows the seven League members used in the plot are the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and GL John Stewart. Nice nod folks.

I like Hawkwoman. She and Katar have a somewhat different backstory than most characters, baring Green Lanterns, and they run with it. I like that she’s kind of a mix of your typical female cop actions and just a no holds barred mace swinging berserker. Her JL version is the one that I know best, and I do like that they give her a pretty big story arc. They show her once or twice with Doctor Fate, and she is pretty constantly wondering what her next step is, given that she can’t go home and that Hawkgirl was “always a sham.” When she does return, it’s not with open arms and she has to work hard to earn back her friends trust. Except for Wally, but then the Flashes are usually the most trusting. It’s a very real experience. She’s the thrilling Thanagarian with the magnificent mace made of Nth, Hawkwoman. Next time, Big Barda.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkwoman

 http://youngjustice.wikia.com/wiki/File:Hawkwoman.png

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkgirl

 http://anime-showdown.wikispaces.com/Character+Profile+-+Hawkgirl+%28DCAU%29