I had to pick up Zatanna #11. I just had to. The book is written by one of my favorite writers, Paul Dini, and the cover is by my favorite cover artist, Adam Hughes. On the outside, there is really nothing that would keep me from reading this book. However, then I opened it and remembered where the story was going. Not that there’s anything bad or stupid going on, but there is something that scares me to my core – ventriloquist dummies. Eep!!! I hate them. They scare me so much. It’s like they want to be people so badly, but they quite get there. I can still feel their want. It’s terrifying to me.
You didn’t click this review to learn about my unrelenting fear of ventriloquism. This is about Zatanna and what I thought of the book. First of all, I don’t think anyone except for Mr. Dini could make this book interesting. He writes with a flare that is his and his alone. He can make any character pop from the page like they are real and is able to provide emotional depth to even the most basic and shallow of characters. For that, I will thank him endlessly for making this book bearable. Without the genius of Dini surrounding it, I doubt I would even pick it up. Then, to make the appeal even greater, Adam Hughes did the cover. By the way, I’d like to add that this has been the best Zatanna cover of the series so far, which keeps Mr. Hughes in his place of “god of comic covers” – at least in my book.
I’ve gotten off topic again. Zatanna #11 focuses on how our girl, Zatanna, is able to break a spell under which she is a ventriloquist dummy. Along the lines, she has to also figure out how to trap this evil puppeteer – again. She is far too trusting. Her father trapped this man as a puppet years ago, because he saw “a darkness” in him. The puppet says the Great Zatara was wrong, and Zatanna believes him. She tries to help. I will now sarcastically say that clearly Zatanna knows more than her father and obviously a puppet’s word is sound and should be trusted. I was disappointed in our leading lady right here. She probably deserved to be double crossed if she was going to believe a puppet. However, this is just good writing. I think the best part of the book is that we know Zatanna is making a bad decision, but we really want her to be making the right one.
Like all stories, this one comes to an end with Zatanna figuring out a way back to her human form. She has the help of a very good friend and is able to overcome her obstacles. Of course, magic is thrown in there. That’s what I’m looking for in a Zatanna book. Magic, a few obstacles, but mostly just fun!