Welcome to the twenty-ninth edition of Adventure(s) Time, where we look back on a beloved animated series and an issue of its tie-in comic with a similar theme. This week, Batman is reunited with a figure from his past...an established character from DC lore who, up to this moment, actually had little to do with the caped crusader.

Originally airing on February 2, 1993, "Zatanna" is the fiftieth episode of Batman: The Animated Series, written by Paul Dini as one of his earliest non-Joker stories, and directed by Dick Sebast & Dan Riba (with Riba filling in after Sebast departed the show.) The animation, provided by Dong Yang Animation, has more of an anime look than many of their previous episodes, especially during Act One's flashback scene. While some of the character acting is awkward, for the most part, this is a good looking episode from this era of the show.


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As the story begins, Bruce Wayne and Alfred are enjoying a magic performance from Zatanna, voiced by comedienne and 1980s MTV mainstay Julie Brown. Bruce thinks back to his first meeting with Zatanna, when he trained under the alias "John Smith" with her late father Zatara. It's clear Zatanna has a crush on the mysterious stranger, and doesn't want him to move on with his travels, but Bruce, er, "John" promises to write her after he's arrived in Japan. It's a sly reference to the previous episode "Night of the Ninja," and possibly an influence on the anime feel of the flashback.

Airing deep into the show's second season, it's clear the producers feel more confident designing female characters, with Bruce Timm's style becoming more evident in Zatanna's look. The elements of the "Timm Girl" are here, right down to the shorty shorts the teenage Zatanna sports in the flashback. For good or ill, cheesecake is a characteristic of the DCAU, and it's surprising in retrospect that the censors of the era didn't demand the female characters cover up more often.

The flashback out of the way, the story moves ahead, as Zatanna brings onstage the manager of the Gotham Mint and notorious magic debunker, Dr. Montague Kane. (Perhaps slightly inspired by the real-life skeptic, and retired magician, The Amazing Randi.) Zatanna's next trick to make $10 million in cash disappear and then reappear. It only does the first. At Kane's prompting, Zatanna is immediately arrested. Is Kane the true villain here? Of course he is, but to be fair, the episode doesn't tease this revelation for long.

Batman, looking to help his old friend, frees her from police custody and enlists her help in recovering the cash. The story even points out that Batman's possibly not doing Zatanna any favors here, but this actually works as a character point. Batman probably wouldn't do this for anyone else, but he still cares for Zatanna, so he's perhaps acting a bit irrationally, or simply giving her an opportunity he wouldn't give someone else. Over the course of their investigation, they discover that the thief is actually Montague Kane, while Zatanna discerns that Batman is none other than the John Smith from her past.

With the villains in custody and Zatanna's name cleared, the two discuss the past. In spite of his promise, Bruce/John never wrote back to Zatanna, a telling character reveal, and Zatanna reveals that she understands, walking a lonely line herself, now that her father has passed. Both characters reassure the other that Zatara would be proud of how far they've come. Batman offers Zatanna a ride home, only to turn around and realize she's disappeared, leaving behind a note...and a promise to write in the future.

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Years after this episode aired, the tie-in comic took a shot at another Batman/Zatanna team-up, one that would also draw upon their shared history. The second Batman and Robin Adventures annual has writer Hilary J. Bader and artist Joe Staton pitting the heroes against a figure known only as the Hypnotist, a small-time con artist that Bruce knows from his days studying with Zatara, who’s grown today into a dangerous threat.

The story begins with Alfred calling Batman and Robin away from their patrol to investigate a break-in at Wayne Manor. A safe has been destroyed, with the cash and bonds untouched -- the only object missing an amulet that was given to Bruce by Zatara for safe keeping. Examining the security footage, a shocking revelation is made.

Bruce reassures Alfred that he knows Alfred wasn’t acting of his own volition, and soon, Batman and Robin have tracked down smalltime hood Sticky Malone, whose odd behavior confirms to Batman that the true culprit is none other than the Hypnotist.

The thought of the Hypnotist evokes another flashback to his days studying with Zatara, with the teenage Zatanna hanging around and causing trouble.

After freeing himself, the Hypnotist emerges to offer “John Smith” a chance to learn a real skill. Zatara chases the shady magician away, and shows John the two amulets he’ll be using in an upcoming performance. It’s almost as if they’ll be important to the plot or something…

From there, the story cuts between the past (colored in a manner to evoke “Zatanna”’s flashbacks, which is a nice touch) and the present, where Batman and Robin track down the Hypnotist, who is in possession of an amulet that enables him to mind-control entire crowds of people at a time. Fearing the Hypnotist might take revenge on her late father through her, Batman checks up on Zatanna.

Soon enough, the Hypnotist strikes. The villain reveals that having stolen the red amulet, he’s now seeking the blue, which he’ll locate with Zatanna’s help. He’s discerned that John Smith and Bruce Wayne are one and the same, yet this doesn’t stop Batman from repeating a stunt he once performed in his John Smith persona -- drawing upon his innate will to resist the power of persuasion. With Zatanna’s help, Batman nabs the red amulet and a befuddled Hypnotist is subdued. Zatanna and Batman share a second goodbye, joke again about not writing one another, and the red amulet magically reappears at Wayne Manor.

And what of the blue amulet? It’s actually appearing in this year’s Superman Adventures annual, in a story involving Clark Kent’s years exploring the world, asking Zatara to teach him the ways of magic…under the guise of “John Smith,” if you can believe it. Even though no editorial note in this comic points you in its direction, Clark is behind-the-scenes of the final flashback with Bruce and Zatara in the closing of the issue. (In fact, we learn that a young Bruce and Clark were only seconds away from bumping into each other in Zatara’s theater.) A very quiet crossover that many fans possibly didn’t notice. And there’s even more to the story in Adventures in the DC Universe Annual #1, although most fans DCAU fans seem content pretending that particular series never existed.

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The Wrap-Up

Design-y

What on earth is going on with the Hypnotist’s design? Joe Staton is one of the better artists to work in the Adventures style, so it’s hard to imagine him drafting a character with a nose, eyes, and chin that just doesn’t fit with the rest of the universe. Actually, Staton is tasked with rendering numerous extras this issue, and none of them look particularly out of place next to the Timm designs. Is the Hypnotist’s character model, which resembles Tin Tin’s Hergé on a very bad day, a mistake that can be traced to the (often derided) Adventures in the DC Universe art team?

Continuity Notes

Zatanna is the first established character from DC Comics to guest star in this show, and Dini's retcon that Bruce trained with her father (and the possibility of a romance between the two) debuts here. Later, when writing Detective Comics, Dini made this bit of backstory canon for the comics. Zatara, meanwhile, is an established DC hero going back to his debut in Action Comics #1.

While Bruce uses an alias in the flashbacks in this episode, he kept his true identity during "Night of the Ninja". Likely, this was done so that Zatanna would still be ignorant of Bruce's secret ID by the end of the episode. However, years later during the New Batman Adventures episode "Chemistry", she's a guest at Bruce's wedding.

While Zatanna has magical abilities in the comics, in her animated debut, she's only portrayed as a stage magician. This is likely because the Batman series shied away from supernatural elements during its initial run, only making execptions for the Ra's al Ghul episodes.

Hey, I Know that Voice

Vincent Schiavelli, the voice of Zatara, had a long career as a character actor in Hollywood. Known as "The Man With The Sad Eyes," fans will remember him as the Red Triangle Circus Gang's Organ Grinder in Batman Returns.

Approved By Broadcast & Standards

The villains Batman knocks out of Kane's seaplane do land in water, a standard BS&P demand...yet there isn't a shot of them emerging on the surface, so they could be just as likely dead.

Battle of the Spunky Magician Pairings

Bringing a few obscure characters from DC lore into the series might’ve been dismissed as mere fan service, but “Zatanna” is charming enough to work even for viewers with no knowledge of the comics. Dini clearly has real affection for Zatanna, and even if no one had ever made the connection before, she does turn out to be a logical addition to Batman’s backstory; and she's not a half-bad confidante and potential love interest, either. The moments between Batman and Zatanna which hint at the sadness both live with are brief, but are more than enough to reinforce Batman as a thoughtful, more adult animated series. Some viewers weren’t impressed with the episode’s villain, but he serves his plot function well enough and doesn’t do anything to distract from Zatanna, who’s of course the real star of the episode.

The Adventures annual starts with a few disadvantages -- it’s a stealth crossover with two other books, Robin has to be shoved into the story (thanks to a Fox Kids edict that was in its final days), and the villain suffers from one of the strangest designs ever seen in these tie-in books. All that said, it turns out to be an entertaining page-turner that utilizes the double-sized annual format rather well.

Coming from animation, Hilary J. Bader often struggled with the pacing of her comics stories, but the lengthier format of the annual plays to her strengths. The fun rapport between Batman and Zatanna remains, and the flashbacks are a welcome nod towards fans of the TV series. There’s nothing in the issue that will eclipse Dini’s original story, but it’s a worthy follow-up. Bader also deserves some credit for not going the expected route and establishing that Bruce finally wrote Zatanna those letters. Bader plays it as a cute joke, but understands the tacit theme of Dini’s story -- even a woman Bruce clearly likes, and might even fit into Batman’s world, has to be kept at a distance, regardless of what he's promised her.

That’s all for now. If you have any suggestions for episode/comics pairings, just leave a comment or contact me on Twitter.