WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Justice League Dark #24, by Ram V, Amancay Nahuelpan, June Chung and Rob Leigh, available now.
Justice League Dark has tested the likes of John Constantine, Zatanna and Wonder Woman with recent battles against Anton Arcane, a monstrous infection and older wars against the Lords of Chaos almost killing them in the field. And now, the team is in shambles and struggling to move on, especially since they've realized magic isn't really native to Earth. As their recent dealings with Hecate reminded them, it's essentially on loan from the moment of creation.
And in Justice League Dark #24, though, the trials and tribulations get even more personal for Zatanna when it's revealed her dad, Zatara, one of DC's first superheroes, is still burning and suffering in eternal agony in the Other Place.
Giovanni "John" Zatara was created by Fred Guardineer in Action Comics #1 in 1938, the same issue that introduced Superman. Zatara worked with his assistant Tong, and used detective skills and hypnosis to try to foil the Tigress as she committed a series of train robberies. As the decades went on, John would be linked to the deceased Waynes, even mentoring young Bruce in escapism using his stage theatrics, and even spiraling into a depression after the billionaires died.
Despite his heroic pedigree, Zatara had a cruel death that helped elevate Zatanna's standing as a premier supernatural warrior. In the Post-Crisis and New 52 era, John died during a seance against the Great Evil Beast, with Constantine blaming himself for the death and apparent damnation.
Years later, John was decapitated by Lobo after serving as freedom fighter amongst the demons. Zatanna eventually found him, though, and he got her to send him out of Hell's purvey, to the Abyss. But now, we know that Zatara is in neither of these places since he made contact from the home of the Otherkind. In the past, he's contacted Zatanna in a ghostly form, but it seems like the Otherkind's breaching the planet's mystical borders enabled him to push through himself and try to send a warning. After seeing him burning again, Zatanna was reminded of how much she blamed Constantine for the seance.
While Zatanna has had visions of her father previously, this is a genuine encounter that happens when she tries to enter the dark realm. Zatanna has been using Levi's Seal of Solomon and other dangerous relics in her increasingly desperate attempts to bring her dad back. Diana of Themyscira eventually finds her and seeing as Wonder Woman -- who has piece of Hecate's soul in her -- is the avatar for magic right now, she's the key to the Other Place.
However, the Upside-Down Man has ensnared the Justice League Dark in a perfect trap that's built around Zatanna's desire to save her father. When Zatanna and Wonder Woman teleports over to the Other Place, they see John still on fire, which ties into the beginning of the issue, warning that he and Zatanna shouldn't have come.
A flash-forward shows Diana, Zatanna and Khalid Nassour's Doctor Fate barely holding their own against the Upside-Down Man, with the rest of the Justice League Dark bloodied, battered and bruised at their feet. While it's not clear if any of these heroes have been taken down for good, it's clear that the Upside-Down Man is close to sending Zatanna and her crew the same horrible fate as her dad.
0 Links