Zatanna & the Ripper 1

Zatanna & The Ripper #1

by Sarah Dealy, Syro

A moment of magical desperation sends Zatanna back in time to 1888 London. Now she needs answers... and the only way to get them may be through London's most notorious serial Jack the Ripper.

On her 21st birthday, Zatanna Zatara—assistant to the most talented magician in the world—is attacked and bested by a mysterious sorceress. Before the final blow is dealt, her father, Giovanni, casts a spell of his own, warping the magic of his attacker and sending Zatanna out of the frying pan and into ye olde garbage bin.

Zatanna arrives in Whitechapel, London, in the year 1888. She soon discovers a serial killer plaguing the streets of the none other than notorious murderer Jack the Ripper. Unable to return home and certain that the supernatural killer has answers, Zatanna sets out in pursuit of the Ripper alongside the denizens of Whitechapel and one John Constantine.

Written by Sarah Dealy with art by Syro, Zatanna & the Ripper Volume One collects the first 11 episodes of the hit WEBTOON series, newly optimized for a print reading experience, along with sketches and bonus artwork!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2023

About the author

Sarah Dealy is a writer, podcast producer, and aspiring roller skater living on the West side of the United States.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little bit disappointing but okay overall, I guess. I'm not sure exactly what the target audience is; it has a bit of a look of a young kids' comic, but some inappropriate content. (Zatanna's companions are prostitutes, whom she presents with condoms, and Constantine seems ready to join in a threesome.) The story is that on her 21st birthday, she's transported back to 1888 London, where Jack the Ripper is preying on street women. She's stranded there, makes friends with some sex workers and a cat, and then not a whole lot happens for a long time, and then Constantine appears and the book ends. She seems pretty ineffective most of the time, and I don't believe the story fits in with any established continuity. The art is pretty good, a little more detailed than most of the computer-generated work we see these days, and very nicely colored.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not working for me. Jack the Ripper is overdone, and it feels really random with a main character from the modern era and seemingly randomly sent back in time. I'm sure there will be some kind of explanation eventually, but it feels really cynical right now. I also didn't love the characterization of Zatanna. She's meant to be 21, but it feels more like she's meant to be 17. She's virtually helpless without her father or Constantine, which is very not her. And the book seems to be teasing a romantic relationship between her and Constantine, which I'm not at all looking forward to. He feels way, way, way more mature than her, at least so far. It's possible that I might like this more if this wasn't mean to be Zatanna, but my overwhelming feeling was boredom, not annoyance at how the character was handled, so that's unlikely.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting to me that there are no hard chapter/episode breaks in the way that this is set up unlike the other webtoon collection I have read. But I like this as I like all Zatanna things, I am very eager to get to the Zee/Constantine part of the program though, the complete separation here wasn't my favorite thing though the premise obviously required some set up.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dreadfully boring time travel narrative in which Zatanna (and, later, Constatine) gets zapped to Victorian times where she must slowly (slowly) piece together that Jack the Ripper is running wild amongst the local ladies of the night.

The plot is extremely decompressed. Pages are filled with absolutely unnecessary dialogue. We don't even find Jack the Ripper yet in this first volume. The art is passable, but definitely not worth the price of admission.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my library's Comic Book Club. Solid read, overall. Like everyone else in the club, I kind of felt like I couldn't judge it too much as it was clearly a Vol. 1 (which makes it feel like only chapter one in a much larger, sprawling story). If I had one disappointment, it was that, from the start, it seemed like we were going to have more of a father/daughter story. I'm a sucker for family stories, so I was a little disappointed that it was more coming-of-age. Still, that's more my fault for misreading the signals the story was sending. The magic was also interesting, as was the time travel element. I don't think I've read something before where a person is stuck in the past, but they can summon things from the present. That was clever. Plus, everyone in the club agreed that this worked really well as a mystery story. I imagine I'll probably revisit this at some point to see what happens next.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as insane as I was hoping, but definitely still a lot of fun.

[Nightwing’s Thiccness · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s slow, I’m confused, my disappointment is immeasurable. I’m going back to Cassandra “please don’t beat the robber too much” Cain burning pancakes with Dick.

[Mariella Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this but so far the actual transitions in story lines are hard to follow. Still want to see where it goes though.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ★

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. First of all, Zatanna and Constantine spend zero time interacting. I'm not even sure how he got to the past but I don't care because I won't be continuing this series. Zatanna is so poorly written, and why does everyone just buy that she's from the past so easily? Whatever.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Zatanna & the Ripper: Vol. 1" has a few high points but is a mostly a disappointing mess of a book. First it should be noted that this book was adapted from a Webtoon comic so it reads differently than a book composed of a series of issues with a static page count. That being noted, the book does proceed at a ponderous pace and covers very little ground while barely moving the plot, what there is of it, along.

The book also fails to lean into the late Victorian era, in which it is set. Characters are generally not believable as residents of the era and Zatanna's interactions with the various denizens of Whitechapel are generally stilted and cringeworthy. This failure to build a believable world is unfortunate, since the story which focuses on the perspective of the Ripper victims, could have been developed in powerful and insightful directions with the right dialogue and a small amount of attention to historical matters.

Note: Star (*) ratings are always highly subjective. That is all the more so for this book due to it's style and origin as a Webtoon comic. Readers who are more comfortable with the pacing and narrative structure of Webtoon comics and/ or Manga style elements may find this book to be much more engaging that those who are grounded in other conventions. I have chosen to mark this as a four stars which seems a tad high but also seems a fair concession to styles and traditions of comic art that I am less conversant in.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read—the art is quite nice, with big colors and great lighting, but it’s also story-light, as there’s very little momentum before a cliffhanger teasing the next volume. The translation from webtoon to physical book isn’t seamless, either, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to feel like I missed something between panels or pages. The physical book itself is very good, though, so shoutout to DC for giving a webtoon a nice physical version with crisp pages that retain the vibrancy of the story within.

I also don’t love Zatanna’s characterization, which is more naive and helpless than I would expect from the character. She’s 21, and parts of the book reflect that age nicely, but for the most part, both the character and her book read younger. I’ll probably read more, but I can’t say it’s off to the best start.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this "lighthearted" take on Jack the Ripper. Maybe I should say it is a better version that I don't letting my oldest daughter read and not worry it's too intense for her. Zatanna celebrates her birthday and with that is sent to blaze out on her own. No sooner than this begins she is trapped in 1886! I wont get into why but it is a fun read. Because of the style of Webtoons the book reads surprisingly quickly and I found myself done in less than an hour! That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining...just that you won't be giving an whole evening to it. That doesn't mean I wont be turning in for the next volume when it is released. Fun read.

[Aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this because I love Zatanna, but I keep striking out with the DC webtoon series (except the Batfam one! Maybe this medium just works better with 1-chapter gag comics). I feel like the story this time jumped around too much, character motivations didn’t make sense, and I wasn’t engaged with the plotline of “Zatanna goes back in time to make prostitute friends—except they keep getting murdered. Oh, also Constantine is there for some reason, but also for some other reason they aren’t allowed to meet up.” 🙄 And just as a petty thing, I had a real hard time reading most of her magic spells because they got too artsy. Won’t be continuing.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting experiment on Web Toon, we now get the cute story in print.

However, stories where Zatanna is a dummy and needs men (usually her dad - check - and John Constantine - check) to fix everything need to go away.

The horror of the murders isn’t very scary either, leaving no real sense of moral compass or gravitas.

However, it is an interesting idea and I do look forward to seeing how its resolved.

[Lucia Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one felt so nice and nerdy. It’s a little fantasy adventure with fun drawings and a bit of humor. Apparently I like Zatanna. The story isn’t over yet, so i will probably want to read the next one too.

—————————

Quote:

Maybe Roz is right. Maybe the way to get home is by following the magic that works. Though I doubt the killer is up for an interview about spellcraft theory. But still, I don’t have much to lose.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the art for the most part. Will keep reading the series. The spells being written backwards often made it hard to process, and i didn't bother trying to read the spells that were in the background art and also written backwards. I wish there had been some way to make it a touch more accessible. Was also slightly confused at times with the scene changes and time jumps between Constantine and zatanna.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of my favorite of DC's Webtoons along with "Wayne Family Adventures", "Vixen: NYC", and "Red Hood and the Outlaws". So happy this is getting published too as I've loved this story of Zatanna and John Constantine and them being stuck in Victorian London. Hoping they continue more with it as it's almost done on Webtoon and not sure if it's getting a 2nd season like "WFA" did.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know nothing about Zatanna as a comic figure, but I stumbled across this book while grocery shopping and knew it would be up my alley. I love the art styles and aesthetics, I also enjoyed the Victorian setting against the backdrop of the Jack the Ripper murders. Great story and I can’t wait to see where it leads.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zatanna gets transported back in time to the days of Jack the Ripper in this Webtoon book. Given the subject this was surprisingly boring. It was a little more adult than I expected, mentioning condoms and hinting at a threesome for Constantine. The story though really meanders and Zatanna is not the confident woman she usually is.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zatanna gets an unbelievable surprise on her 21st birthday when she finds herself battling another magician and ends up transported back to 1888 Whitechapel in London. She makes friends and discovers the dark world of Jack the Ripper. This story entertains at a quick pace and makes you want to see what else Zatanna will learn and do in the past.

[Kayleigh (Hedwigsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zatanna and Constantine are two of my favourite DC characters. The Ripper is one of my favourite unsolved mysteries. But I don't think they all work together.

Zatannas characterisation focusing on needing her Dad or John's help just isn't her? Anyway, art is still gorgeous at least.

[booksfromtheslimepit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first volume was a fun romp through the foggy streets of London starring Zatanna (one of my favorite DC characters). I’m very excited to read the rest of the series and see where the mystery leads!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly well done for a serialized webtoon effort from a major publisher, though it is very much a "Part One", with absolutely no story resolved. So buyer beware that you'll have to wait for the resolution in book two hopefully!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is so much fun. Zatanna gets stuck in the past and ends up in London as its being terrorized by Jack the Ripper. Fun cameos by other magical characters, a compelling double mystery and witty dialogue make this a really fun read. So excited for Volume Two.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

1-17
Empecé a leerlo cuando empezó a publicarse en webtoon, y creo que leí como hasta el capítulo 9, y dejé de leerlo, sin embargo esta semana me propuse en acabarlo y debo decir que lo estoy disfrutando

[akiiKOMORI reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, youngish Zatanna who is still just getting into her magic.
That begs the question how old is John supposed to be?
I'll always be a John x Zatanna Fangirl - sorry not sorry.

Definitely curious about where this will go.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHAPTERS: 1-11

[Charlie Yarchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a Roz and Zatanna apologist-