Zatanna: It's Showtime!

by Jamal Campbell

The Mistress of Magic is back! Zatanna Zatara is going on tour, but her enemies may have different plans for her stage shows. Join all-star writer/artist Jamal Campbell as he ushers Zatanna into a brand-new era!

Zatanna is going back on tour—or, at least, she’s trying to! Before her show can even begin, she’s found herself under attack by a strange new threat! The White Lady, a ghostly new adversary, has abducted her crew, forcing Zatanna to dive head-first into a world of tricks, curses, and…magical swords?!

Writer/artist Jamal Campbell spearheads Zatanna’s new era, guiding the Mistress of Magic through her most deadly, action-packed story yet!

Collects Zatanna #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

152 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2025

About the author

Jamal Campbell is a freelance illustrator and comic book artist working out of Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

[natalie]

Jamal Campbell I was not familiar with your game.

[Diz]

Zatanna herself is great in this comic, and the imaginative use of magic is fun to see. The last half of the book is a great adventure through different planes of existence. However, the first half of the book is a bit dull. In particular, it suffers from something that can be seen in a lot of media these days--a large group of supportive friends with nothing much to add other than, "You've got this, girl!" Characters in these friend groups tend not to have any personality other than being supportive. If writers want to add a friend group to a story, they should give each of the friends distinct personalities and give them something more to do in the story other than giving pep talks.

[Jim Ef]

7.0/10
Yet another solid mini series starring the mistress of magic. Fairly good plot, very nice art.
After getting two short runs ( this and Bring down the house ) i think it's time for Zatanna to have an ongoing series. Of course i have no idea how were the sales and if enough people are interested in the character.

[Molly™☺]

A visually stylish and fun foray into the world of magic through the eyes of Zatanna. Whilst the rules of how it works remains murky, there is enough flair to overlook the need to thoroughly pick apart the laws and power levels. Ir doesn't try to be a deep introspection, instead offering genre mainstay villains and tropes that may feel common, but still come off well in execution. It's another solid miniseries for the titular character, and Campbell leaves fans wanting to see more of their work.

[Sean Gibson]

Love me some Jamal Campbell art.

[Aderyn]

My favourite of all of Zatanna's (many) minis, now can we get her an ongoing?

[Khurram]

I wanted to rate this 3.5 stars, but i dud think it deserved a round up. No just because Zatanna is one of my favourite DC characters, but i liked the artwork, and the across two pages for the panels. A bit different and I think it work and the last couple of issues/chapters really tied everything up for me.

Zatanna is doing her usual of balancing being a superhero, performing (mixing real magic with performance), and keeping her friends and crew happy. However, she us about to be betrayed and attacked by ghosts and nemesis from her family's past. Can she overcome the obstacles thrown at her especially as her very past seems to be corrupted.

A good book, a lot of chaos (to be expected in the magical world), and a bit of a mystery with plenty to keep me interested. All in all a good series. The book finishes with a huge variant cover gallery and a character design sketchbook.

[Anna Quilter]

" Afterward the world belonged to her
With a single command issued from her lips
The fabric or reality itself bent over backwards just for the honor to acquiesce to her will.
She was magic
Pure magic"

Go find this for the amazing artwork.

[Paul]

3.5 stars

[Dean]

read in singles.
the art was really good the colours weren't always to my liking.

overly written dialogue. Campbell will probably learn to reduce their wording.

I like the addition of Zaranna's mother here. I haven't seen her used before. blue devil was a fun addition.

[madi ★彡]

i love zatanna!!!!!!! very pleased to say that this was my introduction into her magical world :D

[Rachel]

Great introduction to the character! Loved the story and the art work! Point off because I found the pacing to be off.

[Bab]

I loved this so much and it was such a great starting point as a new comic reader

[Rian Bolger]

Taerg Ffuts!

My first forray into the world of Zatanna! Really pretty art, every man and woman is drawn sexy and awesome, and it's a really fun story.

It functions relatively well as an introduction to the character. There's enough context for things that have happened before that I'm not completely lost, and it's written in a way that makes me want to go back and read whatever comics Adam and Blue Devil had their stuff happen in.

The twists and reveals towards the end of the collection were a bit confusing and meandering, but that might be a consequence of me having never heard of Allura before this comic. Maybe if I had the full lore on these characters in my head, I'd be alright.

I think this really captures the rhythm and humour I aspire to in my D&D games. I'm gonna absolutely point to this in the future as a touchstone.

[Chris Lemmerman]

Impaled by a magical sword and betrayed by a friend (one of these things is worse than the other), Zatanna finds herself with her magic impaired, and a brand new villain teaming up with some old foes in order to take her down those final few pegs. What's a magical girl to do?

I very much enjoyed this. I bought it for Jamal Campbell's artwork, which is absolutely phenomenal, but the plot is top notch as well, managing to challenge Zee without taking all her power away, and adding to her rogues' gallery while also using some old familiar faces.

It seems like there's more story to be told here, given the little teases at the end of the series, so I really hope DC let Campbell do a follow-up, as I'll be first in line.

[fáinne 𓅪]

i have never read a single dc comic or seen a single dc movie or consumed any dc media before this .. but i saw turkish magical performer girl and got too excited

this was really nice!! i don't read comic books at all but i want more zatanna Plsplspslspslspls the artwork was AMAZING as well holy shit the entire time i was just so enamoured with all the detail wow wowowowowo 10/10

[Ignacio]

Llegué aquí intrigado por el premio Eisner al mejor autor completo y menudo gatillazo. No me agrada el estilo pictórico de Jamal Campbell, con un uso de colores chillón y con una textura que a veces emborrona lo que está contando. Además el guion se sostiene sobre un argumento menor, muy intrahistoria del personaje, de espaldas a la apertura de miras que tenía la serie limitada de Tamaki y Rodríguez o el atractivo a la hora de entrelazarlo con el universo DC que le daba Paul Dini. No es el horror pero tampoco un tebeo de galardón.

[jes]

wonder woman showing up in a zatanna comic, i’ve prayed for this 🙏😪 kinda liked this one more than her other comics, while Z has an over abundance of male characters i didn’t feel like the whole story was focused on her relationship w the male characters. we get to see several female characters (friends&foe) show up consistently over the course of the story… and her mother 😩🙏 i hope her future comics allow her to explore her friendships and fights w female characters more pls and ty 😁🫶

[klau]

zatanna increíblee aunque debo de decir que pensaba que sería como más villana/aura villana (no sabía de su existencia antes de ti)

ha sido en el issue 4 donde me he dado cuenta que las partes donde parece que hay un idioma inventado realmente está escrito al revés 😍

me ha gustado aunque hay veces donde no me enteraba de ciertas cosas pero well

btw zatanna debe ser para las girls 😔

[Ruffnutt]

I give this a 3 1/2 ⭐️.

The last issue was Great! Loved the big fight and Allura as the villain, although i feel like they made her a bit too naive for the character that’s “behind it all”.

Wasn’t really feeling the rest of the issues for some reason even though when i think back of the story in my head i find it amazing. Not sure what’s not clicking.

I am loving Zatanna more with every comic i read.

[c]

3.5/5. fun!!!

[kenz ♡]

i love zatanna :D

[rohan]

i love u zatanna

[Rachel Hutchinson]

This was gorgeous!

[Robin]

LA MEJOR 🗣️🗣️

[harveymundy]

can’t go wrong with zatanna

[Keeley Bryant]

and that’s BIG MAMA Zatara to you

[Sammy]

Jamal Campbell should not be allowed to be this talented. His writing was sublime and I also found myself lingering on every page just to take in his artwork. It’s stunning from start to finish and no corners were cut.

Going in, this was my first real Zatanna comic outside of Justice League Dark, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was also hesitant because DC struggles to let its female characters stand fully on their own. This run shows that Zatanna can absolutely have a story without John Constantine constantly plaguing it.

The story itself is tight, engaging, and consistently strong. I couldn’t put it down, and the supporting cast added a lot of depth without taking any focus away from her.

I highly recommend picking up a copy, especially single issues if you can, because Campbells covers alone are so worth owning.

[Suillellus]

Nice read, glad to get to know more about Zatanna. Overall, the story was pretty enjoyable, and the art was really great; every panel popped out. I think Jamal Campbell's art fits this somewhat more grounded story, because yes, some of the time while reading Far Sector, it could get kind of overwhelming. Honestly, it's hard talking about this as one collective work, because although I did read it mostly over the course of one week, I seemed to have a different impression on each chapter/issue, so I suppose I'll go over them individually.

Chapter 1: A solid intro, the popping between movie poster world during the fight was fun, even if it did remind me of ORV. It did feel very fast-paced, to the point where I was struggling to keep up, and none of Zatanna's crew or Adam's betrayal really left much of an impression. Lady White also felt like a very run of the mill villain, though I'm guessing Campbell wanted to get straight into the magic sword problem, so that's fair. It did interest me in continuing, and that's something.

Chapter 2: When the first fairytale segments came up, I wasn't excited and I expected them to get annoying, but they were tied up nicely in the end. Still, seeing it made me delay continuing for a solid week or so (I don't know what I had so against it, maybe because I was already not that enthralled in the story). It wasn't bad in the end. I liked Zatanna's struggle to get rid of the sword and how uncharacteristically reckless it made her act. This chapter also introduces brother night and the bar gang, and much like the circus guys, they weren't all that fleshed out. Also, I didn't like brother night's design at all really, he felt way too deviant-arty. A combination of too plain and too edgy-leaning? I think that even something as simple as a pencil moustache would've made it SO much better, given him a more specific vibe like "mafioso" instead of just "purple man in a suit".

Chapter 3: I think I might've been reading this one too late, because I was left pretty confused by it. I did not understand why both dream bruce and clayface were being thrown into the mix when there were already so many characters to keep track of (especially when there's more to come, of which three play a significant part in all that's going on). The final battle was epic and looked fantastic, but yeah this whole side-story with clayface felt like it was taking away time that could've been used on developing other stuff instead. Oh, also brother night straight up acts like the batman who laughs in that one scene and yeah I hope he won't make it to the next book. I mean, I guess hating a villain is good.

Chapter 4: This chapter was crazy fast. I liked the magic gollum thing, and I with it had stuck around instead of clayface, but I guess not. Also, this was the most confusing one for me (agian, it was 1AM so maybe my fault) but I could not keep a track of the three different voices in zatanna's head, who was being controlled by who, and brother night being as intimidating as a nosepicker. I was honestly on the verge of giving up, but I mean I only had two issues left and I pushed on.

Chapter 5: I'm glad I did. Again, I was pretty confused by the backstory portion (like, how did she go from saying I lliw ecapse to being all white? - I though lady white had taken her over or summat) and zatare being such a douche. But the ending of this chapter and main villain FINALLY being introduced was top tier, and not being confused for once was a good feeling. Zatanna's interactions with Sindella was finally an example of how to characterise in a short time, though after all that happened in Zatanna's head, I was left wondering how much time had actually passed in the real world while she was tripping.

Chapter 6: The first part with the further explanations and the miscellaneous heroes coming in to help zatanna was fun, though as the fight progressed I was definitely wondering when they'd had the time to plan out and choreograph all those fake sword breaking, clayface pretending to be zatanna etc. stuff. Also, maybe defeating Allura was a bit too easy, and her becoming zatanna's pet rabbit definitely felt so-so and like they were just tempting fate to me.

All in all it was a very ambitious story and I think that an extra 20 or so pages would've helped it a lot. It would definitely make a fire animated movie, in which the voice acting and sound effects would really bring out the magical aspects more. Zatanna was my favourite character here, what a shocker, and the other characters were okay, in here for like 5 panels, or brother night, so I hope that in the 2026 series, they'll get the chance to be more fleshed-out. Wonder woman cameo! Woo

[Artemis Crescent]

I wasn't so sure about this comic, on reaching the middle and practically skydiving and sky-hopping towards the end, in what seemed like a confusing, haphazard and harpsichord storyline.

But at the denouement - the crescent crescendo - and on looking back and paying more attention to the comic's many elements, I found to appreciate and revere 'Zatanna: It's Showtime!' as the epic, magical, marvellous, multilayered and clever crystal of a DC comic it is.

It is, on the whole, a jewel. A diamond in the rough and rouge. Extraordinary, transcendent, intricate, fun and action-packed, it is like a dark enchantress's kaleidoscope.

Talk about misdirection - a real magician's sneaky, clandestine trick that blew me away at the grand finis!

I've got to write about its star before anything else:

Zatanna - what a hero! She is a DC superheroine I had trouble connecting to for years - which is strange in of itself as, conceptionally, her character represents nearly everything I love - and finally, thanks to recent good writing, she has successfully grown on me. And 'Zatanna: It's Showtime!' is one of my new favourite comics of hers.

She's a badass magic woman with a tragic past (everchanging depending on who's writing her continuity), a great sense of humour, a quick-witted brain, and a gold treasure chest of a heart - a heart she keeps up her sleeve, along with her cards and other tricks. She is one of the most powerful people in the DCU, and 'It's Showtime!' showcases this wonderfully and beautifully. Writer and artist Jamal Campbell understands and respects her - humanely, and as an idol, and not idly.

Zatanna Zatara - Mistress of Magic, Princess of Prestidigitation, Weaver of Wonders - shines in mirror/musical fugues here!

'It's Showtime!' contains, to its cauldron's brim and top hat's rim: fairy tales, film stars, invisible cursed swords, outer and inner demons of various kinds, personal outer and inner hells, an intelligent talking chimp, ghosts, vampires, tarot cards, cute little rabbits, breaking the fourth wall - the whole fantasy play!

Other than Zatanna, the recognisable DC characters who costar in this grandiose event are Madame Xanadu, Clayface, Etrigan, Doctor Fate, Ragman, and members of the Justice League, including Wonder Woman!

The comic also deals with themes of grief, guilt, self-esteem, undoing oneself, the nature of lies and illusions, abusive relationships, the price for losing patience, compassion and empathy (the true powerful magic), and found family.

I love that Zatanna has two (three if you count the barely-there Justice League) differentiating groups of friends - one consists of mystical/supernatural superheroes, and the other her "normal", civilian stagehands for her magician performances - who support and care for her, and who always have her back. Whatever her personal, family, superhero, and/or supernatural life and problems, she is never alone.

And oh, you can't bring up 'Zatanna: It's Showtime!' anywhere without mentioning the artwork. In short, it is utterly gorgeous. Magnificent and fully realised. There is so much depth, soul, creativity, and raw passion and emotion that leaps off every page. The attention to detail is stunning. The variant cover gallery at the end of the trade volume is to die for.

Art, in every sense - and that includes storytelling - has its own magic in 'Zatanna: It's Showtime!'.

Its main flaws are that it suffers from having too many villains, and it serves as a sequel to a previous 'Zatanna' comic storyline I am unfamiliar with, so I had trouble getting to know who most of the characters - Zatanna's friends - are. It's a bit confusing, and hard to wrap my head around without knowing the wider context, but like I alluded to at the start, in the end it's worth it.

Just let it wash over you, and entertain, enchant and entrance you!

'Zatanna: It's Showtime!' - and what a show it is! It's like DC's answer to Marvel's 'Angela: Queen of Hel: Journey to the Funderworld' (but without the overt LBGTQ+ theme, sadly, and here any queer content is vague (I think the stagehands, Andre and Arnie, are a couple, with how close and touchy-feely they are drawn together)). To get even an inkling of its wild, psychological, orphic, deep plot by a maestro, go and read it for yourself - I won't reveal this magician's secrets!

Jamal Campbell is certainly an artist to watch out for. Highly and soaring-ly recommended.

Additional recommended 'Zatanna' comics:


'Zatanna and the House of Secrets'

'Zatanna: Bring Down the House'


Definitely not recommended:


'Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend'


Final Score (for 'It's Showtime!'): 3.5/5

EDIT: Oh, and for once, there's no romance for Zatanna! Abracadabra! Make pointless love interests disappear! There's your showtime! Hooray!