Zatanna (2025-) #4

by Jamal Campbell

The outlook is grim! After being dealt a devastating defeat at the hands of the LadyWhite and Brother Night, Zatanna struggles with her magic. Thanks to the cursedsword embedded in her, both her body and mind are constantly under attack.With her young crewmate Adam suffering a fate worse than death and Blue Devilmissing, she must push and persist to save her allies. No one else gets hurt becauseof her. No one!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

Kindle Edition

Published May 21, 2025

About the author

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

Reviews

[Machiavelli]

Zatanna #4 was solid, but it felt more like a collection of brief stops and explanations than a story with much momentum. I liked finally learning more about what being the Prime Magus actually means, and the different magical encounters had some fun ideas. Edwin Galmon’s art and Andrew Dalhouse’s colors kept everything looking vibrant, but none of the individual pieces had enough room to really grab me. There are still some interesting mysteries being set up, but this wasn’t quite as engaging as the earlier issues. Enjoyable, just not especially memorable. 3.5⭐️

[scarlet♡]

every time i look at her i giggle and kick my feet btw

[Nightwing’s Thiccness]

Fuseli…my guy! Little scimp! You’re back!

[Cybernex007]

Just another phenomenal issue, this series really keeps rocking along in the best possible ways! So what better way to start this issue than another fairy tale Zatanna’s mother read to her. And what’s more appropriate than the story of Etrigan and Nebiros ripping each other apart before Nebiros skin finally became the suit attached to Dan/Blue Devil. Hahahaha, fun for all ages! But getting back to the story itself, Zatanna of course finds herself in continually terrible spots. Now she has woken up from the debacle in Clayface’s dream world where she almost tore him apart…to find him begging for mercy. Now that they are both back to their senses, Zatanna apologies and takes up the blank mysterious letter that was left behind for her. Using her magic she is able to get them out by generating three stacked TV’s…which I can’t help but think is a persona reference, lol. After recovering from using that spell, and climbing back into Adam’s apartment with clayface…they come in to find one detail even worse than the smell…blue Devil and Adam’s body are gone!

At Brother Night’s club we can see just how worried he is that his plan won’t work. Lady white tried to approach him on even ground and assure him that Zatanna won’t win, but after forcing her back to work on blue Devil to get him under their control…it’s very obvious that the front she puts up about them being in a relationship is very false, and brother night is the only one in control there. I get a sense that lady white could 100% betray him if given the chance.

As Zatanna gets back to shadowcrest, she is desperate now. The voices coming from the cursed blade are getting worse, filling her head with doubts, while hands try and claw their way from nowhere to drag her down. The only thing that seems to provide her a semblance of comfort is when she accidentally stumbled upon the fairy tale book that we’ve seen at the beginning of each issue. But fortunately Zatanna gets a further moment of relief when 3 of her closest friends from production stop by to check on her. They brought food, drinks, and more importantly their moral support. But through their conversations and motivations there is one line that spurred a thought for her. One of them referred to her words as being capable of turning “nightmares into miracles.” And I am so glad I’ve started reading Paul Dini’s Zatanna run as part of the DC comics discord book club this month, as Zatanna fit the idea to go into her dreams to lure the nightmare demon Fuseli! Good to see the little twerp again, lol. He couldn’t resist such a powerful nightmare, and under the threat of Zatanna using her magic to rip her head apart and take him with her…how could he possible refuse helping her. Looking at the dream Fuseli is impressive but he is also able to point out that the sword in her chest is a fake, the real power is stored int the exploding lighthouse in her dream. She also got him to take a look at the letter she received, and unlike Zatanna he can actually read it. But all it took was Zatanna realizing the invitation was from Brother Night in order for her to know what she needs to do next. Huh, it’s kinda funny realizing that she didn’t know brother night was involved this entire time, yeah that must be a really rude way to find out, lol.

And would you look at that, over at the crimson palace, Brother Night had already setup a stage and for the audiences attention…perfect for Zatanna to just pop right in! It’s a very interesting game the two of them immediately start to play as they show off in front of the crowd, as Zatanna immediately demands her friends back but Night knows she can’t use her powers…so he reveals her friends. Blue Devil is chained and at the arrow point of the white lady, and Adam’s body has been zombified into an undead killer with dual swords and a lot of spinning attacks. A lot like what his show would have been had he not been killed. While Zatanna can’t use her own magic, she still has a lot of magical objects and tricks in her hat. Such as one key that allows her to temporarily freeze Adam. Unfortunately she is not able to save blue Devil in time before the white lady activates him and takes the demon Nebiros under her control! Immediately tuning him into a giant blue deviled monster! With that now facing her, Zatanna is forced to use her own magic. The voices of dread and hands immediately start to claw back at her and the lighthouse in her dreams explodes! But suddenly a new voice enters her thoughts, it challenges the voices and asks if she truly believes her magic has only brought suffering? In one powerful blow Zatanna answers this new voice with: “I EVAH TON!” She pushes hard against the magic sword as the villains start to freak out, the white lady even addresses a mysterious figure who apparently said the sword couldn’t fail. And as Zatanna pulls she claims that she will escape even if she has to rip herself apart. And on the final page it almost appears as if that is exactly what happened!! Omg this art is amazing, and I can’t wait to see Zatanna clap back!!

[readershushu]

“‘has your magic brought only rot? has your magic truly abandoned you?’ ‘no, it hasn’t.’ ‘so why have you abandoned it?’”

another amazing issue. please let campbell write zatanna forever. the sword representing her intrusive thoughts after killing adam throughout this issue is so well done. the big moment of her thoughts telling her how she only brings death to those she cares about and she yells “i evah ton!” sooooooo good

[Abbie]

Started reading again after confirmation Cambell will write her ongoing like was predicted. This issue is still great but I hope the Next Level stuff does take a little more time to introduce the cast to new readers because this is a little disoreinting to me.

[Alexis Moreno]

This issue feels like it wins it over. it’s not quite the cost and weight i’m looking for but it’s consistent and full of effort in really bring out energy and want. It’s not just sacrifice but willingness and perseverance that i think pushes this for me. I think i like this writer and run.

[Craig Schorling]

Visually arresting. This issue is a collection of short adventures explaining how Zatanna got to where she is now. While this is a bit dense it is very interesting and I appreciate how unique this book feels. The final page hints at returning to a larger narrative.

[Madison]

I really liked this one! Brother Night and Lady White have just such cool designs and I love that! However, I hate the cliffhanger ending!!! I wanna know what happens next!

[Alex Fyffe]

3.5

[Ryan]

3.5

[grimbamreads]

5/5

[Annemarie]

I liked this issue the best so far. The art is still absolutely stunning and my favourite thing, but overall, it's still not really pulling me in.

[rafaela (taylor's version)]

3, 75

[victoria]

ALL MY HOMIES LOVE FUSELI THAT LITTLE SHIT

[˗ˏˋRosaˎˊ˗]

PEAK.

[Rosa]

Giving zatanna justice

[Hisham]

4.5

interesting learning more about zataana's mother not a lot of comics talk about her much it's really interesting