Zatanna #4 (of 4) - DC (2005)

OK, that last post wasn't really a review, as such. You want a review? You can't handle a review!

*ahem*

Sorry.

Zatanna has concluded and it remains my favorite of all the miniseries which make up the big Seven Soldiers of Fate megaminiseries. I have enjoyed all the others but it's going to be hard to top this one. Sometimes Grant Morrison is too cutting-edge to be clearly understood. Even then, it's usually fun to hang on and enjoy the ride. When Morrison is on, though, he's really on. With Seven Soldiers, he is super on!

Zatanna can be read on its own without the need for any of the other miniseries. As you might guess, some things will be clearer and more entertaining if you have read, say, Shining Knight but this mini holds up by itself. Morrison throws so many bizarre concepts together and he makes them work. In this issue, Zatanna goes in search of the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp. Even if you don't recognize them from the single issue which started this megaminiseries, just the coolness of the words "Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp" should suffice.

The best part of this issue is the appearance of a Golden Age magical villain. I suppose it's a spoiler to reveal his name but it's not like anyone is going to buy this comic just because he shows up. Suffice it to say that the battle between Zatanna and the enemy sorceror is the best wizards' duel I have seen in a comic book ever. Morrison goes totally metaphysical with this and I love it.

For all the great writing, this miniseries would not have had half the impact on me that it did if Ryan Sook had not been doing the art. That cover up there is his and the interiors are even better. I can't come up with a better person to have drawn this. The synergy between Sook's art and Morrison's writing makes this comic much greater than the sum of its parts. There were a couple of heartbreaking moments in this issue and both creators get the credit for them.

Now, to read Frankenstein.