Thursday, September 17, 2015

Animated World of DC Comics: Batman meets Zatanna (1992)

Most of us envision Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, settling down with Selina Kyle, alias Catwoman. Christopher Nolan certainly thought so, based on the ending to "The Dark Knight Rises". 20 years earlier, however, Paul Dini had other ideas.

Dini came up with the idea that as a young man, Bruce (Kevin Conroy) had sought advice on being an escape artist from magician John Zatara, and gained the attention----and affection---of Zatara's daughter, Zatanna (Julie Brown, The Edge). Years later, Zatanna is performing in Gotham City, and framed for armed robbery by one Montague Kane, who was modeled after Orson Welles, from the looks of things. Zatanna, unaware that the Dark Knight is her lost love, convinces Batman to let her help him clear her name.

Too bad they didn't make a sequel. The Princess of Prestidigation would not return until Justice League Unlimited, more than a decade later, with Jennifer Hale taking over the role.



Dini, during his run on Detective Comics, tried to at least rekindle the sparks of romance between Zatanna & Batman, but it was a short-lived story arc.

Rating: A.

2 comments:

Samuel Wilson said...

Like any good superhero writer (or headwriter), Dini liked to keep the hero's options open. On the animated series Catwoman, Zatanna, Talia and at least one original Japanese character were all eligible mates for Batman. Nevertheless, the preponderance of evidence both on the cartoon and during Dini's time writing DC Comics pointed toward Selina as The One. Of course, many Batman fans probably would rather skip the subject altogether.

hobbyfan said...

That was more editorial mandate than anything else, Sam. On the other hand, when you consider that Bruce Wayne's little black book includes Talia, Zatanna, Selina, Wonder Woman, and who knows who else, maybe Dini was trying to steer Bats toward James Bond territory......