Batman the Animated Series - ZATANNA!

DC Direct - Batman: The Animated Series - Zatanna - McFarlane Toys 2026

I just went down a rabbit hole watching all the animated appearances of Zatanna I could find. Since she is not typically thought of as a character who associates with Batman or Gotham City, I have wrongly thought for ten years that this was a Bruce Timm design from Justice League. (I say 10 years because this sculpt was originally released by DC Collectibles back in 2016). But when I compared her to the Justice League Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl figures, the scale and style didn't match. So I came to the conclusion that this figure is indeed a representation of her single-episode BTAS appearance in 1993 (S1E50 "Zatanna"), despite appearing in at least 7 episodes of Justice League Unlimited (FYI I believe she wears a white bowtie in all her JLU appearances). The TNBA stand this figure comes with further confused me. I watched Zatanna's single BTAS episode twice before I realized she was the dark-haired plainclothed wedding guest sitting with Jason Blood. (Like I said, quite the rabbit hole tonight).

Murray Comics COLLECTED EDITIONS!

Australian DC Reprints that Predate the Modern TPB - Murray Comics 1980-83

K. G. Murray Publishing Company was an Australian company which was well known for reprinting American comics for the Australian market. Most of these were straight-forward reprints without significant editing or curating. But for a brief period from 1980-83, they rebranded as Murray Comics and started to do some interesting things. They created what I believe to be the first character-centric collected editions, predating modern TPBs by 10-20 years. Of course these were very different -- magazine-sized inexpensive black-and-white reprints -- but the curation of the content is the unique thing here. For the first time, characters like Zatanna, Hawkgirl, and Black Canary had their "own title" composed of their various features and backup stories. As someone who is endlessly curious about the development of the female superheros in popular culture, these books are a crucial turning point - exemplifying the shifting of public focus toward these often neglected "secondary characters" since the late 70s. 

DC Direct - ZATANNA!

DC Comics - Mystics, Mages, and Magicians - Zatanna - DC Direct 2000

It took me a long long time to get on board with Zatanna. When I look at powerful DC women like Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Harley, and Catwoman, a lady in a stage magician costume and top hat just held very little appeal. It wasn't until I read the Everyday Magic comic in 2003 that I fell in love. I learned she actually WAS a stage magician who was disguising her legit magical powers. A true hiding-in-plain-sight situation. Zatanna is the daughter of famed JSA member Zatara, whose popularity she has far surpassed. Her role in Justice League Dark further cemented my obsession with her, but ironically I've learned to prefer the original costume that I always wrote off as so cheesy. This early DC Direct figure is my favorite representation of that look. Taken directly from her introductory panel in Hawkman, this figure Silver Age perfection. DC Direct had a knack for creating truly classic-looking figures, and it's a shame no other companies seem willing to fill the void. Let's check out Zatanna Zatara below!

Identity Crisis ZATANNA!

The Resident Magician of the DCU - Identity Crisis: Series 1 - DC Direct 2006

When prepping this review for inclusion in my Halloween lineup, I had it in my head that Zatanna was a witch.  But then I realized that witches and magicians are very different things, even though the lines between the two are pretty blurred.  Even more interesting was the new tidbit I just learned; that Zatanna isn't necessarily even human, but rather a member of an ancient race called the Homo magi.  Zatanna first appeared in the pages of Hawkman in 1964 and has been a regular (and often understated) character ever since.  She also maintained a lot of her trademark costume details; the fishnets, jacket, and tophat to name a few.  There was however a stretch of time in the early-to-mid eighties when she donned a blue and white getup with a lobster-looking thing perched on her head.  It was a very weird look but I kind of loved it.  The costume was brought back in the 2004 Identity Crisis miniseries which luckily spawned this cool action figure.  Let's check her out below!

Lady SQUINKIES of the DC Universe!

The Cutest Little Collectible Rubber Heroines and Villianesses from Blip Toys

My nieces and nephews have been obsessed with these little toys for years. I personally never understood the fascination.  To me, they looked like overpriced gumball machine toys.   They're made of a really soft rubber, often sloppily painted, and they just seemed silly.  I guess it's just a matter of perspective though, because as soon as I heard there were DC characters being made, I was on the prowl like nobody's business.  There are presently four DC sets available.  DC Universe Series 1 & Series 2 are readily available at Toys R Us, Target, and presumably everywhere that carries Squinkies.  The Justice League and Batman sets are rumored to be exclusive to Walgreens (which is where I found mine).  Squinkies are less than an inch tall, come in individual plastic capsules, and can be played with in a large playset (which are glorified gumball machines which will dispense your toys).  They are usually sold in 2 formats: 1) Blindbagged single figures, or 2) Carded complete sets (usually sets of 12).  On to the Ladies!