Action Comics #1 (1938)
by Fred Guardineer
While Superman gets all the glory, he wasn’t the only DC superhero to debut in Action Comics #1.
We also get Zatara by Fred Guardineer (who sometimes uses the pen name “Gene Baxter” and who has other stories in this issue).
Guardineer is not among the most known Golden Age creators; he died in 2002.
In classic Golden Age style, the story doesn’t bother with an origin. Zatara is introduced as a magician who fights crime with a sidekick name Tong.
Getting this out of the way: Zatara is a rather blatant copy of Mandrake the magician, created in 1934. While Zatara doesn’t have his trademark moustache in his very first issue, the two are virtually indistinguishable. Can you tell at first glance if this is Mandrake or Zatara?
(it was Mandrake)
You might want to give Zatara the benefit of the doubt… after all Mandrake’s look is fairly generic… except Mandrake ALSO has a muscular sidekick with Lothar.
I haven’t read much Mandrake, but from what I can tell Lothar is generally written better than other black characters of the same era. Which is not saying much, admittedly.
But back to Zatara. His magic crystal ball tells him that the villainous Tigress is going to rob a train, so he intervenes with the police.
Kind of weird from a modern perspective to see a magician get involved with street crime, but that’s fairly common for the times.
Kind of a dick move to use one of the policemen as a human shield, though.
Good thing that, as a magician, Zatara can do pretty much whatever the plot needs.
Now, I mentioned Tigress. If you’re expecting to see a feline-themed supervillain… prepare to be disappointed, because Tigress is just a woman wearing a striped shirt.
That’s it.
Superman can’t fly yet in Action Comics #1, and Zatara is barely able to float.
Zatara’s “detective friend” Brady is found dead and is accused of being “crooked” because… I’m a bit lost on this. Are they thinking he was connected to Tigress and warned her of Zatara’s involvement?
The clues to this mystery are a chalk mark left on the train car, and the train inspector named Babcock. Who I can totally believe chose villainy as revenge against being named Babcock.
Zatara then decides to prepare a trap for Tigress before she can rob the next train, which will transport precious jewelry.
And this is where Zatara reveals his main gimmick: his “spells” are just ordinary words spelled backwards.
And Zatara’s first backwards spell IMMEDIATELY fails!!!
Great job, Zatara. How the heck did you manage to stick around for so long!?
Honestly I’m kind of rooting for Tigress now.
Why didn’t you remove the knots earlier? And why didn’t you even try using a spell, they didn’t even gag you!!!
I mean he can teleport Tong to help him whenever he wants!
Just saying, you could’ve ordered Tigress to surrender or something, instead of waiting for Babcock to show up and hypnotize him.
If Zatara fires a gun, should it have a “gnab” sound effect?
Zatara then hops on a different train with the same mark of the first one.
The mark is, of course, the signal the criminals use to spot which car train they need to steal from.
Did you think Zatara grabbed that gun just to disarm the guy? NOPE!
How is Tigress constantly sneaking up on you, Zatara? Even on a train when she’s wearing a long skirt!!!
Uhm, normally I would say this was caused by a miscommunication between the writer and the artist, but in this case they’re the same person. HOW IS THAT A BULLET AND NOT A BANANA!?!?
And how the heck does she manage to get away!?!?
And so we end with the mark being fully explained, exonerating Brady…
…and Zatara vows to capture Tigress another day.
Based on his performance here, I don’t like his chances.
For completion: in addition to Superman and a bunch of one-page humor comics, here’s the rest of the protagonists of Action Comics #1.
Lacirotsih ecnacifingis: 01\3
Zatara is ONLY remembered for being Zatanna’s father, and none of his adventures are.
Revlis Ega-ssen: 01\7
We have a magician that is either all-powerful or completely useless depending on the panel, and apparently a bulled the size and shape of a banana.
Seod ti dnats eht tset fo emit? 01\0
Reading other stories from the very very early Golden Age helps understanding just how groundbreaking Superman was, because this hasn’t aged well.
The basic plot is fine, but Zatara is utterly inconsistent in everything. It is kind of interesting to see a female crime boss this far back, but that’s about it.
Woh esolc si siht ot eht nredom retcarahc? 
\
It’s hard to identify a “modern character” for Zatara. He didn’t even get his first name Giovanni until well after the Golden Age!
Zatara was a big enough deal to snatch a few covers from Superman, and lurked around in the 40s and late 50s. He didn’t really get to be a big name; I blame the fact that he didn’t join the Justice Society. Possibly because, let’s face it, Doctor Fate is far more interesting than Zatara ever was!
The closest thing to a call to fame came in 1964 thanks to his daughter Zatanna, who started a storyline looking for Zatara that was one of the VERY few DC crossovers between multiple series of the era.
Considering “Zatara” is his last name, he literally lives through her daughter since her full name is actually Zatanna Zatara.
It’ll take a long time before I get to cover Zatanna’s debut. I don’t have to think too much about why she managed to stick around better than her father.
He’s died a bunch of times, but he pops up as a ghost to help his daughter.
I’m guessing the only reason Zatara kept any sort of relevance, and why he was chosen as the father of a new heroine, is because he debuted in Action Comics #1.
I seriously doubt anyone is going to do something with him that doesn’t involve his daughter, but it’s not like he’s a bad character in his own right.
