Mariko Tamaki will write Zatanna: Bring Down the House for DC Comics

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A very not-sold-out crowd claps minimally for Zatanna, despite all the cool stage magic she’s doing. (Zatanna: Bring Down the House)

The books in DC Comics’ Black Label imprint are defined by top-of-their-game writers and artists telling standalone stories too big for continuity at a high production value. And Zatanna: Bring Down the House, coming this summer from Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez, checks all of those boxes with a big marker.

Tamaki is one of the most versatile comics writers in the biz these days, crafting everything from multiple multi-award winning queer coming-of-age YA graphic novels to a run on no less than Wonder Woman and Detective Comics (the series that gives DC it’s name), while Rodríguez is one of the most playful, as evidenced in some of Marvel’s most inventively drawn recent titles, like Defenders and Exiles.

And what leaps out immediately in DC’s announcement is just how good Zatanna: Bring Down the House looks.

Image: Mariko Tamaki, Javier Rodríguez/DC Comics

A young Zatanna wanders up to an imposing mansion rendered in negative space, walks up its huge foyer staircase, knocks on a door, and peers inside, only to find an innocent-looking white rabbit (Zatanna: Bring Down the House)

Image: Mariko Tamaki, Javier Rodríguez/DC Comics

Over a double page spread, a collage of poses and stage lights, folowers, and doves, and a magician’s wand/cane, a smiling Zatanna performs her stage show, backed by the words “THE GREAT ZATANNA” in marquee lights. (Zatanna: Bring Down the House).

Image: Mariko Tamaki, Javier Rodríguez/DC Comics

Rodríguez and Tamaki appear to be tackling an origin story for the DC Universe’s lesser known magical powerhouses, Zatanna Zatara. Blockbuster stage magician by day, superhero who can make anything happen so long as she can say it backwards by night, Zatanna has rarely been a headliner — but her iconic top-hat-and-tails look and seemingly unlimited power have made her a perennial choice for DC superhero teams since 1964.

The main cover of Zatanna: Bring Down the House: Looking over her shoulder, Zatanna tips her top hat a the viewer. With her other hand, held behind her back, she shows off a her hand of cards: a royal flush.

Image: Javier Rodríguez/DC Comics

According to DC’s news release, Bring Down the House takes Zatanna to Las Vegas, where her strictly stage-magic-only act is languishing in a terrible venue:

Zatanna will have to take herself and her magical abilities seriously when an interdimensional vortex cracks open the very stage she performs on, releasing a terrifying demon bent on killing her. And if Zatanna hopes to escape with her life, she’ll have to face the even more terrifying consequences of her past.

“There is nothing more fun than working on a character like Zatanna who, issue after issue, invites you to explore every nook and cranny of the language of comics,” Rodríguez said in the release.

Tamaki joined in: “We’re very excited for people to see this weird little story we’ve whipped up for their reading pleasure.” But she’ll have to wait for June 25, because that’s when Zatanna: Bring Down the House hits shelves. You can check out the book’s variant covers below:

Zatanna poses dynamically, bright magic sparkles streaking from her hands, white doves flying away from her.

Image: Jorge Jiménez/DC Comics

On a background of spirals and stars, Zatanna rolls the dice on a table covered in playing cards.

Image: Mikel Janín/DC Comics

Zatanna’s unmistakable top-hatted shadow falls on a wall plastered with worn layers of posters for Vegas stage acts.

Image: Alvaro Martinez Bueno/DC Comics

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