[1] Zatanna holds the distinction of being the daughter of the renowned magician Zatara and belonging to the homo magi race, a unique subset of humanity endowed with innate magical abilities.

In addition to her stage persona, Zatanna assumes the mantle of a mystic superhero, wholeheartedly dedicating herself to the quest of thwarting malevolent forces.

Zatanna's extensive understanding of magic and her proficiency in wielding its powers have established her as a highly sought-after consultant in matters pertaining to the arcane arts.

[4] The storyline crossed multiple comics published by DC at the time, culminating in issues of Justice League of America, also written by Fox.

Zatanna is the daughter of magician Giovanni "John" Zatara who appeared in Golden Age comic books and Sindella, a member of the mystical species Homo magi.

At the conclusion of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing "American Gothic" storyline[27] (which was tied to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths), John Constantine comes to get Zatanna, Mento and Sargon the Sorcerer to come together to help demonic and divine forces in other hellish dimensions battle the entity known as the 'Great Evil Beast'.

The séance is held at Wintersgate Manor, the home of Baron Winters in Georgetown, Washington D.C., which is also a temporal threshold to other planes of reality.

However, when the current threat is identified as Gamemnae, an ancient Atlantean sorceress who seeks to conquer the world, she uses a quagmire spell to absorb Zatanna and Tempest into herself.

She subsequently joins Nightwing, Firestorm and Hawkgirl in travelling back to ancient Atlantis, where Aquaman has been trapped in a pool of water as a water wraith, Firestorm creating a channel between the pool and the sea before Zatanna casts a spell that allowed the water-based Aquaman to control the entire ocean as his body, allowing him to sink Atlantis in the past and present and disrupt Gamemnae's power.

[31] In the 2004 limited series Identity Crisis, Zatanna is a member of the Justice League at the time the villain Doctor Light rapes the Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny.

After Infinite Crisis, their relationship appears to have warmed; in Detective Comics #824 he calls her for information on a card-counter involved in scamming the Penguin.

[33] In it, at a support group for superheroes, she recounts a failed magical ritual to search for her father's tomes, during which one of her past spells summons a shapeshifter named Gwydion, who kills her companions.

She eventually regains her confidence and powers, and uses them to defeat Zor, a rogue Time Tailor who released the Sheeda as a plague to infect and degrade the entire universe.

Called upon to help with the Red Tornado's restoration in his android form, she aids the League when they are attacked by a new, powerful iteration of Amazo.

[35] Zatanna later accompanies Firestorm, Black Lightning, and Batman to Metropolis after they come to believe Kimiyo Hoshi has been kidnapped by agents of the covert metahuman team known as the Shadow Cabinet.

[36][37] After a brief conflict, Zatanna and the others are informed by teenage superheroine Rocket that Kimiyo's perceived abduction was actually a misunderstanding caused by the Shadow Cabinet's mission to seek out her help in dealing with the cosmic vampire known as Starbreaker.

[40][41][42] In Gotham City Sirens Zatanna is visited and restrained by Poison Ivy, who interacts via a tree and asks her if her encounter with Catwoman changed Selina in any way.

No longer an active member of the JLA, Zatanna is asked by officer Dale Colton to help solve a murder case at a restaurant frequented by mobsters.

[50] When her cousin Zachary Zatara breaks the spell, the casino owner begs Zatanna to turn him into a soulless lump of gold in order to escape torment in Hell.

[51] Aside from Brother Night, Zatanna faces other threats, such as Oscar Hample, a man who tried to murder her when she was a child and was turned into a puppet by her father.

[56] The Black Canary and Zatanna graphic novel Bloodspell written by Paul Dini and drawn by Joe Quinones was to be released in 2012, but was delayed until May 2014.

[58] Zatanna made her first Rebirth appearance in Detective Comics #958, assisting Bruce Wayne in taking out a robot chasing after a cult member.

[62] Within the DC Universe, Zatanna is commonly depicted as having a public identity as both a stage magician and genuine sorceress that battles evil alongside famous heroes such as the Justice League.

[65] Over time, the character's reputation and power is portrayed to be highly regarded, rivaling esteemed sorcerers and sorceresses such as of Doctor Fate,[66][67] Madame Xanadu,[66] and John Constantine.

[73] In comics taking place in the mainstream continuity, Zatanna has had various relationships with other DC Characters, including John Constantine (with whom she practiced magic) and Doctor Thirteen.

Both later concede that Bruce is too devoted to his cause as Batman to give her the relationship she wishes for, but the pair reaffirm their bond as close friends.

[79] A pep talk between the two women confirms how Zatanna really meant, during the fateful discussion with Bruce, to explore the possibility of a true romance, but turned out quietly resigned to the role of best friend and confidant.

[80] In mainstream media, DC Animated Universe touches on Bruce and Zatanna's closeness depicted as her having had a crush on him while he trained under her father as "John Smith", though she later found out his real name.

Due to her Homo Magi heritage, Zatanna possess inherent magical abilities that give her command over mystic and cosmic forces.

Much of these are stored in the Shadowcrest Manor, the sentient and ancestral home of the Zatara family which relocates to different locations periodically and is invisible to ordinary observation.