We come to our final entry this month with one of the
most well-known magicians as well as one of the first.
This is our profile on...
Zatara
The Master Magician
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We come to our final entry this month with one of the
most well-known magicians as well as one of the first. Zatara |
| As a child, Giovanni Zatara is given a book of magic by his uncle Luigi, a magician. Some years later, just after his 19th birthday, the young Zatara goes on the vaudeville circuit, performing illusions for the crowds that attend his shows. However, the audience finds that the tricks are hackneyed, now that the feats of his more famous contemporaries, Mandrake the Magician, and Blackstone, Master Mystic (see individual entries), are all the rage. And so Zatara is booed off many a stage. Looking for an innovation, Zatara picks up his uncle’s book, a copy of a notebook written by his ancestor, Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo's notebooks were written in reverse to preserve their secrecy. As Zatara reads an entry, "Eht mra yam eb detator 081 seerged," a mannequin in the room with him rotates its arms 180degrees! It is then that Zatara realizes that there is true magic in his heritage. |
 Click Image to Enlarge |
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Yes indeed, Magician, Zatara was able to tap
into a magical dimension and draw power from it by saying words backwards.
This power includes the ability to change into many different objects.
Zatara goes on to use his newfound abilities to fight evil and injustice
wherever he encounters it as a crimefighter. Zatara is aided by his faithful
helper, Tong; he lives on an estate named Shadowcrest from which he and
Tong ply their trade for over a decade.
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Last Known Legal Copyright
Holder:
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National Periodical Publications
(DC Comics Inc.) 1951
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Sightings:
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Action Comics #'s 1 through 132,
136, 138 and 141
New York World's Fair Comic 1939 and 1940 issues World's Finest Comics #'s 1 through 45 and 47 through 51 First Appearance: 06/38 Last Appearance: 05/51 |
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