Giovanni Zatara (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Image                  = Zatara 001.jpg
 * ImageText              = Zatara
 * RealName               = Giovanni Zatara
 * CurrentAlias           = Zatara
 * Aliases                = John Zatara
 * Identity               = Secret
 * Alignment              = Good
 * AlienRace              = Homo Magi
 * Affiliation            = Formerly All-Star Squadron, Black Lantern Corps
 * Relatives              = Leonardo da Vinci (ancestor, deceased); Luigi Zatara (grandfather, deceased); Sindella Zatara (wife, deceased); Zatanna Zatara (daughter); Zachary Zatara (nephew)
 * Universe               = Earth-Two; Earth-One; New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = San Francisco, California


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 = 5'11
 * Weight                 = 170 lbs (77 kg)
 * Eyes                   = Blue
 * Hair                   = Black
 * UnusualFeatures        =


 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          = Widowed
 * Occupation             = Magician
 * Education              =


 * PlaceOfBirth           = Italy
 * Creators               = Fred Guardineer;
 * First                  = Action Comics Vol 1 1
 * Death                  = Swamp Thing Vol 2 50


 * Quotation              =
 * Speaker                =
 * QuoteSource            =

John Zatara was an illusionist and a descendant of the Homo Magi, who used his powers to fight crime and evil. He'd wield his magic through spells, whose powers were focused by speaking backwards.
 * HistoryText            =

His love of magic began early when he was given a magic kit by his uncle, who was himself a professional illusionist. Although he began learning the craft in childhood, his early attempts at performing professionally were unsuccessful until he realized that he needed to work on his showmanship.

To that end, he dug up old diaries of Leonardo da Vinci, who was a direct ancestor. While reading the diaries, which Leonardo wrote in backwards spelling as a security precaution, Zatara learned that his family had the command of magic. He discovered this inadvertently when he accidentally gave a command to a mannequin to begin waving an arm wildly. Zatara realized that he could command it to stop by giving the order in backwards spelling.

With this new knowledge, Zatara developed a successful show. During the premiere performance a fire broke out on stage, forcing Zatara to use his command of real magic to put it out. While the audience mistook the incident as part of the act, Zatara realized that this power could be invaluable in helping people and he resolved to use it as such between shows.

John Zatara, his daughter Zatanna, John Constantine and Sargon the Sorcerer, among others, came together to help demonic and divine forces in other hellish dimensions battle the Great Evil Beast. The Beast takes notice of their group twice. The first glimpse burns Sargon, whom Zatara convinces to "die like a Sorcerer" and not break the holding of hands. Sargon burns to death nobly. The second glance literally heats up Zatanna but Zatara willingly takes the effect onto himself, dying but sparing his daughter's life. The Beast is ultimately neutralized by other forces.

Since then he has made sporadic appearances in the afterlife, including resurrecting Mason O'Dare.

Reign In Hell
Zatara is leading the resistance in Hell and currently wonders what reaction his daughter will have.


 * Powers                 =
 * : Zatara speaks his spells backward as a aid to concentrate. For example, saying "tegrof" would cause the target of the spell to forget something. The limits of Zatara's powers are unknown, and are far from concrete.


 * Abilities              =
 * : Zatara is skilled in stage magic, performing simple illusions.
 * : John Zatara is an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant.


 * Strength               =
 * Weaknesses             =
 * : The only known limit to Zatara's magic is the time it takes for him to say the spell, including figuring out how to pronounce a phrase in "back-speech".


 * Equipment              =
 * Transportation         =
 * Weapons                =

}}
 * Notes                  =
 * In pre-Crisis continuity, Zatara was a native of Earth-Two who immigrated to Earth-One for unknown reasons, sometime between his last Golden Age appearance (in 1949) and meeting his wife Sindella. In New Earth continuity, this dimension-hopping did not happen.
 * Trivia                 =
 * Wikipedia              = Zatara
 * Links                  =