Personal Data
Name: Zatara
Alter ego: Jane (Giovanna) Zatara
Occupation: Stage magician, adventurer
Marital status: Widower
Known relatives: Leonardo Da Vinci (reputed ancestor, deceased), Luigi Zatara (grandfather, deceased), Sindello (husband, deceased), Zatanna (daughter)
Group affiliation: All-Star Squadron
Base of operations: Mobile
Height: 5'7 in.
Weight: 127 lbs.
Hair: Black Eyes: Blue
First appearance: Action Comics#40
History: Zatara was the only grandchild of the famed magician Luigi Zatara. On her fifteenth birthday, her grandfather gave her a trunk containing all his notes and props. Ordered to study, she did so and made her professional debut at nineteen.
Inside the trunk was more than marked cards and ways to hide rabbits, however, for inside a secret compartment was a notebook belonging to Leonardo Da Vinci. Reading from the backwards text, Zatara discovered she could perform actual magic. She never learned how she was able to do that, but others assumed that she may have had an inherit ability.
With her magical ability, Zatara dabbled in crimefighting while still performing on stage. When World War II broke out she joined the All-Star Squadron.
In the closing days of the war, Zatara found herself in northern Turkey battling the infamous King Inferno. Caught in an avalanche during the fight, she was found and aided by Sindello, a man she would marry. They later had a daughter, Zatanna. Sindello seemingly died in a car crash, but Zatara would learn years later he was still alive but trapped in another dimension, and that he was a member of the homo-magi, a branch of humanity with innate magical abilities.
While fighting the evil elemental Allura, Zatara was cursed. The curse would kill her and Zatanna if she saw her again; thus setting her on a quest to find a way to undo the curse and defeat Allura.
She finally did that with the help of Zatanna and Sindello in the realm of Kharma. Aftery twenty years, Zatara and her family were reunited.
After that, Zatara formerly retired from both magic and adventuring. When the world was imperiled again years later, Zatara joined her daughter and other mystics in combatting the invading Shadow Creatures. When her daughter was endangered by one of the creatures, Zatara redirected the monster's spell against her instead. Dying as the darkness incinerated her body, Zatar's spirit has given her daughter guidance from the hereafter.
Powers: By pronouncing words backwards, Zatara could perform feats of true magic. The limits of this are unknown. Zatara was an excellent acrobat, fencer, and master of slight of hand tricks. She was a fair to poor fighter, preferring to use magic instead of force.
Based on characters and concepts created by Fred Guardineer, Gardner Fox, and Murphy Anderson