In this review of Zatanna #5, our Prime Magus arrives to help deal with the Hidden City’s problems. But it turns out that Zatanna and Highlord Loryndro have a few issues.
ZATANNA #5
Written by JAMAL CAMPBELL
Art and Main Cover: JAMAL CAMPBELL
Variant Covers: DAVID TALASKI, BRUNO REDONDO, NIMIT MALAVIA
Page Counut: 32 pages
Release Date: 8/26/26
This review contains spoilers
After an introduction in which Zatanna mentions her less-than-pleasant past two visits to the Hidden City, where her mother was killed and then nearly herself, we get to the problem in the Hidden City now. Everything’s on fire, people are spontaneously combusting, and it’s a mess overall. The Guardian Mages are doing their best, but things are still desperate.
Which is when Zatanna comes in to back them up. But it turns out even she’s not enough to fully stop it. As she learns at the healer’s, though, she did manage to keep things from being worse than they could have been, which is always appreciated.
She’s met by Highlord Loryndro, who acknowledges that she’s probably got some strong feelings about the place with what happened to her mother and all. But he hopes they can work together. She agrees to address the people. Which she does with a message of hope. But Loryndro throws in his own message of war, which Zatanna and High Guardian Iskender take exception to. Loryndro says it’s necessary, and mentions Sindella, which triggers Zatanna and causes her to storm off.
Zatanna goes to her mother’s grave, wishing she could speak to her. She’s joined by Healer Asyu, who reveals herself to be Sindella’s mother.
As Asyu tells Zatanna about her mother, and shows her where she grew up, Loryndro and company try to enact their own plans for the city…which only makes things worse and more fiery…
We get a little character history in Zatanna #5, and that’s always great to see. It’s made pretty clear that, yep, Zatanna has a history with the Hidden City, and it’s not entirely positive. But she’s still here to help because these are still her people, even if the Highlord is a bit less than trustworthy.
Her message of hope comes with the acknowledgment that it’s not going to be an easy fight. She may be a magician, but she’s actually not using misdirection when she takes the stage for this address. It’s very true to who she is as a character, as well as bringing in some really lovely visuals, which is also true to her character. And then we have Loryndro twisting that message into something more aggressive and warlike. His addition to her address makes it clear that he’s going to try things his own way, even if that’s not quite for the best. And if the ending of this chapter is any indication, his way’s definitely not for the best.
I always love the artwork for this series, but I think something I really love in this one is the design of the dragon brought down by the resentment of the dissidents. It’s imposing, you can definitely see it burning a city to the ground at the slightest provocation. And the black speech bubbles/white text combo works beautifully to give it that threatening vibe. I’m also liking the design of the Hidden City. Just one look at the buildings, and you know it’s a hotbed for magic. The color scheme has a soft, calming effect to it that just makes the ruinous flames look all the more harsh and dangerous.
Back to the story elements of Zatanna #5, love the fact that the healer turns out to be Sindella’s mother. And that fact was dropped in a scene that’s already emotional without being overly dramatic, giving Zatanna the closest she can get at this point to speaking with her mother. That first scene of Zatanna and Asyu together would not have been the right time for her to drop an “Oh, by the way, I’m your grandmother!”. Zatanna was already dealing with enough at that moment, having just recovered from an encounter with a dragon, and all. That would just get drowned out by everything else going on, but af Sindella’s grave? A better, more quiet time.
Also, there’s something of an emotional gut-punch to Asyu’s account of Sindella. She mentions there being those moments of clarity, moments where her daughter’s herself again, before snapping to an altered state. Reminds me a bit of when someone talks about an ill relative (usually older, which is painful enough, but when they’re younger, that makes it all the more tragic).
So, very curious as to how things will go in issue 6 with the dragon.
Final Thoughts
Zatanna #5 may be the most emotional installment of this title yet, and is well worth the read.
