Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell
Hardcover | Kindle
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Joe Quinones
Colored by Dave McCaig
Letters by Sal Cipriano
Cover by Joe Quinones
DC Comics
Release Date: May 21, 2014
Cover Price: $22.99

Fishnets. Fishnets everywhere. That’s what I was expecting when I started reading Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell. Because come on, both of these lovely ladies are well known for their wardrobes. Turns out I was wrong, but I’m okay with that. What I got was a great story that showed the characters’ befriending one another in the past and how well they can work together in the present.

This isn’t your average DC Comics tale, my friends. Read on to find out what makes this one different.

The story starts off with Black Canary (a.k.a. Dinah Lance) doing some undercover field work. Apparently she’s part of a team of ladies who are looking to make a big score at the expense of presumably innocent tourists. Things go awry for the magic wielding leader during an attempted escape. A year passes and members of the foiled robbery begin to die under mysterious circumstances, alerting Black Canary that something might have bewitched the former thieves. So who does Dinah turn to when she suspects magic is involved? Why Zatanna Zatara, of course!

Enduring multiple flashbacks and using quite a bit of comedy, these superheroines use plain old detective skills to run down several leads until finally figuring out what happened. Dinah and Zee track down the culprit (which turns out to be a shade) who they have to fight face to face(less). And though they find themselves at a distinct disadvantage, their ability to work as a team leads to a proper ending to the mystery.

Emmy Award-winning writer Paul Dini‘s story is about more than just solving a crime, it’s about friendship and teamwork. Taking a character like Black Canary who is more apt to engage in melee combat and pairing her with a magus like Zatanna might seem unusual but it works exceptionally well in this scenario. His humorous take on Dinah’s relationship with Green Arrow is also worthy of note, mostly the fact that he reveals that she utters a Canary Cry during orgasm, wears her collar to bed, and apparently doesn’t wear underwear beneath her tights. While I’m not sure it’s important to the storyline, it showed some lightheartedness that isn’t common in many comics these days, especially ones that feature a heroine who’s been around for almost seventy years. The art for this book is supplied by Joe Quinones. For most of graphic novel the visuals are serviceable, neither spectacular nor underwhelming. But there are, however, some truly memorable scenes that are perfectly depicted and it’s obvious that he is a master craftsman when the need arises.

In summation, the story was fun and surprisingly lighthearted at times, considering the subject matter. All in all, I was pleased with the comic and would definitely like to see more of these wondrous characters depicted from this illustrious team of comic creators. I hope you’ll take the time to give it a read, though I did warn you about two of the more adult-oriented parts. I’m glad I was able to read this before my 10-year-old daughter, being a huge Black Canary fan she might have had a couple of questions for me. But then again, maybe not…the scene wasn’t overtly sexual, just chock full of innuendo. Nonetheless, it was a great read that I feel most people would enjoy. As a bonus, there’s also a really great sketchbook and script in the book. Now you can’t help but buy it, right?