#the jewel of gravesend

[dailydccomics]

Zatanna’s heart eyes sunnies >>>>>>>> Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend (2022) art by Jacquelin De Leon

[jonkentt]

Zatanna by Jacquelin de Leon

[ID: 4 comic edits of Zatanna as a teenager. She has purple hair and winged eyeliner. 1: Zatanna in a purple hoodie, listening to music from pink headphones while reading a book. There are animated white music notes above her head. 2: Zee with heart-shaped sunglasses on her forehead and 'Zatanna’ in a text background. 3: Zee in a black cami, raising her hands in exasperation. There are animated white emphasis lines beside her. 4: Zee with her hair in a bun and she’s drinking a green smoothie. ‘Zatara’ is in a text background. End ID]

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Reluctant Reader Wednesday: Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden & Jacquelin De Leon 

Zatanna is an unusual girl for many different reasons. She lives in a building called the Golden Elephant in Luna Park, her father is a famous magician, and she has a huge pet rabbit that she walks on a leash down the Coney Island boardwalk. While her family makes her crazy sometimes, she has her friends and her boyfriend to help keep her sane. But sometimes they’re not enough to stop her life from going in unexpected directions. 

When a strange new magic show has a weird effect on Zatanna, it’s just the beginning of the roller-coaster of her life. Soon she’s involved in a dangerous magical rivalry that threatens to tear apart her world, and make her question everything she knows about herself and her family.

Give this graphic novel to teens who enjoy urban fantasy, as well as stories about family problems, New York City, and all kinds of magic.

[kitzatara]

My full Zatanna Bring Down The House Review!

(spoiler filled, you have been warned!)

First of all I really enjoyed it, it is a very good characterization of Zatanna. We see her heroism and her innate desire to help people, even strangers, and people she doesn’t trust. Helping the magic users, and seeing her desire to do what’s right. She was determined and doesn’t hesitate to help, just like the hero she is.

She had a dry sense of humor, a showman personality and love of performing, her stubborn will and her temper as well. These are all traits that I have seen and consider to be consistent in Zee over the years. So seeing them be core to her in this book was very much appreciated.

I do have a couple narrative nitpicks, 1) she’s never killed anyone, ever. So the decision to have her accidentally kill a kid in the story was a shame to me. I don’t like the breaking of that 60 year record. My only comfort is that it technically isn’t canon. So technically her record is still intact.

2) is the casters doing logomancy. I think that should be something only Zataras can do. It’s such a unique style of spellcasting, and having other magic users be able to do it sort’ve undermines this unique concept. The original reason the Zataras spoke backwards was because they were descendants of Da Vinci. So others should find it extremely difficult to do if they can do it at all.

I’ve mixed opinions about the casters & bunnies in general. They remind me of the Homo Magi, And I couldn’t help but feel that making Zatara part of a secret magic group was just taking from Sindella’s origin. Which has already happened by making Zatara a Homo Magi, I think the casters easily could’ve been swapped for the Homo Magi. But they were interesting, warring factions of magic is always a fun concept.

One problem I have, that isn’t exclusive to this book, was having her not use magic much until the end. It’s very common for magic users to have this trope of powerlessness. Especially at the start of a hero’s journey. So, I recognize the story format but I’m tired of seeing it.

We’ve now have had 6 stories follow a similar route (7 soldiers, come together, Mystik U, Jewel of gravesend, mystery of the meanest teacher) also absolute power, and technically both JLD runs also begin similarly. Seeing Zatanna constantly at square one no longer serves her character, her story, and discards her history. We should move past stories centered on her not using magic and start moving on to stories of her being a fully realized sorceress.

My final big problem with the story is constantine’s inclusion. I’ve made posts on other platforms about how poorly he treats her and will eventually post one here. But in Bring Down The House he is once again made a part of her origin and revealed to be manipulating things behind the scenes, keeping secrets from her, and even lying to her because he knows better and is trying to “keep her safe.” It’s just an example of sexist tropes like him manipulating and infantilizing her. Which I am also sick of seeing.

That all being said the conclusion is the crown jewel of the story. It’s immensely satisfying. We got to see her transfiguring an army of demons easily. A powerful ability in her tool kit that I feel isn’t utilized as much as it used to be. The bunnies as allies was also fun, and having magical bunnies as allies and a part of her show is a fun and whimsical addition to her lore that I’ve wanted to see.

It was dare I say almost worth the typical and repetitive hero’s journey. While the decision to make Zatara the villain of this story was interesting, albeit not one I would have made. His defeat was wonderful and spectacular. It was emotional, impactful and bad ass. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally, it must be said and cannot be understated how beautiful the art was. It was colorful, whimsical, and just perfect for her story. It wove with the narrative seamlessly. I loved the artwork in this book. Truly blew me away.

So even though I have my criticisms and nitpicks, it was still a really fun and beautiful read, with a perfect ending. I wish the series was an ongoing, or led to a solo title for her because reading this showed how fun her story could be. All in all to me it was a 4/5.

Thank you for reading

Eht dne!

[hibiscera]

Okay. You know what. Major points to Jewel of Gravesend for implying drag king Zatanna, the utterly specific scenario I love to think about a lot.

Sadly we didn’t get to SEE this happen, but I forgive it because the book went in an unexpected direction and clearly setting up for a sequel.

I will hold them to it for if there is though.

[takaraphoenix]

Family Trees of the Multiverse: Constantine-Zatara Family

I was honestly not aware that John had that many children; Noah and the demon spawns were new to me. Still, I combined Zee and John’s tree because Zee’s alone would be a little too tiny and they do share two children.

As usual, color-coded for easier visibility on who shares a continuity.

Vertigo universe exclusive: brown

Prime Earth: black

New Earth exclusive: red

Earth-22 [Kingdom Come]: dark pink

Earth-24 [Bombshells]: light blue

Unnamed Earth [Jewel of Gravesend]: purple

Unnamed Earth [Distorted Illusions]: lavender

Also, I chose to feature JoG!Zatanna separately because between the adopted name and the purple-haired redesign, it seemed worth separating, though they are versions of the same character.

[kbkirtley]

Part 2 of my superhero favorites list: Top 5 Female Heroes

1. Artemis/Tigress (Artemis Crock) - Not a ton of appearances beyond Young Justice but she was maybe my second favorite character in a series that I loved. She’s also the main inspiration for a future character of mine that has become one of my favorites that I’ve written.

2. Batgirl/Oracle (Barbara Gordon) - Babs has long been a favorite in part because of her connection to Dick Grayson, but she’s more than worthy of a spot on this list on her own merits. Her roles in Young Justice, Harley Quinn, and the excellent recent Batgirls run were all phenomenal.

3. Zatanna (Zatanna Zatara) - Like most of the other characters on these first two lists, I love Zatanna in Young Justice. I Also loved her in the wonderful Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend Graphic novel by Alys Arden and Jacqueline deLeon (DC green light a sequel already).

4. Batgirl/Orphan (Cassandra Cain) - While Cass did appear in Young Justice, she had a pretty small role. But I fell in love with this character through the Batgirls run and the phenomenal Webtoon Wayne Family Adventures. (My deepest apologies to honorable mention Steph Brown, the one Batgirl not included here.)

5. Supergirl (Kara Danvers) - A little edgier than her Boy Scout of a cousin, Kara is a great superhero and great ambassador for the House of El’s symbol of hope.

[ninelivesart]

Drawing My Reads 2024

I'm still debating on whether or not I want to continue the challenge I started last year. I very much do want to, however, I've been dealing with extreme art block. I'm also planning on changing my self appointed rules a bit.

I have started a few sketches and then scrapped them because I hated them. SO here is a comprehensive list of my 2024 reads. Which will link to the drawings. At some point. When I no longer hate them, I guess.

As usual, books that are sequels will have an asterisk followed by the first book in parenthesis. Links will take you to the completed art for that book (I don't draw for every book). A ~ indicates that it was an audiobook.

January

When She Dances* by Ruby Dixon (When She's Ready)

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (Reread)

Bookshops & Bonedust* by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes)~

House of Sky and Breath* by Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood. Reread)

February

House of Flame and Shadow* by Sarah J. Maas (House of Earth and Blood)

Unfamiliar by Haley Newsome

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Halfling by S.E. Wendel

A Gathering of Shadows* by V.E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic)

Choosing Theo by Victoria Aveline

A Conjuring of Light* by V.E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic)

In Nightfall by Suzanne Young~

March

Freeing Luka* by Victoria Aveline (Choosing Theo)

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden and Jaqueline De Leon

The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo

Court of the Vampire Queen by Katee Robert

Miles Morales: Suspended* by Jason Reynolds (Miles Morales: Spider-Man)~

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Ruthless Vows* by Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals)

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher~

Bride by Ali Hazlewood

Saving Verakko* by Victoria Aveline (Choosing Theo)

April

The Prince of Prohibition by Marilyn Marks

Total so far: 25

[thebookshelfmonster]

Alys Arden's Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend was paranormal YA perfection. This was a wonderful reimagining of a classic DC character, which added new and interesting dimensions to her origin and mythos. The elements I associate with and appreciate about Alys Arden's writing were crafted to delicious charm. I find people's relationship to places fascinating, so I really enjoyed the way the author built her characters in relation to the place they were - Zatanna and the people in her life in the carnival world of Coney Island. In this fictional world of a real place that is clearly distinguishable as Alys Arden's, she creates a fascinating plot of generational magical feuds with dark family secrets upending and threatening the main character's life and those of her loved ones. Jacquelin de Leon's art serves as the perfect compliment to the worldbuilding and characterization. I especially loved the creative way in which the panels were arranged and the sense of movement they simulated. The story involved lots of instances of characters and objects moving in a variety of ways and the art design helped convey it very nicely. I enjoyed the pacing of the story for the most part. However, the climax felt a little overwhelming to me, either because a lot seemed to be happening all at once and in quick succession. Regardless, the build up to it was very enjoyable and the punch that was served was very effective. 4/5 🌟 #bookreview #graphicnovel #zatanna #dccomics #zatannazatara #alysarden #jacquelinedeleon #dcuniverse #comicbooks #paranormal #ya #urbanfantasy #coneyisland #newyorkcity #mystics #magicians #witchyvibes #firstbook #bookstagram #booklover #bookblogger #readersgonnaread #2023reads #2022books https://www.instagram.com/p/CnPYAoVNsd9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[abellinthecupboard]

“Matoaka” (Part 2)

2. Christian names, surnames, place names: Brafferton, called after a manor- house in Yorkshire, whose rents had been 　　bequeathed by Robert Boyle, a man of learning and great piety, to bring the infidels of Virginia, across the water, out of their 　　dark and miserable ignorance to true religion: Brafferton, a monument to words we, or some of us, 　　once listened to in fear and trembling: divinity, hell fire, the Fiend, Redemption, Eternal Judgment: Brafferton, 　　monument at last to policy, tergiversation and neglect. What happened? Whose fault was it few gave credence to 　　the awesome news of Love personified, Who, having undergone the worst, might still prove to outlast undoing? Awe, 　　in all the stories we tell ourselves, is finally what's durable, no matter how we mollify it, no matter how our 　　pieties keep changing. What happened in the mind of John Smith's nonpareil, a pagan without a peer, grown nubile, then the shining jewel of imperial endeavor, now the mere sullied pawn of statecraft and testosterone, who dares imagine? After what dazzlements, what threats, what stirred, fearful increment of passion, as Mistress 　　Rolfe, she crossed that threshold, who can guess? Concerning what she thought, miasmas, quagmires, white birds flying up, 　　the Holy Ghost, deter us. Who's the more lost? She had, at any rate, her uses. Newly installed as convert, nursing 　　mother and great lady up the river named for his increasingly unseemly majesty, see her embark, chief showpiece 　　of colonial bravado. No records of a sort begin: of presentations, masques, levees, of portrait sittings, wearing 　　wig, ruff, mantle of brocaded velvet; no less, for a season, than the rage of foul, fashionable London 　　with its spiteful stares and whispers, its catarrhs, its bruited rifts and ruinings, the whole interminable, 　　fatiguing catalog of latest things, the gartered glitterings, the breathing propinquity of faces: through 　　a pomandered fog of rooms and posturings arises, stunningly vivid still yet dim with distance, a figure long gone from Jamestown, an ocean's retching, heaving, vertigo removed, and more: from girlhood's remembered grapevines, strawberries, sun- warm mulberries, leapfrog, cartwheels, the sound of streams, of names, of languages: Pamunkey, 　　Chickahominy... She'd thought him dead. She'd never been so tired. There in London a silence opens: Captain Smith, 　　repenting to have writ she could speak English, is witness of how she turned away—she who, out of a distance grown by now 　　intolerable, had seen the world, so called: brought face to face with majesty, with empire, by that silence she took their measure. 　　Amicably, then, she acknowledged him, and Jamestown; as for his countrymen (in what tone and with what gesture?), they were a people that often lied. Details are few. At Gravesend, readying for the crossing, aged twenty-one, she seemingly abruptly 　　sickened and died.

— Amy Clampitt, A Silence Opens (1993)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

[dailydccomics]

casual Zee Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend (2022) art by Jacquelin De Leon

[2021ya]

ZATANNA: THE JEWEL OF GRAVESEND

​by Alys Arden & Jacquelin de Leon (Illustrator)

(DC Comics, 4/13/21)

9781401296384

Add to Goodreads

Purchase from Bookshop

There's more to the mobsters, mystics, and mermaids at the last stop on the D/F/Q trains: Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. Zatanna's not your typical New Yorker. She walks her giant rabbit on a leather leash down the boardwalk, lives in a colossal architectural wonder known as the Golden Elephant, had her first kiss in the Haunted Hell Gate ride--and wouldn't have it any other way. But the time for having fun in Luna Park comes to an end when a mystic's quest for a powerful jewel unravels everything Zatanna thought she knew about herself and her beloved neighborhood. Mysteries and magic surround her as she reveals the truth about her family's legacy, and confronts the illusion that has been cast over her entire life. From the bewitching mind behind The Casquette Girls, Alys Arden, and with enchanting artwork by Jacquelin de Leon, comes the story of a girl stuck in the middle of a magical rivalry and forced to choose between love, family, and magic without hurting anyone...or worse.

[dccomicsnews]

Book Review: Zatanna: The Jewel Of Gravesend

Book Review: Zatanna: The Jewel Of Gravesend

[kitzatara]

Hello! Sorry to bother but I can’t find any zatanna reading lists/recommendations, especially for early stuff, and I’d really like to get into her comics. Could you suggest some if that’s okay? :D

Zatanna’s search

When she Joins the JLA #161 to when she leaves #255 (she is in most of these issues but some she isn’t) DC Super Stars of Magic Zatanna

Hawkman #4 (1986)

DC Special Zatanna

Spectre #7-8

Secret Origins #27

Adventures Of Superman #522

Fate #10 Zatanna Come Together Day of Judgment

JLA Black Baptism

Obsidian Age

7 Soldiers of Victory

Reign In Hell

Gotham City Sirens (volume 2)

Her 2010 Solo

Black Canary & Zatanna Bloodspell Infinite Crisis Fight For the Multiverse (not canon) JLD both runs

Truth and Justice #7

Wonder Woman Agent of Peace #15 Knight Terrors

Zatanna Bring Down The House

My favorite Elseworlds with her are:

Bombshells, Zatanna and the House of Secrets, Zatanna and the Ripper, Smallville Harbinger, DCeased Dead Planet, and Zatanna and the Jewel of Gravesend

There is my Zatanna reading list, it is a mostly chronological telling of her story, with some stories being fun bonuses. There’s lots of other issues shes in but these will advance her canon, showcase her power, or have her present.

The elseworlds can be read whenever, and while infinite crisis for the multiverse isn’t strictly canon, you can pretend that it is. Like it would fit if we really wanted it to, and I really want it to lol.

Yojne!

[dreacwrites]

Book Review: Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend

Book Review: Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend

Format: Graphic NovelRating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ARC – Net Galley and DC Entertainment provided this Advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Alys Arden and Jacquelin de Leon take us on a magical and mystical journey through Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. Zatanna is engulfed in the world of magic and illusion in this tale of mystery, mirror script, and magic. We see Zatanna as we have never seen…