Is Zatanna Really Into Bad Boys & Shitty Men? A Retrospective.
I keep seeing this get brought up every now and then in discussions then Zatanna has shitty taste in men that it's become a meme of sorts.
So here is a look back at some of the romantic interests she's had in the past and how that has played out over the years:
Jeffery Sloane; the first ever love interest she's had who appeared in Zatanna's back up series in Adventure Comics #413. Jeffery Sloane was her manager and was basically a dude in distress (much like Larry Lance in the Golden Age Black Canary stories) most of the time. He is basically a product of his time in how he looked, dressed and acted. Also bears suspiciously strong resemblance to how the writer Len Wein looked like at the time. >_> Despite giving off a sleazy vibe, he never actually does anything sleazy or under handed. Though he called her 'kid' a lot, even though Zee was an adult, but it implied an age difference. The two of them went back and forth, sometimes with Jeff being interested in her and Zee turning him down and later with Zee interested in him but him wanting them to just be friends, this continued until the Zatanna Special #1 (1987) where they officially hooked up only for him to never appear again after that. (Except for that brief cameo in that one Bat-Mite comic.)
Barry Allen / Flash: This was something of a long running thread for a while. Zatanna and Barry first teamed up in Flash Vol 1 #198. They were shown to already know each other and she even kissed him as part of her act. They work together in Justice League of America #100 and #102 and she very flirty with him, clearly interested in him. It wouldn't be until Justice League of America #161 however, that Zatanna would join the League but there is no longer any hints of them having feelings for each other. They are written as just colleagues.
That is until Justice League of America #187, at this point in continuity, Barry thinks Iris is dead. He and Zatanna have a heart to heart where he inadvertently inspires her to change to a costume that represents herself rather than costume that's a tribute to her father or her mother. Their talks leads to them having dinner on the Watchtower, the story cuts away just as Zatanna pulls down Barry's mask. The writer clearly intended for them to have slept together in this scene but every other mention of it had both of them claim that they were just "talking". So yes, Zatanna and Barry "talked" and "talked" all night on the Watchtower with Barry saying he hasn't "talked" to a girl as much as he has to Zatanna since college, to the point where Zatanna was exhausted when she came back to her manor leading her to being caught by the villain along with the other Leaguers sans Barry who was able figure out that Zatanna has been replaced by a doppleganger because he is the only who saw her in her new costume and out of it.
The two continued to be awkward ducklings until #206 where Zatanna was elected League chairwoman. Barry and Zee settle things and decides to remain as friends.
The interesting thing is how things started off with Zatanna as this young ingenue interested in this guy who was already in a relationship but by the time Barry becomes "available" and interested in a relationship, they both end up deciding that they are better off as friends.
I think in Barry's own comic he had started dating Fiona at the time and of course he would later learn than Iris was alive and not dead.
They are still sometimes written as flirty like 2015 Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse comic written by Dan Abnett. While the story itself may not be in continuity, the characterization still felt true to the characters "classic" selves. Also they were shown dating in the Harley Quinn show's Valentines Day episode and the shot of them together was pulled straight from the comic where they hooked up talked all night.
(I'm surprised the Flash tv show didn't utilize Zatanna. She seems perfect for that setting.)
Anyway, Barry is one of the most straight laced superheroes there is and clearly not a "bad boy" or a bad choice.
Dale Gunn: He first appeared in Justice League of America (Vol 1) Annual #2 which kicked off the Justice League Detroit era which was when Aquaman disbanded the League and formed a new one largely consisting of new members with some mainstays from the old League like Zatanna.
Dale was the maintenance man of the new HQ plus father figure to the League's newest member, Hank Heywood III / Steel.
While Dale himself was a nice and honorable man, I don't understand why the writer had both Zatanna and Vixen lusting after him and competing for his affection. I would have liked to see Zee and Vixen's friendship without them being caught in a love triangle. Anyway, Vixen won their competition as Dale chose her and the romance is never mentioned and brought up again.
One recurring pattern with Zatanna's love interests is that they tend to be either an author self insert or they are one of the authors favourite characters.
Blue Devil / Daniel Cassidy: In Blue Devil's own series, Zatanna was one of the people whom Dan went to help him transform back into human. Dan flirts with her initially but after the climatic battle, when she kisses him, encourages him to be a hero and even tells him to call her he is suddenly totally oblivious to her interest in him.
Dan being a complete idiot aside, he is one of the few love interests who complements her the best. He is more of a physical fighter and not an expert on magic while Zatanna is the mage who is knowledgeable about magic. Dan clearly sees magic as something frightening and a curse whereas Zatanna sees magic as something exciting, fun and a bright spot in her life.
While it can be argued that the writers had Zatanna kiss Blue Devil because the latter is their pet, there is some undeniable chemistry and the two of them went through a lot of shit prior to that kiss. Also pulling down his horns to kiss him is cute.
Getting back to the main point of the write up, Dan is an every man and while he has made mistakes, he is not a morally ambiguous or a bad boy.
Joshua: From Zatanna: Come Together mini series. Though he first appeared in the mini series, it's mentioned that they have known each other since college and were perhaps childhood friends. Joshua was a musician. His mother is a witch and servers as a mentor to Zatanna in the story and she winds up sacrificing herself to help Zatanna save San Francisco.
The two are shown to be on good terms even after Marsha's (Joshua's mother) death but sadly, he never appeared after this mini.
Personally, I think he is one of her best love interests. He is not a character from a separate franchise whom crossed over to her book. The only downside is he is a civilian so like Jeff Sloan he could easily end up being a helpless dude-in-distress but given that Joshua's mom was magic, it's possible for him to develop abilities that would allow him to join Zatanna on her adventures.
Zatanna also dated Ron in the mini series but broke up with him. He came across as a jerk.
Batman: Finally, we have the first contender on this list who can be considered a 'bad boy' or a walking 'red flag'.
There is a lot of debate about this pairing; some people are understandably burned out by all the Batman books and Batman's dominant presence in the DCU. Some fans grew up with Young Justice and prefer Zatanna to be with Dick and think the BatZee pairing gets in the way. Some even argue that their entire relationship is a retcon.
What I think a lot of folks miss is that Dini had written comics starring Zatanna prior to his Detective Comics without mentioning Batman at all. The comic was called 'Everyday Magic'. The only reason why he introduced the idea of Batman and Zatanna being childhood friends and Zatara training Bruce (an idea he played around in B:TAS) was so he could repair the damage that Identity Crisis did to their friendship by having Zatanna wipe Batman's mind.
The only reason IdC was even able to damage their friendship was because it's something that already existed before Dini even joined DC.
Still, he depicted them as choosing to remain as just friends. They are two people who dated when they were young but are friends as adults and they still help each other out. She understands him in a way most other Leaguers can't since she met him when he was still training.
I also think writers who picked up the BatZee relationship after Dini, emphasize the relationship way more than Dini ever did. In the comics, Dini kept the BatZee stories relegated to a few story arcs during his runs on 'Tec and 'Streets of Gotham'. Batman was barely mentioned in his 2011 Zatanna ongoing or even in the Black Canary/Zatanna: Bloodspell OGN he wrote.
Dale Colton: Dale was a detective in Dini's 2011 Zatanna run. Zatanna is interested in him but keeps it hidden. We later learn that >! he is the son of the main villain of the run; Brother Night !< but unfortunately the title was cancelled and then the Nu52 reboot happened.
Still, there is nothing about Dale's character in the brief time we saw him which makes him a "bad boy".
In Everyday Magic, we get a montage of Zee going on dates with multiple guys and turning them down and reprimanding them when they try to take advantage of her powers. She sleeps with a guy named Hal (no not Jordan) in the story but he is just a regular, nice guy.
So overall, despite the meme there are very few actual "bad boys" on the list and the claim that "Zatanna has shit taste in men and she is hopelessly obsessed with them to the point of self destruction". She has dated a lot of men and some of them were duds.
Personally, I think the whole "Zatanna is into bad boys" thing, along with making her weak, inexperienced and isolating her from her own supporting cast and other hero friends (sans Batman) is just another way to justify keeping her tied to John Contantine.
Anyway, this turned out longer than I expected. Hope it was a good read. :)