Zatara

Zatara
First appearance in Action Comics #1, in which Zatara often--but not exclusively--used backwards speech to accomplish his magic.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #1 (June 1938)
Created by	Fred Guardineer
In-story information
Alter ego	Giovanni "John" Zatara
Species	Homo magi
Team affiliations	All-Star Squadron Black Lantern Corps
Supporting character of	Zatanna
Abilities	Can use magic by speaking the desired effect backwards.

Giovanni "John" Zatara is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He is a stage magician who also practices actual magic. He married Sindella, a Homo magi, and they have a daughter, Zatanna Zatara, who, like her father, is both a stage magician and a real magician.

He first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938), and was created by writer and artist Fred Guardineer.

According to writer Al Sulman, "the time came when [Fred Guardineer] didn't want to draw [the Zatara series] anymore, so the editor turned it over to my brother [Joe Sulman], and he began to draw the strip; but he had to imitate Fred Guardineer's drawing style, because the character had to look [the same], and it worked out fine."

John Zatara is introduced as a magician in various publications of DC Comics, beginning with 1938's Action Comics # 1, which also contains the first appearance of Superman. Like the very similar Mandrake the Magician, Zatara had a large East Indian as a friend/bodyguard, called Tong, to share his early adventures.

As well as being an illusionist, Zatara also had genuine magical powers (decades later ascribed to being a descendant of the Homo magi), which he focused through speaking backwards: he could do anything so long as he could describe it in sdrawkcab hceeps ("backwards speech"). This helped distinguish Zatara from the numerous Mandrake the Magician knockoffs that cluttered the comics and pulp magazines of the day, although Merlin the Magician (Quality Comics) also had this attribute, and it was also given to him by Zatara's creator, Fred Guardineer.