Zatanna is a streetwise city magician in Jewel of Gravesend preview

(Image credit: DC)


DC has unveiled a new look at the cover and some interior pages from its upcoming YA graphic novel Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend from writer Alys Arden and artist Jacqueline de Leon.

(Image credit: DC)

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend recasts the long-running DC character, who traditionally casts magic spells by speaking her desired outcomes backwards, as a quirky, streetwise magician who will come to learn the secret history of her family's magical legacy.

"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," reads DC's description of Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend.

"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," it continues. "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. "

The story marks Arden's first comic book work, and incorporates aspects of Arden's history as a street performer and traveler.

Zatanna has been part of the DC Universe since the 60s, but her father Zatara actually debuted all the way back in 1938's Action Comics #1 – the same comic book in which Superman gave rise to the classic notion of superheroes.

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend is due out on April 13, 2021.

Here's a gallery of preview pages:

 

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George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)