Madame Xanadu, Volume 1: Disenchanted

After reading the Tarot Cafe series (which I didn't really enjoy all that much) I wasn't holding high hopes for the Madame Xanadu series. I bought it because of the characters association to Tarot and Magic (like a lot of things that interest me) and actually ended up enjoying it a lot. Madame has been around for a while with DC Comics since 1978 to be exact but this is the first time I have encountered her character so I can only go by what was in the Disenchanted volume, I assume that like most comic book characters there is a lot of cross overs etc with other DC Heroes. The reader is introduced to Madame Xanadu as Nimue of Celtic mythology in the time of Arthur of Camelot. Merlin, Morgana and Mordred all make an appearance. Her story continues through out humanities History in times of great change or around people of great power. Marco Polo, Jack the Ripper and Marie Antoinette all cross her path through history. This is a very cool idea and it works well. In the comic volume Madame Xanadu creates the Tarot cards as a way of accessing her psychic abilities which were taken away when Merlin curses her. The interpretations of the Tarot are well woven into the story and are correct (by popular definition) in their application which makes the comic richer. The mythology also aids in this area. The only thing that kinda annoyed me is her massive drama over 'The Stranger' but I guess there has to be a bit of drama, was just a little OTT for me. Beautiful to look at and easy and enjoyable to read I have already bought the second volume.

I was totally unfamiliar with the character Madame Xanadu when I decided to get this book. Why did I even try this book out? Two things brought me in: the Vertigo moniker and writer Matt Wagner. Vertigo has a long-standing tradition of publishing some of the more innovative comic books over the last fifteen years. The stories always have ample doses of fantasy, science fiction, mysticism, drama, and/or horror. Matt Wagner is familiar with all of those themes. I am a huge fan of his Grendel series, and like Grendel, I had heard that Madame Xanadu was a title that wasn't afraid to do things a bit differently. What I found with this book was a wonderfully fresh reading experience. Being a Marvel Comics fan, I am a hack at best when it comes to understanding characters from the DC universe. However, this book doesn't require having an encyclopedic knowledge of DC's mystical characters. The book was very straightforward and does not try to bury the reader with inane continuity or trying to add real world reason to explain the magic. Wagner and Hadley just ask for you to come along for the ride, and it's a good one. The five stories here represent one large arc which details the love/hate relationship between Madame Xanadu and the Phantom Stranger. The story is great, but the art is splendid as well. Amy Reeder Hadley is a welcome newcomer to the medium. Her art is anime and manga influenced, but don't let that scare you away. Hadley offers a mature, yet varied pallet for this comic series. Oftentimes, Vertigo books can be too dark or sketchy where art is concerned. Hadley's artwork is crisp, clear, and electric. This book is a bargain for the price and story. It really is a comic book cliche to say that this reminds me of Sandman, but it's the only book of reference that fits. If you are someone who enjoys books like John Constantine, Promethea, or Sandman, this is a great buy for you. And as good as this first arc was, the second arc is much, much better. I haven't been so taken with a new comic in ages. Enjoy!

I try out each of Vertigo's new titles, and this one has alot to offer. Matt Wagner has created an interesting character whose origin and situation are both tantalizing and open-ended. But it is the art, by Amy Reeder Hadley (and inked by Richard Friend) that makes this a stand out. Good stuff.

Cliche title, I KNOW, but all the better to remember it by. This book works on several levels. If you've never held a graphic novel in your life, then you've picked real winner to start with. Volume 1 of Madame Xanadu will take you from England in the times of King Arthur to 1930s New York City, and you will learn the origin of one of the most mysterious women from the DC Universe. Through out this book we follow Madame Xanadu's relationship with a mysterious man known only as the Stranger. Intrigued? The sublime art by Amy Reeder Hadley will win you over. However, if you're uninitiated to the DC Universe you'll miss a few Easter Eggs, such as the cameo of Jack Kirby's The Demon. Despite these "in-jokes" if you don't get them, you still have the marvelous journey to enjoy. For those of us that do know all the small things, they enrich the experience and bring a little smile knowing that you know what the Stranger knows, but Madame Xanadu doesn't. For certain, Matt Wagner has penned the definitive origin of Madame Xanadu, and if you only buy this book and nothing more you'll have another fantastic complete story in your collection. No need to buy Volume 2. Now, if you've never bought a Vertigo book and are worried about what "mature" content you will see, this book is close to tame. There is some bloodshed, one person gets decapitated, and you see MX's nipple. There is one page involving drug use. There is a short rape scene, but you see no genitals, only a woman's nipples. The gruesomest murder of Jack the Ripper is also not particularly shocking. The real mature content is the actions of the Stranger, which I wont spoil. Madame Xanadu is one of those characters that can get very far with just their origin story. If you're one of those "wait-for-the-trade" readers then this is a book you've been waiting for.

Originally appearing as the host/semi-protagonist of one of DC's 1970s mystery titles, Madame Xanadu has since acquired a fairly lengthy backstory, some parts of which don't especially jibe. Her gimmick is the use of magic Tarot cards to predict the future, but her origin was later given as being the Arthurian sorceress Nimue, the (traditionally) villain who caused the downfall of Camelot by entrapping Merlin. She has bounced around through the DC Universe over the years, generally in a supporting role, until now, when, as occasionally happens with low-tier DC characters with a fantastical bent, she was handed over to the more adult Vertigo imprint for a revamp. And, in the hands of writer Matt Wagner (probably best known for his creator-owned "Grendel" projects) and newcomer artist Amy Reeder Hadley, it's quite a success. Madame Xanadu is the sort of character that Vertigo comics can get a lot of mileage out of: at least two thousand years old, which provides an almost limitless canvas for stories, with a background in fantasy (one of the genres that Vertigo built its name on with projects like "The Sandman"). However, this could be labelled a regular DC title without changing much (covering up some brief nudity here and there would probably be the worst of it), and, in a lot of respects, this series is a callback to the earliest days of DC's more mature comics, before Vertigo had become a clearly demarcated entity (a demarcation this series more or less ignores, with Wagner admitting to going ahead and including elements from DC proper without regard to editors). Much like Alan Moore's "Swamp Thing" and Gaiman's aforementioned "The Sandman", this series plies the edges of the DCU, lightly touching on aspects of more mainstream characters. It's quite refreshing to see this older formula dusted off and so well-employed. This trade collects the first ten issues of the run, broken up into five two-part stories, each set in a different era: the series begins with a retelling of Madame Xanadu's origin in Arthurian times, the principle goal of which is to give a good reason to why she did what she did to Merlin (in a Zimmer-Bradley-esque fashion). After that, we visit such locales as the actual Xanadu (hence, the name) in the halcyon days of Kubla Khan, the French Revolution, London in the time of Jack the Ripper, and America in the late 1930s, just as the age of superheroes is beginning. The main element linking all these is Xanadu's interactions with the Phantom Stranger, another DC mystery character. Fans of "The Sandman" will no doubt be interested to hear that one of the Endless puts in an appearance as well. All of this is illustrated by Reeder Hadley, whose art is absolutely fabulous. This is a bargain at around $10 (subtract shipping), highly recommended.