DC's catalog is filled to the brim with characters who haven't gotten their due in various forms, even in the comic universe itself. One of those characters is the fortune teller Madame Xanadu.
For decades, her origins remained a mystery with the character relegated to the background of other character's titles. However, writer Matt Wagner took this character and gave audiences not only her origin but more depth and characterization than any other writer before or since.
Let's explore the Eisner nominated series and what made it such a character defining run.
1. Madame Xanadu Before Wagner's Series
Madame Xanadu made her first appearance in Doorway to Nightmare #1, with her creators being writer David Michelinie and artist Michael William Kaluta. Madame Xanadu wasn't the main character of this comic or her following appearances in this title, but most of her defining character traits were introduced in this series, such as her being a powerful clairvoyant.
After the cancellation of Doorway to Nightmare, Madame Xanadu was relegated to the background of other character's comics and storylines, in particular that of the Spectre. She was part of the ongoing supporting cast in the 1980s run on Spectre written by Doug Moench and drawn by a slew of artists, where in the first issue she brought the Spectre back from oblivion after the events of the crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. While not my favorite run on the character, the 1980s Spectre series did pave the way for its successor series in the 1990s which was written by John Ostrander and drawn by Tom Mandrake.
I've mentioned this series as being one of my favorite comics of all time in past articles, and while the writing and art are sublime, the character work was really fascinating. Madame Xanadu's character was given not necessarily an origin, but more light was shed on her character. Plus, she was given more stakes within these storylines, such as the first story arc with the serial killer The Reaver, where she momentarily stole the powers of the Spectre before willingly giving them back after seeing the fault in her methods of dulling out justice with those powers.
She made more appearances in the 1990s Spectre run and in other comics, but it wasn't until 2008 that Madame Xanadu would headline her own title. Madame Xanadu has made appearances after her series, such as being the main catalyst behind the creation of Justice League Dark during the New 52 initiative in 2011, and was a founding member of one of the main characters of the team The Demon Knights.
2. Breakdown of Madame Xanadu Series
Madame Xanadu was written by the dynamic Matt Wagner and art by Amy Reeder Hadley, Michael William Kaluta, Joelle Jones, and many others. The series ran for 29 issues between 2008 and 2011 under the DC Vertigo imprint.
The series follows Xanadu throughout her centuries-long life, from her early beginnings during the time of King Arthur and Merlin, until New York during the 1960s. The series had four volumes collecting certain issues from the run, and each volume contained the entirety of each story arc from beginning to end.
The first volume showed Xanadu, whose real name was Nimue Inwudu, as a decadent of Atlanteans known as the Elder Folk, witnessing the fall of Camelot by the hand of her elder sister, Morgaine Le Fay. The Phantom Stranger, another DC character, made his presence known to Nimue and compelled her to betray the great wizard Merlin, who was also her lover. Because of her actions, Merlin stripped Nimue of her magical powers, resulting in her losing her connection to her home and her people among the forests of Camelot.
These events occurred within the first couple of issues of the series, and each issue after this until issue #10 saw her involved in different historical events and people, such as being a part of the court of Kublai Khan, the French Revolution, and the Spanish Inquisition, just to name a few. Throughout this first arc, Nimue, now renamed Xanadu, encounters the elusive Phantom Stranger manipulating events in order to achieve some semblance of balance in the universe, even if his machinations cause the deaths of innocents, which Xanadu tries, and fails, to stop. It all leads to her final confrontations with the Phantom Stranger in 1940s New York, which results in the rise of an old power in the universe.
I'll expand further in the next section on the first arc and the next arcs, but after the conclusion of the first arc, Xanadu becomes a clairvoyant in New York (which ties back to her early appearances) and the next story arcs have her dealing with clients with supernatural related problems she tries to solve, which lasts until the series' conclusion.
Why Madame Xanadu is a must read
Over the years, my interests in things related to the supernatural have grown, and DC Comics has many characters and stories that have scratched that itch (such as the 1990's Spectre run), but Madame Xanadu scratched it in ways I didn't think possible.
Before reading this series, I knew about the character from her appearances in the Spectre comics, and while she was interesting, I never saw her as leading her own series. However, Wagner's take on the character was just ingenious and engrossing, showing her from her earliest point to where audiences know her from in the present.
Matt Wagner has become one of my favorite writers in comics, and this series just adds to my overall enjoyment of his work. The way he incorporates other mystical characters from across the DC Universe was awesome and unexpected, such as Etrigan the Demon, Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics, and many more. If I were to critique this comic, I'd say the first story arc with Xanadu's encounters with the Phantom Stranger was the strongest arc, while the rest of the stories were good but not as strong.
If you're looking for a deep dive into the magical side of DC with a mature edge, then look no further than Matt Wagner's Madame Xanadu, where the price of living comes at a steep cost.