Madame Xanadu Vol. 1: Disenchanted

DC/Veritgo

Written by Matt Wagner; Art by Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend; Cover by Amy Reeder Hadley

Jul 26, 2009 Web Exclusive By Kyle Lemmon

Madame Xanadu Vol. 1: Disenchanted collects the inaugural ten-issue run of Vertigo's latest monthly series. Writer Matt Wagner (TRINITY, Grendel, Mage), artist Richard Friend (#3-10) and the meteoric Fool's Gold creator/illustrator Amy Reeder Hadley (#1-2) helm the mesmeric and captivating trade. Unsurprisingly, the facial structures and body shapes of Madame Xanadu's characters somewhat resemble Hadley's popular 2006 English-language Manga but Friend's less-melodramatic palette soon reigns after a two-issue exposition.

Wagner's taut narrative revolves around the interplay between Xanadu's history-altering powers and an investigation of inner demons. This collection essentially reveals Madame Xanadu's centuries-spanning origin from Camelot, Kubla Khan's court and 1940s New York City. The way the storyline is set up, the reader is often carried off to the next exotic setting before they can settle into their new surroundings. This keeps the middle act from sagging though. Jared K. Fletcher's lettering is a highlight as well. He uncannily merges his art with the character's personalities, especially in issues #4 and #6.

Though wholly fresh, Vertigo's Xanadu story is nowhere near novel. Cover artist Michael William Kaluta and writers David Michelinie and Val Mayerik originally designed the first comic book incarnation from Kaluta's unnamed host (later known as Charity in Starman) from the DC Comics mystery title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. Even further back, the female heroine stems from the mythical nymph Nimue, made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's anthology of French and English romances, Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur).

Despite all that heritage to live up to, Wagner's yarn posseses a healthy and inspired slant on Nimue Inwudu's origin tale. There are plenty of things to admire here for adventure comic lovers. Xanadu has supernatural sensitivity (via her tarot cards) for the occult and magical phenomena and she takes out plenty of demons. There's also a hefty feminist subtext that many readers will find articulate and discreet.

It's also encouraging and extremely rare to see DC and Vertigo characters sharing the same panels. Green Lantern, The Demon Etrigan, Zatara, The Spectre, Phantom Stranger, Neil Gaiman's Death and many others make guest appearances. Similar to the House of Mystery reboot before it, Disenchanted is a no-frills page turner. (www.dccomics.com/vertigo)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 8/10