The Runic Review: Madame Xanadu #11 (DC Vertigo) By John H

For the love of... Magic? Or how to be at the right place in the right...Time?

I LOVE magic, as well as those who practice it: The Illusionists, the prestidigitators, the odd mythical hermits, and even those crafty witches. If any of these terms are remotely familiar to you then you understand me. With a wave of a hand, a few oddly mumbled syllables and flash of light, anything seems possible. And what I and others like myself get from these occult gestures feels powerful, yet somewhat addictive! That is kind of why I am here, to tell you about adventures I have read and will be reading, and perhaps interest you enough to partake of travels of your own. My latest travel into the mystical has led me to a somewhat obscure character set in the DC Vertigo Universe named Madame Xanadu.




Without giving too much away about the previous issues in this series, I’d like to showcase a bit of what I love about these comics. We start as most myths do in Camelot, where the usual tale is unfolding. From there we begin to see the legacy and perhaps a bit of what the future holds for our tempestuous little nymph. If you are like me, and you love hints at things to come, then you will be pleasantly surprised as Madam Xanadu is chock full of them! From the reign of Kublai Khan in Ancient Cathay, we see her crafting the first tarot deck from syllables of her long dead ancient tongue.

Also, in what I think is a tip of the cap to the Golden Age Green Lantern mythology, we observe young Marco Polo being given a jade colored oil lamp containing vast amounts of mystical energy. As we continue to travel down through the ages, we see Madame Xanadu living through the volatile French Revolution, where she encounters an Aspect of Death, who grants her a gift and a warning. Later on, during the dreadful era of London’s Industrial Revolution, we bear witness to the lurking horror of Jack the Ripper, who is being used as a tool for the good of humanity. Finally, the wanton decadence of the previous century’s Roaring Twenties, where our heroine is finding her place amongst the agents of Order and Chaos.

Madame Xanadu #11 opens to find our protagonist has set up shop in New York during the 1940’s, as an occult private eye. She seems in her rightful place. After so much tragedy in her own life, she now seems able to finally and openly be able to help others in her own unique way. Without the cries of moral uproar over her occult proclivities, she is free to help a client whose father was burned, and I mean burned, in a bad way! Although this issue isn’t as magically intense as the others of the series, nor are there any revelations of great import, I find it that it starts us off in a new direction. As if the rest of the series was an introduction which was leading us to this issue, it does a superb job of setting us in the Noir genre and leaves the reader wanting more.

8.5/10

John H