Comic Info
Comic Name: Madame Xanadu
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: Michael Wm. Kaluta
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2010
Madame Xanadu #12
Reprints Madame Xanadu #11-15 (July 2009-November 2009). It is New York City in 1940s. In a small shop in Greenwich Village, Madame Xanadu finds herself investigating a supernatural killer who seems to be hunting a group of men. As Madame Xanadu discovers herself tied to a strange partner called the Sandman, she also finds herself remembering her past…and a lost love during the Inquisition.
Written by Matt Wagner, Madame Xanadu Volume 2: Exodus Noir is a DC Comics series published under the Vertigo imprint. Following Madame Xanadu Volume 1: Disenchanted, the series features artwork by Michael Wm. Kaluta.
Madame Xanadu 1: Disenchanted was set-up for the series, and this feels like the meat of the series. Much like Wagner’s Sandman Mystery Theater, the series seems to be setting up a series of rolling mysteries…and it is appropriate that Wagner’s character the Sandman shows up for it.
I liked The Sandman Mystery Theater a lot. The series was fun and different than a lot of the comics on the market, and Madame Xanadu is in the same vein. This is a nice trip back to the old series and feels like you really are getting the Sandman Mystery Theater but from a different angle. It is a fun ride.
Madame Xanadu #13
The secondary storyline involving Madame Xanadu and her lover during the Spanish Inquisition is also fun. The fact that Madame Xanadu has lived for centuries leaves room for great exploration, and I’m glad Wagner hasn’t forgotten it in this volume and builds on the storylines he set up in the first volume.
I really liked the art for Madame Xanadu 1: Disenchanted, but I don’t know that it would have worked for this story. With a more of a pulp feel, this volume has a pulp style. It feels in line with Sandman Mystery Theater and the story.
Madame Xanadu 2: Exodus Noir continues to develop as a good series. I like what Wagner is doing with the character and the storytelling and look forward to see wher it is going. Madame Xanadu 2: Exodus Noir was followed by Madame Xanadu 3: Broken House of Cards.
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