By Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley, Richard Friend & various (DC/Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2291-8 (TPB)
After the Vertigo imprint carefully aligned a number of DC properties beyond an iron curtain of sophisticated suspense and grown-up tale telling, in the early 21st century Matt Wagner was at the forefront of reuniting the divided camps. He successfully blurred the boundaries between mainstream DC continuity and the story-driven experimentation of mature, independent Vertigo. Although it still drives continuity mavens raving bonkers, stuff like this graphic gold – a superbly fetching yarn which tells a stand-alone tale for newcomers whilst also being a smart piece of historical in-filling for dedicated readers – is steeped in the arcane magical lore of DC’s multiverse, allowing old guard readers to pick and mix with spectacular effect. This sort of subtle side saga eventually led to the full integration of storylines in the “New 52” and after…
Collecting the first 10 issues of the lovely, thoughtful monthly comic that was the third volume of Madame Xanadu, Disenchanted finally provided an origin for one of the most mysterious characters in the company’s pantheon, and made her a crucial connection and lynchpin in the development of a number of the company’s biggest stars.
Madame Xanadu originally debuted in Doorway to Nightmare #1 (cover-dated February 1978): one of DC’s last 1970’s mystery stable, and a rare deviation from the standard anthology format. As designed by Michael William Kaluta & Joe Orlando, she was a wilfully enigmatic but benign tarot reader who became (peripherally) involved in the supernatural adventures of her clients.
The incarnation ended after only five issues although four further tales appeared in The Unexpected, and one last solo adventure was released as a one-shot billed as DC’s second “Direct Sales only” title.
After lurking in the musty, magical corners of the DCU for decades, she finally got another shot at the limelight. It was well worth the wait.
In the final days of Camelot, the fairy Nimue, Mistress of the Sacred Grove and sister to the Lady of the Lake and haughty Morgana, is disturbed by growing chaos in the land. However, when the puissant clairvoyant is unexpectedly visited by a Stranger who urges her to act on her visions, she is proud and reluctant, and drives him away.
Meanwhile, her lover Merlin is making dire preparations for inevitable battle, and lets his loving mask slip. His dalliance with her is clearly exposed as mere pretence to obtain her secrets of immortality…
As Camelot falls and the land burns, Merlin summons a demon from Hell to protect him and leaves it loose after the castle falls. The stranger returns, urging Nimue to beware Merlin’s intentions, but although she is wary of the wizard, she will not believe him capable of harming her.
She learns otherwise almost too late, and seeks to bind Merlin in a magical snare, but the wizard’s retaliation is terrible as – with his last vestige of power – he destroys her enchanted nature. With her potions, she will still know magic, but never again will she be magical…
Centuries later she is seer for mighty Kublai Khan when the stranger appears again: guiding the expedition conveying Marco Polo to his heady destiny. Once again, the enigma’s warnings are unwelcome but true, and again Nimue’s complacent sheltered life and innocent friends suffer because she will not listen.
She departs, painfully aware that the Stranger believes he serves a purpose more important than innocent lives. When she confronts him he vanishes – as always – like a Phantom…
Time marches on: in France, she advises Marie Antoinette, both before and after she is dragged to the Bastille, and begs the ubiquitous stranger to save the tragic queen to no avail. When she finally returns to England she hunts Jack the Ripper, unable to fathom how the stranger can believe any cause more important than stopping such a monster. The episodic epic pauses for now in 1930s New York, during the fleeting moments before masked avengers and costumed supermen burst onto the world stage. Here Nimue finally discovers what the stranger’s mission is, learning how her ancient antics shaped it…
Despite hosting a huge coterie of magical guest-stars, from Etrigan to Zatarra to Death of the Endless and delightfully disclosing close ties to key moments of DC’s shared history, this is a fabulous, glorious, romantic, scary stand-alone tragedy starring one of the most resilient women in comics, and a classic long overdue for revival and one that any fervid fantasy fan and newcomer to comics could easily read… and really must.
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