Madame Xanadu #22 – Review

by Matt Wagner (writer), Amy Reeder Hadley (pencils), Richard Friend (inks), Guy Major (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: Madame Xanadu and Detective Jones confront Morganna, only to discover her nefarious plot.

What’s Good: I feel like every one of my reviews of an Amy Reeder Hadley illustrated issue has to include a mandatory tribute for her work. Her high quality art is nothing if not consistent in its excellence.  Once again, Hadley does awesome work this month.  Morganna looks certifiably insane, Jones looks suitably inhuman when unleashing his powers, and the action is great, always carrying a kind of whimsical/slapstick feel.  Hadley’s work is always full of life and a kind of, for lack of a better word, happiness that permeates every panel.  For instance, even something like the grotesque, purple exploding cultists she draws this month carries a wink of comedy, regardless of the brutal circumstances.  As usual, Hadley also manages to slip in a pair of really fun, creative layouts.

Wagner’s script once again makes fantastic use of his supporting characters.  Morganna, for instance, has never been a more effective villain.  Wagner gives her a kind of hedonistic abandon, turning the character into a kind of mystic DC Caligula.  Her expressions of boredom and raving madness are perfectly accompanied by her merciless actions and when she makes two of her slaves fight to the death for her amusement, it’s a bit of a laugh.  Full of excess and caring not a whit for human life, she’s a perfect, classic sort of villain that fits the tone of the book wonderfully.

Madame Xanadu #21 – Review

by Matt Wagner (writer), Amy Reeder Hadley (pencils), Richard Friend (inks), Guy Major (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: Madame Xanadu and Detective John Jones scrap with some mobsters over an ancient artifact.

What’s Good: This is Amy Reeder Hadley’s book as much as it is Wagner’s, perhaps moreso.  I’m reminded of this fact each time she returns to the comic.  Everything Hadley draws just has such a life and wonder to it.  Her art is the sort that makes a comic feel so lovable that you want to try your absolute damndest to like the book she’s working on.  The characters look great, the facial expressions are always a joy, and no detail is sacrificed despite the Japanese influence, which only ever remains an influence.  I loved the art on this book.  It’s not Hadley’s best issue, but even a standard issue by her is a blast.  She also manages a double-page spread that is very cool as far as layout goes, with the narrative flow following Xanadu’s tarot card reading.

Thankfully, Wagner’s script doesn’t fall far behind Hadley’s art.  DCU fans will be thrilled to know that there’s a lot more John Jones in this comic and we’re only now getting some hints as to his true identity. It’s hard to get over the fact that the Martian Manhunter is in Madame Xanadu, but it works really, really well and is pretty hard not to go all fanboy over.  The awkward and cold, yet clearly amicable tone of his dialogue is there, and we also catch glimpses of his super-strength and invulnerability in action.  Seeing Xanadu puzzle over how his powers are not magically based is a wonderful little moment; I’ve always enjoyed when readers know something that the characters do not.  The dynamic Jones shares with Xanadu is also oddly funny and intimate, much as is the case in many quality comics in which the Martian Manhunter is a part.  The combined awkwardness and their shared weirdness is subtle, but enjoyable.

Surprisingly, the mobsters, who could’ve been the typical faceless thugs, are written with great comic zest.  It’s clear that Wagner was having an absolute ball writing the dialogue for these guys.  Between the over the top Italiano mafia slang and accent, to the back and forth exchange of “ball-busting” insults/jokes between bosses, this stuff was all gold.  All of the insults were funny, as was the very sight of such stone-cold killers behaving in such a childish manner.