My Rating
“Dance for Two Demons”
The summer of 1981 has brought a record heatwave to New York. For most residents, the sweltering temperatures are just another distraction from the crime and corruption they deal with every day. For a heroin addict named Joseph, the heat radiating from the concrete sidewalks only intensifies his cravings. Tonight he needs to score, and before he can do that, he needs money.
Hours later on Christie Street, the desperate junkie makes either the best or worst decision of his life. Joseph stumbles through the unlocked door of a small shop marked Madame Xanadu — Advisor. The interior is dark, but the strange collection of artifacts gathered from different cultures and generations quickly catches his eye. Joseph begins calculating how much each item might bring at a local pawn shop.
Before he can pocket anything, the familiar form of Madame Xanadu emerges from behind a set of crushed velvet curtains. Joseph reaches for a weapon, but the woman’s hypnotic gaze somehow quiets the cravings tearing through his body. For perhaps the first time in years, his mind becomes clear. Now an addict must make one final decision about the direction of his life.
The following day, a young woman from Mitchell, South Dakota, arrives at the shop seeking Madame Xanadu’s help. Laura Grant explains that her Aunt Esther sought spiritual advice from a woman using the same name forty years earlier. Esther practiced witchcraft and eventually left Laura a mysterious book of spells. Laura assumes the Madame Xanadu sitting across from her must be the daughter of the woman who once advised her aunt.
But Laura Grant hasn’t traveled halfway across the country merely to discuss family history. She wants power.
Will Madame Xanadu help the ambitious young woman from South Dakota? Can a street junkie and a fledgling witch fall in love without some outside force pulling the strings? And who are the mysterious entities known as Ishtar and Tammuz?
“Falling Down to Heaven”
Four hundred years in the future, Earth’s natural resources have been depleted. In a desperate attempt to preserve the human race, mankind constructs a vast fleet of starships and abandons its dying homeworld. Humanity’s only hope lies in discovering new planets untouched by competing civilizations. Only then, they believe, can mankind thrive without the constant threat of extinction.
Eventually, the fleet discovers a lush and seemingly perfect world. The pioneers descend to the surface only to discover they are not alone. An alien civilization already calls this planet home and has done so for a thousand generations. Unfortunately, that means little to humanity’s desperate colonists. A bloody war erupts against the peaceful humanoids, nearly erasing their species from existence.
One human named Turner refuses to participate in the slaughter. He protests the invasion and will not raise a weapon against the native population. When humanity finally strips the planet of its valuable resources and the fleet leaves orbit, Turner’s own people abandon him as punishment. He is left behind to die on the world he tried to protect.
But Turner will not remain alone for long.
Will the alien couple Vte-Vorr and Atma accept a human into their dying homestead? Will Atma live long enough to witness the death of the human known as Turner? And what transformed humanity into a soulless, warring host of savages?
Review
This special one-shot edition of Madame Xanadu gives readers two very different stories. The first, “Dance for Two Demons,” takes place in contemporary 1981 New York and puts Madame Xanadu squarely in the middle of a strange supernatural tale involving drug addiction, witchcraft, sex, love and ancient deities. The backup story, “Falling Down to Heaven,” jumps roughly four hundred years into the future for a bleak science-fiction tale about humanity’s expansion into space.
Much like Doorway to Nightmare #5, released three years earlier, this book tries to tackle a surprising number of social issues within a limited number of pages. “Dance for Two Demons” provides a grim little snapshot of New York City in 1981, touching on heroin addiction, crime and sexual taboos while still delivering the supernatural weirdness I expect from Madame Xanadu. It’s an unusual mixture, but that’s exactly why it works. The story never feels like a typical superhero comic, and Madame Xanadu remains wonderfully mysterious throughout.
“Falling Down to Heaven” takes a much heavier approach. J.M. DeMatteis uses humanity’s treatment of an alien civilization as an obvious allegory for racism, colonialism and man’s willingness to destroy anyone standing between him and the resources he wants. Coming out of the economic and energy anxieties of the 1970s and early 1980s, the premise probably struck a nerve with contemporary readers. Unfortunately, DeMatteis also uses a real-world racial slur to hammer home his point. I understand what he was trying to accomplish, but the choice feels unnecessary. Why would humans living four hundred years in the future still use a slur associated with a specific twentieth-century conflict? For me, that actually weakens the allegory rather than strengthening it.
Thankfully, Marshall Rogers’ artwork and page layouts give the entire book a distinctive visual identity. The tarot-card sequence on page eight is especially creative and feels perfectly suited to Madame Xanadu. DC even included a centerfold poster, while writer Bill Kunkel provides a fascinating explanation of tarot readings and the way Madame Xanadu organizes her deck on the inside cover. Those little extras make this feel like more than another standard comic book from the spinner rack.
Overall, I’m giving Madame Xanadu #1 a five out of five stars. Both stories are strange, ambitious and willing to wander into territory that mainstream superhero comics rarely touched in 1981. Not every creative decision has aged equally well, but I was never bored. Marshall Rogers’ artwork is excellent, the supernatural elements kept me turning the pages, and Madame Xanadu herself remains one of the real hidden gems of the DC Universe.
We need more of her guidance.