Madame Xanadu
| Madame Xanadu | |
|---|---|
|
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Doorway to Nightmare #1, (February 1978) |
| Created by |
David Michelinie (writer) Val Mayerik (artist) Michael William Kaluta (character design) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Nimue Inwudu |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Team affiliations |
Sentinels of Magic Demon Knights Justice League Dark |
| Partnerships | Spectre |
| Abilities | Precognition, sense and interpret magical forces, Immortality |
Madame Xanadu is a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
The character debuted in Doorway to Nightmare #1, (February 1978). The character was designed by cover artist Michael William Kaluta at the request of Joe Orlando (editor), based on Kaluta's unnamed host character (later known as Charity in the pages of Starman) from the DC Comics mystery title Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion (seen only on that title's indicia page) and the person of Cathy Ann Thiele. The original storyline was developed by David Michelinie and Val Mayerik.
Doorway to Nightmare, introduced in 1978, was the last of the DC "Mystery" line of titles in the 1970s that became the forerunner of Vertigo. It did not have a consistent creative team—the intent was to create writer-artist pairings that had never occurred before, except for the cover art of Michael William Kaluta. Madame Xanadu, the star of the series, was not a host but an active participant, albeit never the main character in her stories. The Phantom Stranger was criticized heavily in letter columns for taking a similar approach. The Doorway to Nightmare strip lasted for ten issues: five in its own series, four in The Unexpected, and one issue of Madame Xanadu, which was DC's second direct sales only comic. The first issue of Madame Xanadu bore little difference from an issue of Doorway to Nightmare. There were several requests to reprint it in letter columns of The Spectre, but they were refused because that issue gave little background as to her character, although it did introduce Ishtar to the DC Universe, who dated Destruction.
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