Madam Fatal
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Madam Fatal is a fictional character and a
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
active during the
Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...
. Madam Fatal was created and originally illustrated by artist/writer
Art Pinajian Arthur A. (Art) Pinajian was an Armenian American comic book writer.Pinajian entry
Lambiek Comi ...
and the debut of the character was in the ''
Crack Comics ''Crack Comics'' is an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It featured such characters as The Clock, Black Condor, Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Madame Fatal, Jane Arden, Molly the ...
'' #1 (May 1940), a crime/detective
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
series published by
Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...
. Madam Fatal continued as a feature in that title but when the character was not well received, Madam Fatal made a last appearance in #22 (March 1942). The character later appeared in some publications by
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
when DC Comics bought the rights to the character in 1956, along with a bulk buy of all Quality Comic's characters, although Madam Fatal has not been seen much since except a few brief appearances and passing mentions by other comic book characters. Madam Fatal is notable for being a male superhero who dressed up as an elderly woman and as such is the first
cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...
hero. The original incarnation of the
Red Tornado Red Tornado is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As the second character to assume the identity of Red Tornado, he is the result of an android being merged with a sentient tornado by T.O. Morrow. ...
would become the first cross-dressing heroine later that year.


Fictional character biography

"She" was actually Richard Stanton, a handsome, pipe-smoking, dapper, middle-aged blonde Caucasian man who is exceptionally intelligent and intuitive, as well as being at the peak of his physical abilities. He had made a vast fortune successfully playing the
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange a ...
of the late 1920s, a time of economic unrest, which incurred the jealousy of many of those close to him. In his private life, Stanton was also a widower and a single father, being the parent of a two-year-old (unnamed) girl. As well as being a successful financial investor, Stanton is also a lover of theatrics and a world-famous stage, theatre, radio and film actor living in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, until his wealthy and prominent celebrity status brought unwanted attention from costumed villains. Stanton's daughter was kidnapped by them and the police were unable to uncover their identities, but Stanton was, relying on his wits and superior investigative skills. As such, Stanton decided to take matters into his own hands after he deduced that the leader of the gang was John Carver, a crime kingpin who had been running extortion rackets in various cities. As a civilian, Stanton had already been searching for Carver for eight years, after a fight they had and the threats that Carver had made. Prior to this, Carver had been the first man to love Stanton's late wife, and Carver had been jilted when she chose Stanton instead. After the kidnapping of Stanton's daughter, and when the police got nowhere, Stanton's wife was riddled with guilt as it was her previous connection with Carver which had brought about the whole scenario. She died of a broken heart. Stanton was able to infiltrate the John Carver gang due to his convincing acting and stage disguise as an old, helpless, red-cloaked woman with a yellow walking cane which doubled as a sly
quarterstaff A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European polearm, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period. The term is generally accepted to refer to a s ...
. Once inside their lair Stanton then used his natural athleticism and physical abilities to wipe out the unsuspecting gang, and revealed his true identity to Carver. In the ensuing fight, Carver (a formidable fighter himself) knocked Stanton to the ground and attempted to shoot him with a revolver, but Stanton quickly pulled out a rug from underneath Carver, tripping him up, and Carver accidentally shot himself instead. In his dying breaths, the crime kingpin told Stanton his daughter was still alive, although held captive by another villain. He never revealed who before dying. Stanton decided to retire from acting and continue down the path of a crime-fighter and bring other villains to justice, inspired by his first success, adopting the alter-ego Madam Fatal. Stanton made his last appearance on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
on May 1, 1930, as an old woman, which garnered Stanton praise and acclaim from the audience. After that he disappeared from public view altogether and became "Madam Fatal" full-time. Stanton would also use the alternate identity to attempt to locate his captive daughter, whom Carver had passed on to other villains. When the character rights were sold to DC Comics and DC decided not to continue the character, this plot point was not resolved contemporaneously, and it was not revealed which villain was actually holding Stanton's daughter until ''
The Shade The Shade (Richard Swift) is a comic book character developed in the 1940s for National Comics, first appearing in the pages of ''Flash Comics'' in a story titled "The Man Who Commanded the Night", scripted by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Hal ...
'' #4 in 2012. The old woman disguise was aided strongly by his expert acting skills, being a former professional actor and female impersonator. This same disguise also often raised Stanton above suspicion, and made him an expert in confidence trickery, infiltration, stealth, information gathering, and melting anonymously into crowds. Madam Fatal was also aided on occasion by his pet
parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
, Hamlet, his only connection to his previous life. Hamlet was named so because he was intelligent enough to recite
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, and would inspire and help Stanton remember important information.


Powers and abilities

Although Stanton had no actual super powers to speak of, he was a strong, agile and athletic man at his physical peak and a skilled fighter with a powerful punch. He had a high level of intelligence and intuition which aided his investigative abilities and locating criminals. Madam Fatal often came up against criminal masterminds and supervillains such as Doctor Prowl (a black-masked, hat-wearing gentlemanly murderer with metal claws) and the Jester (a violent clown-themed thief who laughs at death) and their henchmen. However, Madam Fatal's disguise gave him an edge in physical combat as his foes would underestimate his strength and speed. Madam Fatal's yellow walking cane was also a formidable weapon in Stanton's hands as he was adept at using
the cane as a weapon ''The Cane as a Weapon'' is a book by Andrew Chase Cunningham presenting a concise system of self defense making use of a walking stick or umbrella. It was first published in 1912 in the United States. Background Andrew Chase Cunningham was bo ...
.


Controversy and ridicule

Madam Fatal was never a popular character given the cross-dressing angle, which is perhaps part of the reason why DC Comics decided not to further run with the character and limited him to light-hearted jibes made by other comic book heroes. The character has often been ridiculed, such as in an article on
Cracked.com Cracked.com is an American website that was based on ''Cracked'' magazine. It was founded in 2005 by Jack O'Brien.Axon, SamuelStreamy Awards 2010: Here Are the Winners ''Mashable''. April 11, 2010. In 2007, Cracked had a couple of hundred thou ...
which listed the character as one of the "7 crappiest super heroes in comic book history".


Madam Fatal at DC Comics

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
acquired the rights to all the former Quality Comics characters in 1956, but Madam Fatal has rarely surfaced. Outside of regular
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...
continuity,
comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
writer
Kim Deitch Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in Los Angeles, California) is an American cartoonist who was an important figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s, remaining active in the decades that followed with a variety of books and comics, somet ...
(''
Hollywoodland ''Hollywoodland'' is a 2006 American mystery drama film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves ( Ben Affleck), the ...
'') did a story in 1972 that purported to be about Madam Fatal. James Robinson and Paul Smith featured Madam Fatal in a cameo in 1993's '' The Golden Age'' #4. The character appears in a panel surrounded by the
Fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...
, and the
Gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...
, who all appear to be courting the cross-dressing hero while other characters (including
Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
,
Harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...
, and the Psycho-Pirate) stand around giggling (apparently knowing Madam Fatal's true gender). In a scene in '' JSA'' #1 (Aug. 1999) depicting the funeral of the first
Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character originating in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The San ...
,
Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
wonders whether his own funeral will "be like the time they buried Madam Fatal here, and no one turned up for the funeral but the touring cast of '' La Cage aux Folles''?" James Robinson gives the character a prominent role in ''
The Shade The Shade (Richard Swift) is a comic book character developed in the 1940s for National Comics, first appearing in the pages of ''Flash Comics'' in a story titled "The Man Who Commanded the Night", scripted by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Hal ...
'' #4 (2012), set in 1944. In this issue Madam Fatal finally learns the location of his daughter.


See also

* The novel ''
Madame Doubtfire ''Madame Doubtfire'', known as ''Alias Madame Doubtfire'' in the United States, is a 1987 novel written by English author Anne Fine for teenage and young adult audiences. The novel is based on a family with divorced parents. Well received upon i ...
'' and subsequent comedy film adaptation


References


External links


Read the MF stories from ''Crack Comics'' #s 1 & 3
{{GoldenAge Golden Age superheroes Comics characters introduced in 1940 DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics LGBTQ superheroes DC Comics martial artists Fictional actors Fictional businesspeople Fictional socialites Quality Comics superheroes Vigilante characters in comics Fictional LGBTQ women