Madame Fatal
Encyclopedia
Madame Fatal is a fictional character
and a comic book
superhero
active during the Golden Age of Comic Books
. Madame Fatal was created and originally illustrated by artist/writer Art Pinajian
and the debut of the character was in the Crack Comics
#1 (May, 1940), a crime/detective anthology
series published by Quality Comics
. Madame Fatal continued as feature in that title but when the character was not well received, Madame Fatal made a last appearance in #22 (March, 1942).
The character later appeared in some publications by DC Comics
when DC Comics bought the rights to the character in 1956, along with a bulk buy of all Quality Comic's characters, although Madame Fatal not been seen much since except a few brief appearances and passing mentions by other comic book characters.
Madame Fatal is notable for being a male superhero who dressed up as an elderly woman and as such is the first cross-dressing
comics hero. The original incarnation of the more famous cross-dressing character, Red Tornado, later that year, would become the first cross-dressing heroine.
stock market
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
, 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, 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 red walking cane
which doubled as a sly quarterstaff
. 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 Madame Fatal. Stanton made his last appearance on Broadway
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 "Madame Fatal" full-time. Stanton would also use the alternate identity to attempt to locate his captive daughter, whom Carver had passed onto other villains. When the character rights were sold to DC Comics and DC decided not to continue the character, this plot point was never resolved, and it was never revealed which villain was actually holding Stanton's daughter.
. Madame 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 Madame Fatal's disguise gave him an edge in physical combat as his foes would underestimate his strength and speed. Madame Fatal's red walking cane was also a formidable weapon in Stanton's hands as he adept at using the cane as a weapon
.
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, inflitration, stealth, information gathering, and melting anonymously into crowds. Madame Fatal was also aided on occasion by his pet parrot
, Hamlet, his only connection to his previous life. Hamlet was named so because he was intelligent enough to recite Shakespeare, and would inspire Stanton and help Stanton remember important information.
The character has often been ridiculed, such as in a recent article on Cracked.com
which has been read well over half a million times, listed the character as one of the "7 crappiest super heroes in comic book history".
Also, the later depictions of Madame Fatal living alone, and as Stanton was a former stage actor who lived alone, many modern readers believe that the cross-dressing character was actually a thinly-disguised homosexual, though this was never expressly acknowledged in Crack Comics, nor are Pinajian's intentions known.
acquired the rights to all the former Quality Comics characters in 1956 along with a bulk buy of them all, but has yet to make use of Madame Fatal beyond a few very brief cameos and a few mere mentions that made light of the character's transvestite M.O.
Outside of regular DC Universe
continuity, comix writer Kim Deitch
(Hollywoodland
) did a story in 1972 that purported to be about Madame Fatale. But inasmuch as she did things in it that it's hard to imagine a mainstream comic book character doing, there could be some question about the character's identity in this incarnation.
James Robinson and Paul Smith featured Madam Fatal in a cameo in 1993's The Golden Age
. In The Golden Age #4, Madam Fatal appears in a panel surrounded by the Fiddler
, and the Gambler
, who all appear to be courting the cross-dressing hero while other villains (including Wildfire
, Harlequin
, and the Psycho-Pirate
) stand around giggling (apparently knowing Madam Fatal's true gender).
The most recent time Madame Fatal has been seen or even mentioned in DC Comics canon was a homosexual-based joke in 1999, yet the passing reference would seem to imply Madame Fatal's death. In a scene in JSA
#1 (August, 1999) that depicted the funeral of the first Sandman, Wildcat
wonders whether his own funeral will "be like the time they buried Madame Fatal here, and no one turned up for the funeral but the touring cast of La Cage aux Folles?" This would seem to suggest that the character of Madame Fatale is considered deceased in the DC universe
, or at least has suffered a comic book death
.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
active during the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
. Madame Fatal was created and originally illustrated by artist/writer Art Pinajian
Art pinajian
Art Pinajian was an American artist and comic book creator active from the late 1930s throughout the 1950s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was a member of the Eisner-Iger Studio in 1938-39 and of Funnies, Inc. in 1939-42...
and the debut of the character was in the Crack Comics
Crack Comics
Crack Comics was 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 Model, and Red Torpedo...
#1 (May, 1940), a crime/detective anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
series published by Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
. Madame Fatal continued as feature in that title but when the character was not well received, Madame Fatal made a last appearance in #22 (March, 1942).
The character later appeared in some publications by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
when DC Comics bought the rights to the character in 1956, along with a bulk buy of all Quality Comic's characters, although Madame Fatal not been seen much since except a few brief appearances and passing mentions by other comic book characters.
Madame 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
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
comics hero. The original incarnation of the more famous cross-dressing character, Red Tornado, later that year, would become the first cross-dressing heroine.
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 StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
of the late 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
, 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
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
living in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, 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, 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
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
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 red walking cane
Stick fighting
Stick fighting is a generic term for martial arts which use simple long slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden 'sticks' for fighting such as a staff, cane, walking stick, baton or similar....
which doubled as a sly quarterstaff
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
. 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 Madame Fatal. Stanton made his last appearance on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
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 "Madame Fatal" full-time. Stanton would also use the alternate identity to attempt to locate his captive daughter, whom Carver had passed onto other villains. When the character rights were sold to DC Comics and DC decided not to continue the character, this plot point was never resolved, and it was never revealed which villain was actually holding Stanton's daughter.
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, and had a high level of intelligence and intuition which aided his investigative abilities and locating criminalsManhunt (law enforcement)
In law enforcement, a manhunt is a search for a dangerous fugitive involving the use of all available police units and technology and sometimes help from the public....
. Madame 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 Madame Fatal's disguise gave him an edge in physical combat as his foes would underestimate his strength and speed. Madame Fatal's red walking cane was also a formidable weapon in Stanton's hands as he adept at using the cane as a weapon
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 of America....
.
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, inflitration, stealth, information gathering, and melting anonymously into crowds. Madame Fatal was also aided on occasion by his pet parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
, Hamlet, his only connection to his previous life. Hamlet was named so because he was intelligent enough to recite Shakespeare, and would inspire Stanton and help Stanton remember important information.
Controversy and ridicule
Madame 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 a recent article on Cracked.com
Cracked.com
Cracked.com is a humor website that was spun off the last attempt to revive Cracked magazine. It began in its current form in 2007.-Attempted relaunch of Cracked:...
which has been read well over half a million times, listed the character as one of the "7 crappiest super heroes in comic book history".
Also, the later depictions of Madame Fatal living alone, and as Stanton was a former stage actor who lived alone, many modern readers believe that the cross-dressing character was actually a thinly-disguised homosexual, though this was never expressly acknowledged in Crack Comics, nor are Pinajian's intentions known.
Madame Fatal in recent years
DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
acquired the rights to all the former Quality Comics characters in 1956 along with a bulk buy of them all, but has yet to make use of Madame Fatal beyond a few very brief cameos and a few mere mentions that made light of the character's transvestite M.O.
Outside of regular DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
continuity, comix writer Kim Deitch
Kim Deitch
-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
(Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland is a 2006 American biographical docudrama film directed by Allen Coulter in his feature directorial debut. The film documents a fictional account of the investigation surrounding the death of actor George Reeves , the star of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien...
) did a story in 1972 that purported to be about Madame Fatale. But inasmuch as she did things in it that it's hard to imagine a mainstream comic book character doing, there could be some question about the character's identity in this incarnation.
James Robinson and Paul Smith featured Madam Fatal in a cameo in 1993's The Golden Age
The Golden Age (comics)
The Golden Age is a 1993 four-issue Elseworlds comic book mini-series by writer James Robinson and artist Paul Smith. It concerns the Golden Age DC Comics superheroes entering the 1950s and facing the advent of McCarthyism.-Plot:...
. In The Golden Age #4, Madam Fatal appears in a panel surrounded by the Fiddler
Fiddler (comics)
The Fiddler is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain and a recurring foe of the first Flash . He first appeared in All-Flash #32 .-Fictional character biography:...
, and the Gambler
Gambler (comics)
Gambler is the name of two fictional supervillains in the DC Universe. The original version first appeared in 1944 as a foe of the original Green Lantern...
, who all appear to be courting the cross-dressing hero while other villains (including Wildfire
Wildfire (Golden Age)
Wildfire is a fictional superheroine in the DC Comics universe. One of the first female superheroes, she was originally published by Quality Comics during what comics historians and fans called the Golden Age of comic books....
, Harlequin
Harlequin (comics)
Harlequin is the name of four clown-themed DC Comics characters.The original Harlequin was a foe of the Golden Age Green Lantern, and later became his wife. The second Harlequin originally debuted as the Joker's Daughter, and was a member of the Teen Titans. The third Harlequin was a member of...
, and the Psycho-Pirate
Psycho-Pirate
The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two DC Comics supervillains, dating back to the Golden Age of Comics.-Charles Halstead:Charles Halstead is a minor character who first appears in All-Star Comics #23, created by Gardner Fox and Joe Gallagher...
) stand around giggling (apparently knowing Madam Fatal's true gender).
The most recent time Madame Fatal has been seen or even mentioned in DC Comics canon was a homosexual-based joke in 1999, yet the passing reference would seem to imply Madame Fatal's death. In a scene in JSA
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
#1 (August, 1999) that depicted the funeral of the first Sandman, Wildcat
Wildcat (comics)
Wildcat is the name of several fictional characters, all DC Comics superheroes. The first and most famous of these is Ted Grant, a long-time member of the Justice Society of America...
wonders whether his own funeral will "be like the time they buried Madame Fatal here, and no one turned up for the funeral but the touring cast of La Cage aux Folles?" This would seem to suggest that the character of Madame Fatale is considered deceased in the DC universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, or at least has suffered a comic book death
Comic book death
In the comic book fan community, the apparent death and subsequent return of a long-running character is often called a comic book death. While death is a serious subject, a comic book death is generally not taken seriously and is rarely permanent or meaningful...
.
See also
- Madame DoubtfireMadame DoubtfireMadame Doubtfire, known as Alias Madame Doubtfire in the United States, is a 1987 novel for young adults, about a family with divorced parents. It was adapted into the film Mrs...
, a humorous novel with a similar cross-dressing theme of a man cosmetically becoming an elderly woman for his own purposes, and the novel's subsequent comedy film adaptationMrs. DoubtfireMrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field and based on the novel Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup...
starring Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
.