Madame Xanadu?

I finished early so let's begin!

Doorway To Nightmare #3 from June 1978



Written by: Bill Kunkel, Joyce Katz and Roger McKenzie
Art by: Ric Estrada and Romeo Tanghal
Cover by: Michael Kaluta

Brief Plot Summary

A woman walks into Madame Xanadu's lovely little shop. Of course, MX knows this woman is coming. She draws out her tarot cards and pulls the card of "The Hanged Man". Apparently this represents deception and MX states that someone close to the woman is deceiving her. MX then asks about a man named Victor and the woman tells her tale of how she works for this young, handsome rich fellow who is very reclusive and a bit odd. His presence leaves her cold and this guy always wants to be warm. One night while working at this guys home, she sees a bat outside. Luckily, Victor shows up to comfort her.

MX asks if Victor has ever touched the lady. She says no. MX wants to see Victor immediately so the woman convinces him to visit MX. They seem to know each other and there is reference to both being older than they appear (Victor is a vampire or something, right??!?). MX consults her cards and reveals the "Everlasting Death" card. Victor calls her readings a trick and leaves (and we see MX holding "The Moon" card and then "The Devil" as he leaves).

Switch scenes and Victor and his lady friend are off to a party. Someone at the party almost serves her blood and Victor loses it on the poor server and chokes him. In the meantime, another lady at this party takes the woman away and reveals Victor's secret. SH seems stunned by whatever info she was told and Victor is upset so they leave. The woman tells Victor she wants to be with him despite this newly learned secret. The two end up back at MX's shop. The woman wants to give herself up to be with Victor, he tries to say no. She offers her neck to him (or appears to) and Victor finally touches her hand and cries a single bloody tear. His hand turns to a skeleton hand and he melts or disintegrates or something. The woman is sad, but MX reveals that she gave him light when he had none. The woman leaves and we see Victor's head or face image in a jar on MX's table.

Thoughts?


The cover is amazing. One of Kaluta's best IMO. The colouring is also fantastic and the single blood drop is great!
The story...I was left confused. It seemed that Victor was a vampire but the ending was bizarre. Are vampires not allowed to touch people? I will admit my vampire knowledge is lacking...much like some of the writer's knowledge of tarot cards. The Hanged Man is not associated with deception (at least not that I could find). The other cards seem to fit what is happening for the most part so maybe they made a small error? This story mimics the first two Doorway To Nightmare issues, in that a random person wanders into MX's shop and the story goes from there.

Final Words

If found, I would pick up but only for the cover art. The story is a little harder to follow than the previous two (which I have read and recommend for both the art and the story). The interior artwork is a bit simple...no interesting shots, nothing really out of the ordinary. Overall, I was expecting this to be a stronger story but sadly, did not find that to be the case. The women in the story, including MX, enjoy flaunting their tummies and showing off their upper assets. It's not artistic enough or necessary and to me seems like the artist was focusing more on that the the emotions or features of characters. The interiors are overall quite bland as a result. I am wondering is this is the turning point in a series that had a good first two issues but now, seems a little scattered.

I do want to finish this little run of Doorway to Nightmare as I have the five issues. Perhaps I will mix them in here eventually...

I am guessing that her similarity to Phantom Stranger (who kind of played a similar role and was usually intervening someone else's life) and the fact that her stories are more romance problem based did not have the strongest attraction for readers. The first three issues are very very similar and I feel that overall, she is not that interesting of a character. Unfortunate because I think she has a ton of potential.

Anyone with later insight as to how she fared in Spectre would be much appreciated

I agree that story sounds like the PHantom Stranger ones where he was most a narrator/deux ex machina to the story (the ones before the faux scooby doo gang come to mind).

Agreed that's a heck of a cover... I'd buy on that alone as well!

Uncanny X-Men #118 from February 1979



Cover art by Terry Austin, Dave Cockrum and John Costanza
Story by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
Pencils by John Byrne

Seven Sentence Summary
The team returns from their prior adventure to see a city in Japan on fire. They track down former ally, Sunfire, to see what can be done. Sunfire wants to deal with this on his own but the Prime Minister says no they need all the help they can get. Meanwhile, guys are sneaking up to Sunfire's palace, surely up to no good. Cyclops tried to check in with Professor X but as seen earlier, he is in space with Lilandra and seems to think the X-Men are dead. Wolverine meets Mariko for the first time, and almost reveals his name (gets cut off at "Lo..."). The guys sneaking up attack in some robot suits, are easily defeated and then during the clean up, a hologram of a character called Moses Magnum demands control on Japan or he will destroy it.

Thoughts?
I do not love the X-Men and might be one of the few who say that. But these stories from this era are good, easy reads. Obviously, more happens earlier that I should read to get the complete story. There are some fun moments here, like seeing Wolvie reveal more about himself, like his ability to speak Japanese and that he spent time here in his youth. He almost tells Mariko his name too...you get the "Lo" before he is cut off. Wonder if anyone in future letter pages guess it? When does he first tell someone his name is Logan?

The cover is great, lots of colour. You get a strong splash page right away of a burning city. In terms of actual action and story, it was ho hum. This Moses Magnum guy who appears at the end is not too intriguing. Not too sure how long this new issue lasts but I am not to intrigued. I am intrigued to read what happens prior. I know you have the formation of the new team, the supposed death of Jean Grey (which I have read) and a bunch of issues from then until now so perhaps I track those down. Does Moses Magnum play a big role in the future tales? Seems like a cheap character that will be quickly disposed of next ish.

Also, why is Sunfire unwilling to initially accept the X-Men's help? A whole city is ablaze and he wants to turn them away. For a guy who is supposed to be an ally, he behaves kind of like a jerk.

Final Words
I like these covers regardless of the story inside. Every cover I have seen from this era (#94-142) is eye catching and exciting. This is clearly a team that is still learning about each other and their abilities. Wolvie maintains his mysterious allure...was this the first time we learn more about him other than that he is Canadian? This issue seems to serve as a jumping off point for Wolvie and some of his background. I would like to track down earlier issues for sure to catch the entirety of their previous adventures.

Moses Magnum isn't that important but Kurt Busiek brought him back years later in Avengers. Also, in a retcon, he is revealed to have been given his powers by Apocalypse.

So I think I bit off more than I can chew. I will continue this thread in November. I have 31 books set aside for October and I want to focus on that first and foremost!