Madam Fatal (comics)
Madam Fatal | |
---|---|
Art Pinajian | |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Richard Stanton |
Abilities | Skilled hand to hand combatant Expert cane fighter Peak physical condition High-level intellect and intuition Superior investigative skills Professional acting, disguise and theatric skills |
Madam Fatal is a fictional character and a
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 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
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
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.[4]
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
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.
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
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.[7] 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.
Controversy and ridicule
Madam Fatal was never a popular character given the cross-dressing angle,[8] 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 which listed the character as one of the "7 crappiest super heroes in comic book history".[9]
Madam Fatal at DC Comics
DC Comics acquired the rights to all the former Quality Comics characters in 1956, but Madam Fatal has rarely surfaced.
Outside of regular
In a scene in
James Robinson gives the character a prominent role in
See also
- The novel Madame Doubtfire and subsequent comedy film adaptation
References
- ISBN 978-1605490373.
- ISBN 978-1631407451.
- ^ Ragnell (2006-05-11). "Ragnell's Written Word (May 11, 2006): "Mama-Thon — The Red Tornado"". Ragnell.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ "UNMASKED.jpg (image)". 1.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ISBN 978-1-59474-763-2.
- ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "InsaneJournal". Asylums.insanejournal.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ Brian Hughes (2009-03-10). "Again With the Comics: Madam Fatal: The Golden Age Transvestite Superhero!". Againwiththecomics.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ O'Brien, Daniel (14 August 2008). "The 7 Crappiest "Super Heroes" in Comic Book History". Cracked.com. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Madam Fatal". Toonopedia.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ "Madam Fatal". Internationalhero.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-14.