Plot: London descends into hysteria as more women are brutally slain by Jack the Ripper. Madame Xanadu employs every magical means at her disposal to stem the rising madness and protect the women of the streets. Despite the Madame's fervent efforts, she fails to find any leads, and instead finds herself opposed by yet another adversary in her quest for answers--the Phantom Stranger himself. With the situation becoming more desperate, she travels into a dream realm to seek a solution and to put a stop to the Ripper's butchery once and for all.

Comments: The most interesting aspect of Matt Wagner's spellbinding Madame Xanadu is the interaction between the title character and the Phantom Stranger. The dramatic tension between these two is tremendous. Each approaches the gruesome developments afflicting the last, the least, and the lost of London in starkly different manners. Though the Phantom Stranger subtly manipulates the flow of events, he is bound by mysterious forces to limit his direct interaction with the people of the Victorian England. Moreover, while he uses his powers to manifest magical displays, they merely reflect what he is observing. Indeed, his primary role appears to be that of an observer only.

Madame Xanadu, in contrast, makes every effort to address the situation directly. She uses her spells and potions to calm fears and anxieties. She creates magical bells in the labyrinth of London's dark alleys to warn her of Jack's evil. But more than simply using her magic for good purposes, Madame Xanadu also befriends those on whose behalf she is acting. These personal connections add all the more urgency to her quest to find and stop the Ripper.

The passion of the Madame clashes head on with the seeming passivity and calculated planning of the Stranger. This conflict spans the physical realm, as well as the magical realm, and although it ignited within the pages of this issue, it is surely not over. The arguments between the two raise some intriguing questions about the nature of evil and the responsibilities of heroes. Madame Xanadu all but accuses the Stranger of being as guilty as Jack the Ripper for the deaths because he fails to act to stop the murders though he has ‘actionable intelligence’, so to speak. But the Phantom Stranger is not sadistic or uncaring in his inaction; in fact, in his passivity, he works out a plan to manipulate evil against evil. How much blame can be placed at his feet? Could he have saved lives while still accomplishing his overarching goal? In an unexpected twist, the "first cause" of all of the terror is suggested to be Madame Xanadu and it is the Phantom Stranger who pushes the boundaries of his magical limitations, using a particularly aggressive fashion of observation as he follows Jack!

Though the subject matter is grim, Amy Reeder Hadley's artwork is gracefully neat and possesses a truly charming style. Looking at each of the finely penciled panels, I felt as though the beautiful Madame was charming me with one of her spells. Richard Friend's inks lend themselves very well to the gloom of London by gaslight, and they work quite well in tandem with Guy Major's coloring.

Final Word: Madame Xanadu is nothing short of enchanting. This is certainly not the standard superhero fair to be sure. Matt Wagner's story does, however, present the dynamic sweep of what it is to act heroically in the characters of Madame Xanadu and the Phantom Stranger. Check it out!

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