(Crack Comics 001-022, 1940-1942)
Madam Fatal is the alter ego of one Richard Stanton, famous actor and female impersonator. Shortly after retiring to settle down, Stanton’s young daughter was kidnapped by a vengeful enemy and his wife died of grief. Going undercover as the elderly Madam Fatal in order to avoid recognition Stanton spent the next nine years looking for his child. In the first Madam Fatal adventure, he finds the kidnapper but not the kid and since the kidnapper ends up dead, the case of Richard Stanton’s missing child just… never gets addressed again.
Madam Fatal comics are pretty fun as a rule. They’re short and snappy, and since a big part of the character’s appeal is the incongruity of a little old lady (as mentioned in the past, they got no respect in the Golden Age) being in adventure situations, she is extremely kinetic and rough and tumble.
There’s absolutely no exploration of gender roles or sexuality because, duh, it’s the 1940s, but Stanton and Fatal are generally treated as being two different genders. A modern revival of the character could do interesting things if done right, by the right people. Mostly though, Madam Fatal is a punchline in modern comics.
The exception to this came in The Shade v2 006, 2012. James Robinson (and Darwyn Cooke) introduced Hot Older Lady Madam Fatal, made her just as much of a shitkicker as the original, and even (finally) resolved the case of Richard Stanton’s missing child. A worthy if brief revival!
