Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case Files #28: Madame Xanadu

Look! It’s an iconic hero!  No, it’s not Wonder Woman!

Once upon a time, many moons ago, the Gabbing Geeks held their first Watercooler discussion to talk about iconic characters who hadn’t gotten a movie yet or had one in development.  Jenny, for some reason, chose Madame Xanadu.

Now, I don’t know how Jenny defines “iconic”.  I would define it as a character that is so recognizable that even people outside the fan group recognize the character.  Superman is an iconic hero.  So is Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman.  Iron Man probably is thanks to Robert Downey Jr.  Other characters may be recognizable to people who are fans of comics in general, but not necessarily of the character itself.  Aquaman, the Flash, and Captain America probably all fit that group.

But Madame Xanadu?  Well, Jenny had offered to fill in a Misplaced Hero file during my vacation for this character, so Jenny believed that Madame Xanadu is somehow both misplaced and iconic…

Which is she?  Check after the cut.

Slightly Misplaced Comics Hero Case File #7: Dr. Thirteen

This isn’t him, but this is the person whose face pops up a lot when you do a Google Image search for “Dr. Thirteen”.  I am not sure who she is, truth be told.

I’ve always thought it must be tough being an atheist superhero in one of those big superhero universes.  Think about it.  Many heroes have firsthand knowledge of the presence of gods, angels, the afterlife, and demons.  And while many superhero characters are rarely identified as belonging to any particular faith or lack thereof, the only atheist hero I can think of is the Michael Holt version of Mr. Terrific, and he was an atheist because he couldn’t believe God would let his wife die as opposed to the idea of just not believing in God.  Holt was also as a member of the Justice Society, where he spent time with the Spectre, the embodiment of the Wrath of God, and probably had some encounters with Zauriel the angel on the Justice League.

But if we really want to see how not accepting something despite it being right in front of his face works, we really need to discuss Dr. Terrance Thirteen.