A review by lancakes
Madame Xanadu, Volume 4: Extra Sensory by Marian Churchland, Mark Buckingham, Chrissie Zullo, Matt Wagner, Marley Zarcone, Amy Reeder

3.0

I don't really read comics, but this book was on display right next to a comic book I was picking up at the library, and the cover looked intriguing, so I figured I'd grab it. This book is the last in a series but because most of the stories, except for the last couple pages, are stand alone I don't think it really matters that I hadn't read the previous 4 (?) in the series. The first story (sight) is hella pointless: a young woman in Harlem suddenly sees visions of gruesome injuries, goes to Madame Xanadu, who tells her they're warnings, she sees her family burnt to a crisp and sends them away to save them from an apartment fire, the end. Also, idk if Matt Wagner is a black man, but the writing in this seemed a little... iffy if he's not, the dialogue is written a lot like a white person's conjuring of AAVE. The second story (hearing) is a little cooler, and the art direction is a little better. I hated the art in the 3rd story (smell), and I thought it was super cheesy: basically a little vagrant boy wanders around until Madame Xanadu sets him to rest. The 4th story (touch) is by far my favourite: the art is gorgeous, and it tells the tale of a succubus living as a Factory Girl/muse in the 60s - it's super cool. The 5th story (taste) has a cool premise (a woman can see/empathise with the entire life cycle of whatever it is she's eating - a burger makes her live out the life cycle of a calf born for slaughter, an orange gives her insight to the labour conditions of fruit pickers) and I think the art was at its best during those moments too, but the actual main character and her life I had zero stake in. The end I didn't really care about because I'm not invested in this series.