Where would I be if I didn’t dream? Where would I be if I didn’t draw Washington, DC out of that hat so many years ago. I know that I would not have the life I have today. I enjoy my little life. It’s simple and drama free. It can get hectic and I can get stressed out but that’s part of life. I’m glad that I had people in my life that let me chase my dreams and let me leave the nest.

Their Own Work

“You gotta let people create their own work and let them have a stake in it.” - Karen Berger*

Some heroes are immortal or use magic to live a REALLY long time. Such is the case of Madame Xanadu. Madame Xanadu is the youngest sister of Morgan le Fay and Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake. Her real name is Nimue Inwudu. Over the years she imprisoned Merlin for misleading Camelot, spent time in Kublai Khan’s court (this is where she took the name Xanadu) and she also advised Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. She uses her gifts of precognition, fortune telling and sense of magical presences to help other magical heroes. She has worked with many of the magical heroes – John Constantine, Zatara, Zatanna, the Spectre and the Phantom Stranger. To all Madame Xanadu is an enigma speaking in riddles but claims the riddles are how the events appear to her.

How nice would it be to tell the future? We could save ourselves and friends much headache and heartache. But we cannot. “You gotta let people create their own work and let them have a stake in it.” We do not just create books, paintings or lovely desserts we create lives. We have to let people create their own lives. Yes we gather experience that we can share with others (“Honey, don’t stick your finger in the hot wax it will burn you”). But we take that needed experience away from people when we offer non-solicited opinions or force them off their journey. We don’t want friends and family to move away or quit jobs for a “dream”. But where would Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa and Margaret Bourke-White be if they did not dream? Each one of these people dreamed, created and took a stake in their creations.

Madame Xanadu
First Appearance: Doorway to Nightmare #1, (February 1978)

Creators: David Mitchelinie (writer), Val Mayerik (artist), Michael William Kaluta (character design)

* “Secret Origin: the Story of DC Comics, Warner Bros, release date November 09, 2010