Vixens, Vamps & Vipers: Lost Villanesses of Golden Age Comics

Between the covers of Vixens, Vamps & Vipers, fans will rediscover the original bad girls of comics-as fierce and full of surprises as they were when the comic book industry was born. From murderous Madame Doom to He-She, dubbed by io9 as "the most unsung comic book villain ever," Mike Madrid resurrects twenty-two glorious evildoers in fully reproduced comics and explores the ways they both transcend and become ensnared in a web of cultural stereotypes.

Among the deadly femme fatales, ruthless jungle queens, devious secret agents, and double-dealing criminal masterminds, are some of the very first women of color in comics. These women may have been overlooked in the annals of history, but-like their superheroine counterparts in Divas, Dames & Daredevils-their influence, on popular culture and the archenemies that thrill us today, is unmistakable.

About the Author
Mike Madrid is the author of Divas, Dames & Daredevils: Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics, Vixens, Vamps & Vipers: Lost Villianesses of Golden Age Comics, and The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines, an NPR "Best Book To Share With Your Friends" and American Library Association Amelia Bloomer Project Notable Book. A San Francisco native and lifelong fan of comic books and popular culture, Madrid also appears in the documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines and is the illustrator of Lily the Silent: The History of Arcadia.

Foreword contributor William Kuskin , Ph.D., who has been described by Denver's Westword as "kind of like Professor X of the X-Men, teaching his young mutants how to wield their superpowers," is Professor, Faculty Associate, and Chair of English at the University of Colorado Boulder.