Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction: Lethal Ladies

Chapter One: Vicious Viragos
Madame Doom
Texa
Idaho
Red Haired Kate
Fräulein Halunke
Her Highness
Lady Serpent

Chapter Two: Beauties & Beasts
He-She
Nadya Burnett
Beauty
Skull Lady
The Figure

Chapter Three: A Rainbow of Evil
Nang Tu
Queen Tuana
Veda The Cobra Woman
Mava
Madame Butterfly

Chapter Four: Crime Queens
Belle Guness
Madame Muscles
Winsome Wanda Bailey
Mable Reine
Shoebox Annie French

Afterword: A Touch of Evil

Promotional Information

Co-op available
Significant bound galley printing for media and booksellers. Additional eGalley distribution to media, booksellers, and librarians through Edelweiss
National print, public radio, and online campaigns, including a special focus on comics blogs and possible Facebook and Reddit advertising
Display at the Modern Language Association annual conference and College Art Association annual conference. Possible galley giveaway and promotion at the ALA Annual conference
Special events: launch party at San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, appearance by author at Seattle’s Geek Girl Con in October 2014, and more events in Portland, Oregon TDB
Simultaneous FULL COLOR eBook publication and promotion
Giveaways through Goodreads and Library Thing
Promotion through the author’s website (www.heaven4heroes.com) and through EAP’s social media networks and www.exterminatingangel.com
Video trailer by Two Dogs Filming
Marketing and publicity efforts supported by Molly Mikolowski of A Literary Light

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.

Reviews

Advance Praise for Vixens, Vamps & Vipers "Madrid continues a mission celebrating strong women of comics and rediscovering lost adventures. You can sense his love and knowledge of the genre in every chapter. He is the Professor of Comics Cool." --ComicsBlend "Portray[s] women who were wickedly smart, independent, diverse, outspoken, and had consciously chosen a life of evil... Accompanied by Madrid's well-researched commentary, this fascinating collection provides much food for thought." --ForeWord Reviews "The heroines in Divas, Dames & Daredevils were exciting and intriguing, it's true, but my heart is still pounding over some of these very bad Vixens, Vamps & Vipers. Sometimes it just feels good to be bad." --GeekGirlCon "This is mandatory reading for any fan of comics. It expertly explains the roles of women villains and how they lead the way for the femme fatales that fans love to cheer and boo today. I can't imagine any scholarly collection of comics being complete without this book. Overall grade: A"--SciFiPulse.Net "Mike Madrid may know more about women in comics than anyone else alive."--Sects and Violence in the Ancient World Select Praise for Mike Madrid "These 'lost' [characters] are now found--to the delight of comic book lovers everywhere." --STAN LEE "Lovers of comics and strong women everywhere thank you, Mike Madrid!" --TRINA ROBBINS, author of Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896--2013 "Madrid's meticulous and passionate research provides a window into a seemingly lost herstory of patriotism, bravery, and progressive ways of thinking about female agency and adventure." --JENNIFER K. STULLER, author of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology "Mike Madrid is doing God's work... mak[ing] accessible a lost, heady land of female adventure." --ComicsAlliance "[Madrid's] engaging, conversational language is as readable as the truly dazzling comics. He has endeavored to unearth the forgotten, and what he found is ultimately unforgettable." --BUST Magazine "Sharp and lively ... [Madrid] clearly loves this stuff. And he's enough of a historian to be able to trace the ways in which the portrayal of sirens and supergirls has echoed society's ever-changing feelings about women and sex." --Entertainment Weekly "Exciting and fraught with danger ... Madrid presents the cream of a very ripe crop of empowered comic book [characters] and introduces them quite eloquently." --Library Journal "Provide[s] fantastic documentation of how many female characters were created during this era--some with surprisingly progressive personalities and stories to boot ... Wholly enjoyable." --Publishers Weekly "We can't talk about feminism in comics without talking about Mike Madrid." --ForeWord Reviews "Serious and astute ... elaborating on history and establishing the zeitgeist perfectly ... Highly recommended for comics fans and historians alike, these 'rarely anthologized' stories are excellent for giving girls of any age positive comic book role models to look up to." --PopMatters "As the mother of several daughters, I'm always on the lookout for books with strong female characters... Madrid's historical commentary [is] the most fascinating part. These forgotten pieces of our past hold valuable insights into what is possible, and desirable, for our future." --San Francisco & Sacramento Book Reviews "Entertaining, insightful and lovingly crafted ... Madrid has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subjects but he make it feel fun." --ComicsBlend "Invaluable ... During a period when female-led books are under increased pressure and scrutiny ... it's the perfect time to look back at some of the daring dames from the dawn of the artform." --ScienceFiction.com "[Madrid] shows that in the Golden Age of comics there were more of these characters and a wider diversity than you could imagine ... Thorough and enjoyable." --DC Women Kicking Ass "Not only do we get to learn more about some really incredible female characters, we get to experience the thrill of reading their comics! ... Madrid pick[s] stories that ... make these women worth talking about." --Sequential Tart "What Madrid has accomplished is the rescuing of women who have otherwise been forgotten in the world of comics [and] gives you something that no other [books] have ... the opportunity to read the actual stories in which these women appeared." --DestroyTheCyborg! "[Madrid] clearly shows how women--even ordinary women--were once deemed incredible and awe-inspiring." --Sects and Violence in the Ancient World "Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of how women have been portrayed in comics." --Comics Worth Reading "I have encountered few people who write with the passion and enthusiasm for these characters as Mike Madrid does. His notes and commentary on the characters ... the history, and the artists are pure gold." --Plastic Heroines