MADAM SATAN... Is Death!

"The Devil searched far and long for an ally to wreak havoc amongst mortals…..then, the black corrupt soul of a beautiful woman, a victim of her own fiendish plan on Earth, left its bodily habitation to stand before the king of purgatory…..and his search was at an end….the Devil had found himself a fitting mate and called her……Madame Satan" (from the origin of Madam Satan in Pep Comics No. 16, 1941)

Madam Satan was an evil woman named Tyra who lured men to their destruction. During her first appearance she dies and is recruited by Satan who returns her to Earth to provide him with souls of good men that she would corrupt. As the ultimate Femme Fatale, she used her unearthly beauty to lure unsuspecting men into her clutches. As she prepares to kill them, her face is revealed to be an inhuman green skull.

The dark Madam Satan stories contained elements of the violent crime comics that were doing big business on the newsstands at that time, but pre-dated the macabre EC horror comics by over a decade. MJL Magazines Inc. was just one of many publishers vying for display space in the Golden Age of Comics with the hopes of taking home a share of the sales pie that was dominated by Batman, Superman and Captain Marvel. Publishers in the 1940’s where willing to try any concept to see if they could accidentally create the next comic book sensation – would Madam Satan make the cut?

Alas, Madam Satan only had a short run in Pep Comics (Nos. 16-21, 1941), plus a preview cover appearance on Pep No. 15 that would suggest that her debut had been scheduled for that issue, but was bumped to the next. When the first Madam Satan story appeared, the buying public did not know that in a mere six issues she would be remembered only for being replaced by Archie Andrews and his friends (Pep No. 22). Archie’s inauspicious debut eventually boosted MJL into one of the most successful publishing empires ever, lead in a large part by the distinctive art of Harry Lucey, Madam Satan’s co-creator. MJL was officially rechristened Archie Publications Inc. with issue Pep Comics #57 (June 1946).

Writer and co-creator Abner Sundell may have been influenced by Cecil B. DeMilles’ film, Madam Satan (1930) which is worth watching for Kay Johnson’s stunning outfit and the crazy Art Deco dance performance on a doomed zeppelin. Sundell’s only other notable Golden Age creation was Steel Sterling. Sundell only wrote Madam Satan’s first story, with all other stories being attributed to Joe Blair. Blair was a regular MJL/Archie writer who co-created The Fox with Irwin Hasen.

Artist Harry Lucey (Nov. 13, 1913 – August 28, 1984) began his comic book career in the late 1930s. In addition to Madam Satan, he drew Magno, Crime Does Not Pay, Sam Hill and Captain America. From the 1950’s until the 1970’s, he was the primary artist for Archie, drawing not only the flagship title, but also the in-house ads, covers and various other comics for the publisher. Lucey named the character Betty after his girlfriend’s sister. In 2012, Harry Lucey was inducted into the Will Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.

In the new millennia, Madam Satan has had a remarkable rebirth, appearing as a recurring character played by Michelle Gomez on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina TV show (Netflix, 2018-2020) and in the comic book of the same name, and in her own one-shot (2020), self-titled comic. — The Atomic Surgeon, March 2022