#the blue lady

[thejawsdevour]

Omar Mahfoudi (Moroccan) - The Blue Lady (acrylic and liquid ink on canvas, 2023)

[silverskye13]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

In which memories have teeth

[witchesoz]

I was aware of the article "Myths Over Miami: The Secret Stories of Homeless Children" since a few years now, thanks to "Changeling: The Lost" listing it as part of their example-setting of changeling communities in Miami (then TV Tropes dropped it a couple of time across its pages). I never looked much into it beyond reading the article itself and seeing works of fiction take inspiration from it - I know many blog posts and Reddit threads have been discussing whether it is a fake that has to be debunked, or a real thing that simply was not talked about, or a reporter blowing out of proportions something happening at a specific local shelter... But I'm not here to talk about this.

All I wanted to say was that, while I knew this for quite some times, it took me sharing the article with @themousefromfantasyland for him to point out to me... The Blue Lady and her "secret song of power"? It's just Glinda from the Wiz... It is obvious but somehow I utterly missed it. And it makes sense since the whole point of these "secret stories" is that these homeless kids were putting together bits and pieces of real-life, religion and urban legend in a "childhood mythology" to explain their situation.

Somehow, I suspect that the journalist who wrote the article was also fully unaware of this (unless you are of the sort who believe the entire article was faked or is some sort of hoax). Because while the journalist takes time to explain what are the urban legends of "La Llorona" and "Bloody Mary", and proposes of themselves to draw a parallel between the Blue Lady and Yemaya from the Santeria, they present the "song of the Blue Lady" just... like this, as if it was something unique to the kid reciting it, and don't point out any cultural correlation to it (it was part of what fooled me back then). So I am enclined to think whoever wrote the article had not seen The Wiz...

[comicsart3]

The Blue Lady is something of a curiosity. She lasted just three issue of Amazing Man Comics (#24-#26), despite having all the hallmarks of being set up for a decent run. Moving away from the template of the bored socialite deciding to fight crime, Lucille Martin was instead a well-known novelist who travels to China to immerse herself in the country’s atmosphere in order to write her next book. On the boat journey home, she encounters a troubled young Chinese woman named Lotus who entrusts Lucille with a jade idol she is seeking to deliver to her employer, Sing Thang, which she believes Chinese gangsters, also on board, are seeking to intercept. As protection, Lotus also bequeaths Lucille with a ring she claims holds super powers. The unfortunate Lotus is indeed later murdered by said gangsters and Lucille determines to go to China Town in New York in order to return the idol to its rightful owner. That night she drops and steps on the mysterious ring which then emits a gas which renders Lucille unconscious. When she awakes, Lucille finds she has acquired super strength and agility. She then makes herself a blue costume and names herself The Blue Lady and uses her new powers to smash the gang who wished to steal the idol and had kidnapped Sing Thang in order to find out its whereabouts.

After this somewhat elaborate origin story Lucille continues to make life difficult for criminals, tackling a masked killer called Trigger in her subsequent adventure. Lucille also has a love interest, her estate agent fiancée, Larry Grant, who rather in the style of Phantom Lady’s and Black Cat’s boyfriends, seems rather more interested in Lucille’s super heroine alter ego, than the writer herself. Despite all the work put into establishing the Blue Lady as an intriguing and “exotic” character by author and artist, Frollo, her adventures came to an abrupt end when Amazing Man Comics ceased publication in late 1941. This is unfortunate because the Blue Lady could have gone far, but instead she is something of a Golden Age footnote.

The page featured is from the Blue Lady origin adventure which appeared in Amazing Man Comics #24 (October 1941).

Source: comicbookplus

[krimasims]

she's taking charge

[diioonysus]

history | horror | female spirits

[gambit-wildcard]

Dragonlance

[bloodxhoney13]

Another "Jar of Rebuke" cast spotlight! This time Misha Bakshi (she/they) as the Blue Lady!

"Misha is a bisexual Indian-American actor and vocalist. From TN, Misha is working on her master plan to become a C-list celebrity from K'jipuktuk (Halifax). Misha strives to make accessible art that reflects the stories of marginalized people."

Graphic edited by @ashleecraft