Vixen

Vixen was a t.v. series based on the Superhero of the same name and starring actress Gloria Dawson. It ran from 1969 to 1973. The revealing costume of the central character cause a lot of complaints at the time which some claimed was a reason for the show's success.

The central character was Jessica Jessop, a one-time expert cat burglar who fell in love with a detective in the Millennium City police force. She turned over a new leaf for his sake, but when he was murdered decided to operate outside the law to avenge him and carry on his work.

In the last season, Vixen gained a sidekick. Kit Vixen is Vixen's sometime sidekick in the Vixen comics. A former ballerina, Dorothy Rose witnessed the death of her family and friends at the hands of the diabolical villain Doctor Wax and was recruited by Vixen on a mission of revenge. (Kit Vixen was played by Atlanta Wells, at the time a fifteen-year-old model and sometimes performer in t.v. commercials. After turning 21 in 1978, she starred in a slew of fairly explicit erotic cult films produced in Louisianne.)

Atlanta Wells, age 18, who played "Kit Vixen"

Guest stars on the show generally portrayed the various costumed supervillains Vixen had to face. Some of them included:

• The Bard - A madman who believed himself to be Gouilliame Shaxepere, determined to create the perfect crime as a work of art.
• Simon Dexter, the Man of Gold - The victim of an alchemical experiment, he now sought to punish the world in ways that had to do with gold.
• The Questioneer - With his trademark reversed-question mark, his crimes always were planned along a theme of classic riddles or puzzles.
• Captain Claw - A modern-day pirate who preferred to dress in 17th century costume.
• The Canary - A bored socialite with a taste for yellow and a love of birds, her crimes had the theme of (you guessed it) the color yellow, birds and sometimes music.
• Irving Borgia - Nerdish chemistry student, but the last of his infamous family and determined to prove himself worthy of the name.
• No-Face - Born deformed to a wealthy family, now taking cruel revenge on the world in general.
• The Mocker - The greatest mistress of disguise the world has ever known, who uses her great talents for evil.

Vixen has continued to be very popular in syndication. Conventions of fans began to be held in the late 1980s, with petitions for a remake of the series sent to every major network like clockwork.

The Comic Book

Vixen began as a supervillain in the 1930s, a sometimes-ally of Doc Satan. Yet when Millennium Comics began a new editorial policy in the 1960s it was decided to re-interpret Vixen as a heroine.

In the comics, Vixen's main advantage--other than extraordinary physical prowess and stealth--is her intimate knowledge of Millennium City's underworld. This is also one of her greatest weaknesses, because the criminal supervillains she fought often knew her nearly as well as she knew them. The fact she had generally been a loner, one with a wild streak and a tendency to be a wild card, tended to cancell this out. Sometimes.

Unlike most superheroes, Vixen proved willing to go after injustices that were legal, such as cruel businessmen or wicked parents. This eventually allowed the editors to explore more of her history. She was an orphan, one who ran away at an early age and lived on the streets yet kept a circle of a few, close friends. Although a brilliant thief with a wicked sense of humor, she was not a killer and did not approve of random violence.

She was an atypical hero also in that Vixen did not react to criminal schemes but sought out villains, learning their plans and thwarting them, sometimes setting up elaborate traps. She also proved to be popular with many rank and file officers in the Millennium City Police Force--those that didn't consider her still a criminal who had a good scam going.

Other than martial arts (she was particular good with kick-boxing), Vixen's primary weapon was a set of long, curved knives. She was also an expert with a whip.

Motion Picture

Premier Productions has announced it will definitely be going forward with a big budget motion picture adaptation of Vixen. Exact details are not available but they are looking at cast major stars in at least one or two key roles.