We continue our exploration of the great standards of comic book fiction by taking a look at the femme fatale.

TYPHOID MARY - Who would have believed the pure hearted and virginal Mary Walker would turn out to be the Kingpin's vicious punk assassin Typhoid Mary? Certainly not Matt Murdock, who courted her in his civilian guise, then fought and was defeated by her as Daredevil. Ann Nocenti's harlequin faced villainess remains one of Marvel's most fearsome women, having had her wicked way not only with Daredevil and the Kingpin, but also with motormouth mercenary Deadpool. A sociopath with a multiple personality disorder, Mary used her magnetic sexuality to devastating effect, causing at least as much damage as her blades ever could. She is perhaps not the most conventional interpretation of a femme fatale, given her fright hair and horror make-up, but it's fair to say that a character like Typhoid could only ever have been female - and she was certainly fatal.

CATWOMAN - Most Batman fans agree that if any woman exists who deserves to end Bruce Wayne's bachelor days - one way or the other - it is Selina Kyle. Not that either one of them is likely to pursue the avenue of wedded bliss, of course. Their relationship remains limited to sexual tension and flirtation. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they are at odds, but always there is a frisson when they meet. Though Catwoman may not be a merciless psychopath, one can't help feeling that she would still find it easy to stop a man's heart.

ELEKTRA - What is it about Daredevil and women? On this occasion, it was Frank Miller's sexually charged assassin who stole the heart of the man without fear. Like Mary, Elektra Natchios always had an insanity inside her. Not the psychotic murderousness of Typhoid, but a more devilish madness, with a twinkling deathwish in her eyes. Elektra is a dancer, and she leads her dancing partners towards a tragic destiny. On one noted occasion, it was her own.

P'GELL - Svelte and sophisticated P'Gell was Central City's finest femme fatale, appearing in the Spirit's strip only twenty five times over seven years - often only in cameo - yet establishing herself firmly in the minds, hearts and loins of the fans. With her Marlene Dietrich looks, her plunging necklines, and her classic cigarette holder, she set the standard for other dames to follow. In total, she got through nine husbands. She never did land the Spirit, though.

ELLIE - Quite literally a devil woman, HELLBLAZER's Ellie was an ambitious succubus who became a victim of her own ploy. She meant to seduce an angel and impress the lords of Hell, but instead she fell in love, and fell pregnant. In spite of John Constantine's help, both lover and child were destroyed by the forces of Heaven. This might mark Ellie out as a failure among femme fatales, and yet for her next trick she succeeded in seducing Gabriel himself and bringing him low.

MADELYNE PRYOR - When it comes to women scorned, no-one beats X-MEN's Maddy Pryor. Many fans have claimed that the wicked turn she took was only reasonable given the things she went through. Poor Maddy was a clone of the X-Men's Jean Grey, created by Mr Sinister to be the host to the son of Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops. Maddy fulfilled this role, only to be abandoned by her husband when Jean returned from the dead. Maddy then lost her child to Scott, had her entire (faked) history wiped away, was subjected to assassination attempts by mutant terrorists, then forced to fake her own death in order to save the world. The stress might get to anybody. Maddy's solution was to make a deal with a devil for magical powers. She then took her brother-in-law as her lover, attempted to sacrifice her baby boy's life, and opened a gateway to a hellish dimension and tried to eat New York. Unreasonable? Not in the least.

AVA - In Sin City's A DAME TO KILL FOR, Ava is the titular dame who leads her former lover Dwight to murder her husband. Some comic book readers have called creator Frank Miller a misogynist for his depiction of women as murderers and whores, but another explanation might be that he has an earnest understanding of the sexual power women can exert over men, and like many noir writers, he expresses this through the character of the femme fatale. Ava is perhaps one of the very finest examples, and A DAME TO KILL FOR is the book any fan of the femme fatale should definitely read.

POISON IVY - Young botanist Pamela Isley was seduced and then betrayed by her villainous professor. His attempt to poison her had two immediate consequences - firstly, she gained incredible powers. Secondly, she learned how callous men could be, and realised she could treat them exactly the same way. Poison Ivy is as beautiful and passionate as Catwoman, but has one definite advantage over her when it comes to the femme fatale game. Ivy's greatest weapon is her kiss. Her kiss is poison.

VERONICA LODGE - Young Veronica Lodge may look sweet and wholesome, but as the Archie Comics Web site itself attests, Archie's other girlfriend is "selfish, hardhearted and calculating... hopelessly vain, openly arrogant [and] temperamental". It further goes on to claim that "a boy hasn't been born that can resist her charms". Yes, it's true; spoilt little rich girl Veronica Lodge is a textbook example of a femme fatale. Mark my words; one day you'll find Betty lying dead at the bottom of a cliff, and when Archie spurns her, Veronica will seduce Jughead, and send him to kill his best friend.

THE ENCHANTRESS - When it comes to the ability to manipulate men and look good in a short skirt whilst doing it (the two things are often related, of course), no-one can match the Enchantress. A Norse goddess, and one of Marvel's most long establised villainesses, she has tried to leave many a might male astray, including Hercules, Wonder Man, the Black Knight, and her most favoured sparring partner, Thor. In fact, Thor is her great weakness. Most of her men are little more than love slaves, but Thor is the one she would most like to take home and keep. In fact, in recent years she finally has succeeded in getting inside his leathers. P'Gell is the classic femme fatale, and Typhoid Mary one of the most original and most fearsome, but when it comes to female sexuality in comic books, Asgard's Amora is the model which has served comics for generations, even to the present day.

Next: Beyond Howard the Duck.