Since the creation of the direct market distribution system in the early 1970s there have been literally thousands of independent and creator-owned series published in the United States. Regrettably, even after almost half a century it is often a risky undertaking to produce a comic book outside of the major publishers, and the overwhelming majority of these series have only lasted a short time. As such, it is especially noteworthy when an independent title remains in continuous publication over a several decade period.
With that in mind, I am thrilled that Femforce, the long-running female-centric superhero series created by writer & artist Bill Black, reached its historic 200th issue this month. It is one heck of an impressive achievement.
Black has been creating comic books since 1969 when he founded Paragon Publications. Paragon became Americomics in 1982, and then the shortened AC Comics in 1984, the name it has operated under ever since.
Right from the start of his publishing endeavors Black was writing & drawing stories featuring female costumed crimefighters. These were both heroines from the Golden Age of comic books in the 1940s which had subsequently fallen into the public domain, and brand-new characters created by Black who were inspired by obscure Golden Age heroes.
In 1984 Black, working with penciler Mark Heike, published the Femforce Special, which saw several of the Paragon / Americomics female characters join forces to fight against the Nazi menace during World War II. A year later Black & Heike released Femforce #1. That ongoing series has been in continuous publication ever since, with a group of passionate creators and a small but very dedicated fanbase helping it to survive the various tumultuous periods that have besieged the market during the past four decades.
Numerous writers & artists have worked on the Femforce series over its 38-year existence. This has, admittedly, led to some varying levels of quality. However, beginning in late 2019 with Femforce #188, Black has been back on board as the regular writer, inker, letterer & colorist, paired up with the very talented penciler Eric Coile. Mark Heike and his wife Stephanie are the editors on the series. It’s the first time in a while Femforce has had a consistent creative voice, and I feel that’s resulted in a series of fun, entertaining stories.
The latest storyline sees evil sorceress Alizarin Crimson, the team’s most implacable foe, returning yet again. In Femforce #199, allying herself with the new cosmic menace the Shimerer, Alizarin recruits dozens of Femforce’s old enemies to attack the team en masse. Luring Ms. Victory, Nightveil, She-Cat, Synn the Girl from LSD, Tara the Jungle Girl and Stardust (the six main members of Femforce) and their ally Paragon (Ms. Victory’s superpowered husband) into a trap at a Florida amusement park, Alizarin and the rest of the rogues gallery hope to finally destroy the team.
Black sets aside most of his long-running subplots and soap opera for wall-to-wall action in issue #200, with the Femforce members imperiled by their army of enemies. Well, if there was ever an issue in which to do that, it would be an anniversary special like this one. And there were actually a couple of interesting character moments in this story that I’m sure Black will be developing in future issues.
As a long-time fan, it was nice to see so many characters from throughout AC Comics’ history showing up in this story. Black even manages to squeeze in brief cameos by Femforce reserve members Colt, Rad, Dragonfly, Firebeam, and Garganta, along with allies Roberta Strock, Nikki Latimer, the Shade and Scarlet Scorpion.
I was especially surprised to see Dragonfly pop up. The character was created, and owned, by Rik Levins, one of the main creative voices at AC Comics during the 1980s and early 1990s. Levins sadly passed away in 2010 at only 59 years old, and his death presumably limits Black’s ability to use Dragonfly. I’ve always felt Dragonfly has a fantastic design, so it was good to see the character again, however briefly, after such a long absence.
It’s too bad that Femforce and its sister title Superbabes, which is written & drawn by the Heikes, do not sell better, meaning the print runs for both series are really low. Every time a new issue is released I have to rush to the comic shop to pick it up before it sells out, and unfortunately I’ve missed a few of them. So I’m really happy that I was able to get Femforce #200.
I enjoy this series, and I definitely feel it’s worth the effort to search it out. Back issues are available on the AC Comics website, some more expensive than others. There’s quite a few older issues of Femforce, as well as other AC series such as Americomics and Sentinels of Justice, that are affordable and offer good introductions to the characters. If you enjoy fun superhero stories and sexy “good girl” artwork then I definitely recommend giving the AC books a try.
AC has also collected a wide selection of public domain Golden Age material in several reprint series such as Best of the West, Jungle Girls and Men of Mystery. Those books are a great way to discover some of the lesser-known characters and creators from the 1940s and 50s.
Congratulations to Bill Black, Eric Coile, Mark & Stephanie Heike and all of the other folks at AC Comics on reaching this milestone. Hopefully there are many more issues of Femforce to come in the future.
For additional information on AC Comics’ history and Femforce #200, check out Rik Offenberger’s interview with Bill Black on the First Comics News website.
In My Not So Humble Opinion 