Black Venus

Born from the imagination of Bill Black and debuting in FemForce: Out of the Asylum Special #1 in 1987, Black Venus is a Copper Age original who has quietly built a remarkable staying power across nearly four decades of comics. A creature of AC Comics' distinctive universe, she shares her adventures with a fascinating roster of characters — from the patriotic Ms. Victory to the mystical Green Lama — and has turned up in titles as varied as Codename: Action and the crossover spectacle Vampirella versus Red Sonja, which speaks to her versatility as a character. Thirty-plus years in print across a dedicated indie publisher is no small achievement, and for collectors who love the scrappy, passionate corner of comics that AC has always represented, Black Venus is exactly the kind of gem worth tracking down.