Captain Paragon #1

History

Captain Paragon himself originated in Bill Black's self-published Paragon Publications fanzine line, which Black launched in 1969 and sold via mail order; those ground-level periodicals introduced Paragon and other characters who would eventually migrate into the professional AC Comics line. When Black formally launched Americomics (later renamed AC Comics) in 1983 as one of the first independent full-color publishers to target the new comic-shop direct-sales market, Captain Paragon #1 was produced as a proper full-color showcase for his headline hero, with its Proxima storyline explicitly continuing threads laid in the earlier black-and-white Bill Black's Fun Comics #4. The creative team was collaborative and multi-story in structure: Bill Black, Dan St. John, and Mark Heike each contributed material, with art from Don Secrease, Greg Guler, and Heike, and cover art by Greg Guler and Mike Machlan.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published December 1983 by AC Comics (then operating as Americomics), written and edited principally by Bill Black with additional stories by Dan St. John and Mark Heike; cover by Greg Guler and Mike Machlan.
• First AC Comics appearance of Ms. Victory (Joan Wayne), the modern revival of the 1941 Golden Age heroine Miss Victory, who would go on to lead Femforce — AC's flagship ongoing series launched in 1985.
• First appearances of Harry Diamond (private detective hired by Captain Paragon to investigate his own identity), Doctor Pretorius (a robot villain), Captain Tom Kelly (government liaison who would recur throughout Femforce), Jason Wayne (cameo), and Jennifer Wayne.
• The issue is structured as an anthology: 'The Diamond Connection' (Captain Paragon hires Harry Diamond); 'The Power of Proxima' (continuing directly from the Paragon strip in Fun Comics #4, featuring Stardust and the alien warlord Proxima); and the Ms. Victory vs. Dr. Pretorius story.
• Captain Paragon's in-universe backstory — a 19th-century ranch hand named Charlie Starrett, transformed by the Paragon Foundation into an ageless, superpowered hero — is central to 'The Diamond Connection,' in which Paragon engages a detective to reconstruct his own lost identity.
• The character of Stardust (Mara) appears here as Paragon's new protégée, with her debut traced back to Fun Comics #4 (March 1983); this issue continues that relationship and formally establishes the alien-invasion threat from her home planet Rur.
• Ms. Victory's story in this issue was later reprinted in AC Comics' Miss Victory Golden Anniversary Special, confirming its status as a historically significant first modern appearance of the character.
• AC Comics, under Bill Black, was among the first four full-color independent publishers to pioneer direct-sales comic-shop distribution in 1983, and Captain Paragon #1 was part of that initial launch wave.

Cast · 17 characters

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