FemForce #7

History

FemForce was the brainchild of Bill Black, who had been writing and drawing stories featuring female costumed crimefighters since founding Paragon Publications in 1969, with characters like The Shade, Scarlet Scorpion, and Captain Paragon originating there before migrating to AC Comics. After Paragon became Americomics in 1982 and then AC Comics in 1984, Black channeled that back catalog into the 1984 Femforce Special and the ongoing series launched in 1985. By issue #7, the creative team of Black (script and inks) and Robert Walker (pencils) was producing stories that blended brand-new superhero serial continuity with reprinted Golden Age Western material — a dual format that let AC simultaneously champion its original characters and steward public-domain cowboy heroes like Tim Holt's Red Mask, Rocky Lane, The Durango Kid, and The Lemonade Kid that no other publisher was keeping in print.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published February 1987 by Americomics (AC Comics); cover pencils by Robert Walker, inks by Bill Black.
• Lead story 'Girl Talk' is scripted and inked by Bill Black with pencils by Robert Walker; it formally recaps the origin of Synn (Silva Synn, the Girl from LSD) and establishes her as a new cast addition to the Femforce.
• Nightveil (real name Laura Wright, the sorcery-powered successor to the Golden Age Blue Bulleteer) takes center stage, vowing to escort the psychically dangerous Synn to another dimension — a plot thread with lasting consequences for the series.
• Guest appearances in the lead story include Stella Stargaze, T.C. Fremont, Janice Lawson, and the Brotherhood of Purity, with cameos by Atomman and Alizarin Crimson, demonstrating the expansive shared universe Bill Black had built across his Paragon and AC publications.
• The large character index for this issue — including Tim Holt (Red Mask), Rocky Lane, Wild Bill Elliott, The Durango Kid, The Lemonade Kid, The Latigo Kid, The Hooded Horseman, Wild Bill Pecos, Bat Masterson, and Charlie Starrett (the actor behind the Durango Kid) — reflects AC's consistent practice of pairing Femforce superhero stories with Golden Age Western backup reprints featuring public-domain cowboy characters.
• AC Comics' use of public-domain Western stars alongside original superheroines in a single title was essentially unique in 1980s American comics, making FemForce one of the era's most eclectic genre hybrids.
• Characters appearing in the index such as The Shade, Scarlet Scorpion, Captain Paragon, and Synn originated in Bill Black's pre-AC Paragon Publications fanzines of the 1970s before becoming recurring AC Comics figures.
• Stardust (real name Dr. Mara), Ms. Victory (Joan Wayne), and She-Cat are among the core Femforce members whose ongoing storylines ran in parallel with these anthology backup features, giving each issue a layered appeal to both superhero and Western-genre readers.

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

Key issues in FemForce