Femzine #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFemzine #1 is the genesis document of Femforce — what Key Collector Comics identifies as the first team appearance of the world's first all-female superhero squad, here called 'Femme Force One: The All Girl Squad.' The storyline directly plants the seed that would grow into AC Comics' flagship ongoing series launched in 1985, proving that an independent, small-press publisher operating outside the Marvel/DC mainstream could sustain an interconnected shared universe built entirely around female-led stories drawn from Golden Age public-domain characters. The issue also bridges Bill Black's 1969–1981 Paragon Publications fanzine era to his later commercial comics career, making it a hinge point in the history of independent publishing.
In "The All Girl Squad," Gorganna's bold strike against male superheroes sets off a chain of events that brings together a powerful team of female heroes, led by Miss Victory, in a battle for control and justice. Written by Bill Black and illustrated by Willie Blyberg, with inks by Black and letters by Blyberg, this 1981 classic features a dynamic cover by Will Blyberg and Bill Black, capturing the bold energy of a team rising to meet a challenge.
In "The All Girl Squad," Gorganna dismantles the male superhero lineup, believing her reign of chaos is unchallenged—until Miss Victory unites a team of female heroes to stand against her. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, this 1981 tale from Femzine #1 sets up a bold, no-holds-barred clash between power and solidarity.
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Bill Black had been self-publishing superhero fanzines and ground-level comics under the Paragon Publications imprint since 1969, selling them via mail order, with characters like Synn, Tara, The Shade, Scarlet Scorpion, and Captain Paragon already established in that universe. By 1981 he produced Femzine #1 — edited by Black himself with Craig Zablo as associate editor — anchoring the issue around Miss Victory, a Golden Age Holyoke character then in the public domain, and using the villain Gorganna (herself a recurring Paragon creation) as the device that forced Miss Victory to assemble a team of women. Interior art was by Will Blyberg and Black, with the cover by Blyberg and Black, and the back cover drawn by Terry Austin; contributing writers included Bob Greene and T. Casey Brennan alongside Black.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Femme Force One (later 'Femforce'), the founding all-female superhero team: Miss Victory (Joan Wayne), Phantom Lady (Laura Wright / Silva Synn version), Synesthesia (Silva Synn), Blonde Bomber, and Tara, assembled by Miss Victory after villain Gorganna incapacitates the male heroes.
- First appearance of Spygirl (Ginger Wade), who appears in a continuing serial chapter titled 'The Green Scaled Death,' depicting her escape from a Nazi airfield while being hunted by a giant lizard.
- Gorganna — a recurring antagonist whose origins trace back to earlier Paragon Publications stories — makes a key in-continuity appearance here as the threat that catalyzes the team's formation; AC Comics' own official materials later confirmed this as 'the very first Femforce story ever published.'
- Published by Paragon Publications (the pre-Americomics/pre-AC Comics imprint of Bill Black's company), edited by Bill Black (credited as 'Wild Bill' in the editorial), with Craig Zablo as associate editor; 40 pages, black-and-white.
- Contains a Golden Age reprint: a Phantom Lady story titled 'Hitler's Octopus of Crime,' continuing Black's long-running practice of reviving public-domain Quality/Fox-era heroines.
- Includes a substantial non-fiction section on Sheena, Queen of the Jungle: an interview with TV actress Irish McCalla, a Bill Black essay on the character's media history, a signed McCalla pin-up, and a filmography — reflecting the magazine-format hybrid nature of the publication.
- Cameo appearances by several Paragon-universe male heroes — Astron, Black Commando (Dan Barton), Captain Paragon (Charlie Starrett), Scarlet Scorpion (Richard Trent), and The Shade (Roger Brant) — all rendered powerless by Gorganna, establishing the in-universe justification for the all-female team.
- The Femzine series would not publish a second issue for 22 years; the all-female team concept was instead developed through the 1984 Femforce Special and then the ongoing Femforce series beginning in 1985.
Cast · 30 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Venture #2 (1986), Bizarre Thrills: The Paragon Publications Story #1 (2012)
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