[narfstar]

Hey gang here is a chance for some good reading and some big help. As most of you know Diamond changed their minimums awhile back. Femforce is one of the longest running indys. I think it is a book that most of you would enjoy. It has a flip book called Gargantarama that is absolutely great art. The pencillers are good and Jeff Austin's inking is Fantastic. The writer of Rowena is a GAC member even. Yes it costs ten bucks but it is 84 pages. I would hate to seem Diamond squeeze another comic out of business. I do not think that you would be disappointed if you decide to give this great book a try. So if you can find it in your budget how about calling your LCS or going to Comixology and have them pull Femforce you will be glad you did.

[paw broon]

I used to love Femforce, in fact when I had the comic shop, I pushed the title and managed to get a fair number of punters to try it.  I'm only missing a couple of the first 100.  Plus I have most of the other early AC titles.  I gave up after about #110, as I did with a lot of other comics when I was ill and I wouldn't want to see Diamond or anyone else be the cause of Femforce going away.  So, I will have a chat with my friendly dealer and see what he can do. It is a shame that small titles can be pushed out because of the lack of competition in distribution.  In Britain, Diamond seemto have shops over a barrel because, as far as I am aware, they are it.

[narfstar]

They have them over the same barrel here. I think because I am the only person who gets certain titles at my shop they do not think it worthwhile to pull just one issue.

[CharlieRock]

My first reply got snarled up in the nets. 

I loved Femforce in the late 80s early 90s. It has a lot of golden age characters like Ms Victory and Blue Bulleteer. 

[narfstar]

I think you would still enjoy it. The sooner you get your order to your LCS the sooner Mark at AC can rest easy this time around. Hopefully more will subscribe so there will not be a constant scramble.

[profh0011]

It's a funny thing.  Back then, I bought a small stack of AC Comics when they first debuted. But I was buying so much stuff, and at the time, somehow, Bill Black's stuff seemed not so "great".

Then about 15 years ago thanks to Bill Schelly's Hamster Press I started getting interested in fanzines, and combined with Gary Carlson's BIG BANG COMICS, a greater appreciation for "simpler" stuff that was just plain FUN.


Recently, between re-reading some of my comics from the 80's and buying some western reprints from AC (direct by mail-order, who needs Diamond?) I've found myself with a growing appreciation for some of the stuff Bill Black & crew have done over the years.

A few months ago, I did an entire mail-order of all-"Femforce" related books.  A number of one-shots, mostly.  But in there was FEMFORCE SPECIAL #1, the very first FEMFORCE comic ever.  Not the reprint-- the original!  It was REAL cheap, because he ran across a warehouse find of "slightly damaged" copies.  I didn't care-- I just wanted to read it!

As it turns out, the very 1st FEMFORCE was a World War 2 story.  And all I could think of the whoe time I read it was, "This is BETTER than any WW2 comic Roy Thomas ever wrote!!" I'm planning to get more issues, as I can afford them. (Which means it'll be slow-going, but I find when I'm buying less I'm enjoying what I do buy more!)

[boox909]

You folks might just convert me to Femforce. Its too bad that the comic never ended up on WOWIO (at least when I was a member there), I definitely would have downloaded it.

B.

[narfstar]

I got mine at my LCS since issue 1. BTW I also bought Elquest direct from Warp with Fantasy Quarterly #1. And I bought Cerberus #1 the real original. One of the few comics I sold and made money on over the years. Another was Grendel #1 and Sandman #1

[builderboy]

Thanks for the discussion, fellas.  Long ago, I tried to help a fellow out once by cleaning out his son's collection of comics that filled a house that he had just sold.  I ended up getting 'stuck' with a lot of them, many of them indies.

Among the collection was some issues of Femforce, and it caught my eye, but, at the time, I was swimming in books, and never had a chance to look closely.  I never knew that some of the characters were from the Golden Age.

Since that time, I have discovered the precursors for this stuff, the Good Girl Art of Matt Baker, Bill Ward, of Fiction House heroines in general.  Now that I know the context for it, I am eager to lay my eyes on Femforce once again.

Based on reading your discussion, I have tracked down and ordered a copy of Femforce Special. A shop had a VF copy for $.65.  I think it is the original, and not the reprint...we'll see.

[profh0011]

65 cents?  Geez. I paid a whopping $2.50 for mine!



Bill Black seems in the process of shutting down (or slowing down) his comics output, and focusing more on direct-to-video productions starring his own characters. If ever there was a guy in the business I could look at as a role model, it might be Black. Since the late 60's, he's worked at a film production company, and created and published comics as a sideline.  He's been doing comics since at least 1969!! I guess his long background in film has made the transition easy for him.


Something else I found recently at his website is that there's quite a number of his early, rare, out-of-print "fanzines" that are being offered as downloads. What a guy! He's not missing a trick.


In an interview I read with him awhile back, he talked about how many small companies screwed themselves right out of business by trying to become "bigger" and compete with the big companies... and one by one, they fell by the wayside, for various monetary and other reasons.  He's always tried to keep AC "small"-- and he's still around.  Amazing.

[narfstar]

Mark Heike runs the comic side now. I hope both profh and builder have contacted your LCS to order Femforce 155 and beyond to insure the book will survive. It does not deserve to die because of Diamond. Back issues can be found relative inexpensive but sales are needed for the new issues as they come out or they will no longer be coming out.

[josemas]

I received the following bit about Femforce from AC Comics in their latest email.


Please Order Femforce 155 From Your Local Comic Shop Before February 15th!!

Diamond Previews DCD Number NOV100686

Hey, Femfans- there is STILL time for you to place an advance reorder for FEMFORCE #155 at your local comic book retailers'. Remember, it's the orders we get through COMIC BOOK SHOPS that keep the FF comic book afloat. We STILL need every order we can get through the store system, so if you were planning to wait until the book has shipped and then buy it directly from us off of the web store on our accomics.com official site, we'd ask you to reconsider that plan and order it with your retailer instead. All you need to tell him is "I want to order a copy of FEMFORCE #155 - it's listed as a January-shipping book in Diamond Previews, and the DCD item number for it is NOV100686".  With that information, he can reorder a copy of the book for you - provided the order is placed before February 15th. If you go this route in purchasing your copy of FF #155, not ONLY will you save on the cost of shipping ($4.90 if you are ordering off of the AC web shop) BUT most comic book retailers will offer you a DISCOUNT on the cover price as well if you order with them. And the single copy YOU buy might be the difference between AC being able to continue to offer the FF book, so we urge you to seriously consider ordering FF #155 at your local comic book retailer RIGHT NOW!!

This big 84-page, all-new issue is rounding into shape right now! Within it's pages you'll learn strange new facts relating to Synn's ever-increasing loss of control, and what the FF may have to do about it, in a story titled "Illusions In G-Major" (guest-starring PARAGON), with script & art by Mark & Stephanie Heike. Then, learn what CAT-MAN and KITTEN did for their anniversary celebration when the US Government WOULDN'T let them use the Time Triangle to go back to 1947 in "Kitten's Biggest Adventure", by Rock Baker & Jeff Austin. Next, it's a previously-untold wartime exploit starring YANKEE GIRL (guest-featuring LADY FAIRPLAY and a NEW heroine, FREEDOM GALE), "The Menace of Baroness Von Schreck"!! See why the death of Hitler might NOT have ended the Axis menace in WWII- if not for YG and friends. Plotted & layed out by Gianluca Ceritelli, Scripted by Eric Johnson, with finished art by Jeff Austin. Then, the latest installment in the ongoing saga of the time-tossed adventuress STORMY TEMPEST, as an old friend from the future returns as a menace in our present in a story written by Len Strazewski, and illustrated by Scott Larson. Scott's been penciling ST for a few issues now; this go-around he will be INKING his own art, as well. And, in the Gargantarama- The Comic Book flip-book half of the issue, DINOSAUR GIRL stars in a double-length WWII blockbuster, "The Last Giantess", which introduces a "new" retro all-girl team The War Birds!! Written & drawn by Rock Baker, with ink finishes by Jeff Austin. ROWENA'S naive cousin is in the spotlight this go-around, as the Gentle Giantess must sort out GTS high jinx gone wrong in "Sera's Day Out", written by Eric Lindberg, with art by Rock Baker & Jeff Austin. Finally, MARLA ALLISON (a.k.a. HUMONGA ) returns in "Making A Big Scene" as a villainess' tampering changes the script in Marla's latest giant-woman movie, with GARGANTA herself  teleported onto the set for a battle royal in front of the cameras. Written by Eric Johnson, with art by the team of Baker and Austin. Without a single reprint in sight, FF #155 is STILL the best value in comics, even at $9.95. And you certainly don't want to miss this issue, or you'll be lost when FF #156 hits, coming in May. Old friend and animation star (not to mention THE greatest living "good girl" art comic book illustrator in the world) WILL MEUGNIOT returns to pencil and ink an entire 20-page lead FEMFORCE feature!! As Synn's current control problems reach a crisis point, the team looks back at the terrible incident that occurred decades ago when Synn was new to the team, and an awful loss of control forced the team to exile her to limbo for years!! It's wild, way-out late1960's action as only Will could render it!! But you won't know what's going on unless you read FF #155, so go down to your local comic book retailer and order it NOW!!

[narfstar]

Hurrry! Go now! You only have two weeks. Help keep one of my favorite comics alive.