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19-527: AC Comics editor and head writer Bill Black had been making plans for a superhero team to be named the Sentinels of Justice when he was contacted by Charlton Comics with a request that AC provide material for the Charlton Bullseye comic book. The team concept was quickly revised, with a roster of Charlton characters. Bullseye was cancelled before the story could be published, but AC was granted

38-496: A limited license to publish the material already prepared for Charlton. After AC received news that the series was cancelled, Bill Black returned to his original plan for a team made up of existing Americomics characters. A house ad for the revamped Sentinels team appeared on the back cover of the only published adventure of the team of Charlton characters. A relaunch of the team took place in Femforce #59 with members being from

57-526: A number of Modern Age adventures starring the Golden Age superheroes that appeared in those stories. The most famous of those titles is Femforce , which features the adventures of an all-female superhero team, one of the first teams of this nature in the comics industry. Based on its focus on Golden Age reprints and stories inspired by that style, AC has developed a reputation for straightforward, fun, and action-packed superhero tales which often avoid

76-427: A second Rad. In the 1990s, new members included the alien warrior Stardust, the ghost Firebeam, electric-powered Rayda, and briefly, the heroines Dragonfly and Thunderfox. The Femforce's military liaison was initially a man named General Gordon, an old school and somewhat sexist soldier who occasionally clashed with his female allies. Gordon was later replaced by General Roberta Strock who was considerably friendlier to

95-489: A single full-color anthology series, Americomics , which the publisher could put out on a consistent basis, rather than the earlier model of several black-and-white titles published sporadically. The first issues of Americomics coincided with the independent comics boom, and the publisher responded to this unexpected success by expanding its lineup of titles to include several creator-owned series, such as Dragonfly . However, most of these titles were produced and funded by

114-405: Is a comic book published by AC Comics that began publication in 1985, detailing the adventures of the titular team: the "Federal Emergency Missions Force" or "Femforce", some of them original creations, while others originated in the 1940s and 1950s, lapsing into the public domain by the time Femforce was published. The team are, as their name implies, all superheroines , and are the first and

133-627: The public domain . Many of these are homages to Charlton and Quality Comics heroes, such as the Scarlet Scorpion (a stand-in for Blue Beetle ) and the Blue Bulleteer (later Nightveil ) who is based on the Fox Comics version of Phantom Lady . Still another Phantom Lady -inspired character was The Black Mistress, whose first episode was scripted by former Vampirella writer T. Casey Brennan . Garganta Femforce

152-647: The Femforce's cause. Other allies have included the Sentinels of Justice and the so-called "Vault of Heroes", a group of costumed crimefighters placed in suspended animation in the 1940s by the mystic, Dr. Weird (the Vault was AC Comics' method of reviving a number of public domain superheroes from now-defunct publishing companies of the Golden Age of Comic Books ). The lineup of Femforce has frequently changed over

171-471: The Vault of Heroes project. This comics -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bill Black (comics) AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics ) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black. AC Comics specializes in reprints of Golden Age comics from now-defunct companies whose properties lapsed into public domain and were not reprinted elsewhere. It also publishes

190-411: The company published several titles simultaneously, they were only able to produce a total of three issues a year, since nearly all writing, inking, and editing on the comics was done by Bill Black himself during this period. In 1982, the company changed its name to "Americomics" before settling on "AC Comics" in 1984. The original plan behind the reintroduction as Americomics was to narrow the lineup to

209-609: The creators themselves, with minimal creative oversight from Americomics. In 1985, AC debuted Femforce , which it still publishes today. Other AC series include Best of the West (1998–2009) and the ongoing Men of Mystery Comics . Following the popularity of size-changing Femforce members Garganta and Tara , AC made the giantess concept a recurring theme in their comics. Tapping into this cult following, AC has released stories and anthologies specifically catered to fans of giant women, as well as DVD releases which embrace this theme in

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228-452: The darker themes of many modern comics. AC artists often make use of a style known as " good girl art ", made popular in the Golden Age era, which combines attractive, clean linework with elements of cheesecake and humor. In addition to superheroes, AC has attempted to preserve other comic book genres inspired by the series of the past, such as Westerns and jungle adventure. AC Comics was founded as "Paragon Publications" in 1969, and released

247-689: The first issue of Paragon Illustrated magazine in Fall of that year, followed by its first comic titles— Paragon Presents and White Savage —in 1970. Other titles from Paragon's beginnings included Fem Fantastique and Paragon Golden Age Greats (1971), Macabre Western and Captain Paragon (1972), Paragon Magazine and Paragon Super Heroes (1973), Tara on the Dark Continent (1974), and Paragon Western Stars (1975). The company's early titles were cheaply published black-and-white comics. Though

266-423: The longest running all-women 'super-team'. The series has passed 200 issues, a significant milestone for an independent comic book company. Writers on the book have included Bill Black , Stephanie Sanderson, Mark Heike, Paul Monsky, Enrico Teodorani and Francesca Paolucci. Artists on the book have included Bill Black, Stephanie Sanderson, Mark Heike, Brad Gorby, Jeff Austin, Dave Roberts and Rik Levins . The team

285-555: The public domain, as well as low-budget films based on their own characters. AC Comics had used Charlton Comics characters, particularly the Blue Beetle and Captain Atom , in the comic title Sentinels of Justice . When the rights for these characters were sold to DC Comics , AC Comics created a second Sentinels of Justice team (writing the first out of continuity), composed of some of its original characters as well as ones from

304-402: The team. When a villain, Black Commando, forced Ms. Victory to overdose on V-45, the serum that gave her powers, it altered her mind and she became a renegade named 'Rad'. and was replaced on the team by her now-adult daughter Jennifer, who became a second Ms. Victory. Once her mother returned and took over as leader of the team again, Jennifer's life gradually grew worse before she herself became

323-471: The tongue-in-cheek style of 1950s science fiction B-movies. An ongoing giantess feature known as Gargantarama has even been added to the company's Femforce title. By 1986, AC Comics had expanded to a staff of roughly 25 people. Production was largely handled through the mail, since only a handful of staff resided anywhere near AC's Florida headquarters. AC has expanded into other DVD projects which collect classic movie serials and other material now in

342-470: Was formed by Miss Victory , She Cat, the Blue Bulleteer and the original Rio Rita in the 1940s during World War II , in which they fought as aides to the allied forces. After the war, Rio Rita retired. The rest of the Femforce continued to operate as an offshoot of the U.S. government, most of them kept young by their super-powers. In 1960, Blue Bulleteer was assaulted by thugs and nearly killed but

361-448: Was luckily taken in by Azagoth, a being from another dimension. When she returned from Azagoth's home dimension as the sorceress Nightveil she brought a new ally, the reality-altering Synn, with her. Later members in the 1980s were weapons mistress Colt and the environmentalist Tara. The group also met up with the granddaughter of their old member Rio Rita, who was using the same codename as her grandmother though she never officially joined

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